a recent small race - amazing person in there (Read 467 times)

http://wisconsinrunner.com/results/2008fallclassic5koverall.HTM I did not notice this person at the start. But when accepting her age group award a woman asked if it was ok for her to be over the listed age limit. Not a little mind you... she is SEVETY-EIGHT! My god, in a 43-person race she came in 29th with a time of 29:22 on a hilly course and a very windy day. Good lord! She was inspiring.

I was talking with her and her husband after the race. Her husband said that she was 78 but I thought he was joking. I assumed she was 60 or maybe 65 tops.

A friend and I were waiting for clearance to begin a workout on the University of Michigan indoor track once and this older fellow came in and struck up conversation with us. I took him to be 65-70 years old. Looked very good, ramrod straight posture and all. He showed us his watch, which he had won in the Penn Relays back in the 1920s!! Talked about competing against Jesse Owens (yes, THAT Jesse Owens)!! Turned out he was (if memory serves) 93 at the time. Running seems to do good things to a lot of people as they age...or perhaps it's the relatively healthy lifestyle many runners follow.