This 92-Year-Old Just Ran a Marathon

A new record for the oldest woman to run a marathon has been set, but it may not stand for more than a year: Harriette Thompson, 92, hasn't ruled out running the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego again next year. The Charlotte, NC, resident finished in 7 hours, 24 minutes, 36 seconds, the BBC reports, coming close to the over-90 record of 7 hours, 7 minutes, and 42 seconds she set in 2014, despite having a very difficult year between marathons. "I couldn't train very well because my husband was very ill and I had to be with him for some time, and then when he died in January I had some treatments on my leg," Thompson, who was in her 70s when she ran her first marathon, tells the AP. "I was just really thrilled that I could finish today."

At 92 years and 65 days old, Thompson is 46 days older than Gladys Burrill was when she finished the 2010 Honolulu Marathon. "I can't believe I made it," Thompson tells the Charlotte Observer. "I was really tired at one point. Around Mile 21, I was going up a hill and it was like a mountain, and I was thinking, 'This is sort of crazy at my age.' But then I felt better coming down the hill. And my son Brenny kept feeding me all [these] wonderful carbohydrates that kept me going." Thompson—whose parents, three brothers, and husband all died of cancer—tells the Observer that the San Diego marathon's fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is what inspired her to run and may even bring her back again next year. (More marathon stories.)