This morning while in the car and listening to the BBC World Service I was reminded of why I like to run.

The story was about a study revolving around two questions: At what age do you you consider yourself to be old? At what age do you stop considering yourself to be young? The question was put to people in several countries and the results differed wildly depending upon local. The British, for instance, stopped seeing themselves as young at 35 and officially old at 59. The Greeks, on the other hand, thought themselves young until 51 and not teetering into geezerhood until 68. Speculation abounded among the experts interviewed about the discrepancy. (I’ll post a link to the story when it’s posted by the BBC.)

I wondered how Americans would answer this question. I especially wondered how Jack Stanley of Kernersville might answer. Stanley, at age 71, was the second oldest runner at Saturday’s Blue Points 5K on the Runway at PTI. He won his age category with a time of 26:05, meaning he ran the 3.1-mile race at a speed of 8 minutes and 25 seconds per mile.

Stanley finished 152nd overall. To put that in perspective, according to the race results he beat nearly two-thirds of the 441-person field. His time would have placed him 4th among the 15 boys age 15 and under in the race and it would have won the women’s 20-24 age group.

Bobby Christiansen of Greensboro would have had an interesting answer as well. Christiansen is 53 and finished 9th overall with a time of 18:18 — a time good enough to make him competitive on a high school cross-country team. Ditto 60-year-old William Menius of Greensboro, who ran the race in 20:19 to finish 28th overall, 61-year-old Karl Fields, who finished 30th in 20:41, and Bob Milan, also 61, of Greensboro, who came in 43rd overall with a time of 21:20.

Of the 441 runners on the tarmac Saturday, 44 percent fell into the 40-49 age demographic (79 women, 114 men), and 17 percent (19 women and 57 men) were 50 or older.

Social scientists speculating over the results of the study I heard on the BBC suspected that Greece’s more relaxed style of living may contribute to the Greek people’s perception of themselves as, if not forever young, at least young for a good long while. The explanation behind the extended youth of Jack Stanley, Bobby Christiansen and the other chronologically older runners at Saturday’s Blue Points 5K is likely the opposite: Stay young by not stopping. Both approaches appear to work, according to author/researcher Dan Buettner. For insight into the various ways people stay young, check out his “The Blue Zones,” which looks at several communities around the world where people tend to live longer. While the reasons behind longevity may vary, they all have one thing in common: A healthy approach to life in general.

As for me, I’ll stick with the don’t-stop approach. By continuing to chase the Stanleys, the Christiansens, the Meniuses, the Fields and the Milans, I hope to keep pace with their youth.

Photo: Runners at Saturday’s Blue Points 5K on the Runway at PTI: One way to stay young.