Elderly Marathon Runners!

maryd523

This article is in USAToday today. I, for one, am extremely impressed. I didn't think it was possible for people this old to actually run!

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/exercise/story/2011-11-02/Behold-the-agelessness-of-these-long-distance-runners/51049132/1



Behold the agelessness of these long-distance runners

On the eve of the ING New York City Marathon, Joy Johnson is thinking about how to layer her clothes for the cool weather and her finishing time.

Normal everyday runner concerns, right?

Johnson, one of more than 45,000 entrants in Sunday's race, belongs to a growing group of runners: the senior set. She is 84 and looking forward to her 24th consecutive 26.2-mile run in the Big Apple.

"I want to keep running as long as I can and drop in my running shoes when the time comes, " says Johnson, a San Jose resident.

She is young next to 100-year-old Fauja Singh, who became the oldest person on record to complete a full-length marathon in Toronto Oct. 16.

More older people are running marathons and running faster, says Don Lein, an official record keeper for USA Track and Field. In Sunday's race, 2,634 entrants are ages 60 and older.

"There is very definitely both an increase in terms of those who want to participate and get fit and those who want to compete," says Lein, adding that many masters runners begin when they are older.

Johnson started when she was 59. The former physical education teacher saw a student teacher run by her house and decided to join her.

Now she runs every day, shoes on and out the door shortly after 5 a.m., to train on an outdoor track near home. She has some arthritis, but she says, "Who doesn't over age 30?" Her fastest New York marathon time was 3 hours, 55 minutes and 30 seconds in 1991. Now, she does a run-walk combination and hopes to finish in six hours.

That might be nearly four hours off the winner's pace, but that is not the point, Lein says. "There's something very satisfying about saying you're a finisher. It's a big accomplishment. You're out there with a supportive group, and you're crossing the same finish line they cross."

Some seniors are clocking impressive times, Lein says.

Ed Whitlock broke the age group world record at the Toronto marathon. The 80-year-old ran in 3:15:54 (7.5-minute miles), 10 minutes faster than his previous record, and finished ahead of the top finishers in each of the next three younger age groups.

Johnson held the age group national record for Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn., in 1992 (3:54.39), but she concedes she's slowing down.

Still, the health benefits keep on coming. "I see my doctor for my annual physical every year, and he says, 'Why are you here?'" she says with a laugh.

Lein knows senior runners who give up car keys before they stopping running. That's the case with Evelyn Tripp, 95, of Piedmont, S.C., who, according to Lein, is the top-ranked 95-plus women's 5K runner (48 minutes, 45 seconds on March 5).

"When she was hit by a car in her 80s, her doctor told her in order to recover she'd have to start walking," says Lein. "So she took up walking, and then she walked faster. Then she took up running. Now she runs with her grandchildren."

Shannon023

Love this!! Thanks for sharing!