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I don't feel 50. I'm still ambitious, and I've only just got my licence to race sports cars. I race for an Aston Martin team called Beechdean, and it's a huge challenge.

I don't see myself racing at 50 years old. I enjoy racing, and that has been my whole life. But one day I will take time to look at other things. I know that everything has an end date, even life, and I also have a family and there are other things to enjoy than trying to be first into the corner and fastest out.

I admire runners older than I - they are now my heroes. I want to be like them as I grow older.

Before me, sprinters retired at 23 or 24. I run because I still like it, I can make a living, and I feel I was born to do it. And because people tell me I can't do it.

Plenty of people who are 38 have run really well in the marathon.

There are a lot of great athletes who stop working out, and they get out of shape like everybody else in their 30s and 40s.

The reality is, I'm not 24 or 34 anymore. Things are going to be different when I prepare for and when I compete in an athletic endeavor.

One of the most difficult things for people who have been successful in sports is adapting to the daily world where you can't get an answer from someone until 5 o'clock tomorrow. There is always an excuse. Living 40 or 50 years like that doesn't get too exciting after a while.

As a scientist, I play in the top league - the Olympics, the World Championships - and I want to be in the lead. As a runner, I set personal goals, and I want to push beyond my own personal limits. I was very happy when I practiced for several months and then reached my goal to run a marathon in 2:50.

Every athlete, I think, would like to play forever. They never want to acknowledge that they've lost a step or they can't quite do what they did before.