Harriette Thompson, a 92-year-old marathon runner, has become the oldest woman to finish a race.
Thompson of Charlotte, North Carolina completed Sunday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego in 7 hours, 24 minutes, 36 seconds, landing her a new record for the oldest woman to finish a marathon.
“I’m fine, they’re really pampering me here,” Thompson, a cancer survivor, said as she was cheered on by fans, according to ESPN .
The race on Sunday marked her 16th Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. This year was especially hard, however. She explained that her husband died in January, and she suffered from a staph infection in one of her legs, which slowed her down for a while.
“It’s always harder but this year has been a bad year for me,” she said. “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,” she continued. “I was just really thrilled that I could finish today.”
Despite her setbacks, Thompson managed to nearly match her finish time from last year, which was 7 hours, 7 minutes, 42 seconds. That time set a record for anyone 90 or over. The previous oldest woman to finish a marathon was Gladys Burrill, who was 92 years and 19-days-old when she finished the 2010 Honolulu Marathon. Thompson was 92 years, 65-days-old, according to the race organizers.
Thompson hasn’t always been a marathon runner. Actually, it wasn’t until her church approached her, while she was in her 70s, to be one of the sponsors in a marathon to raise money to fight leukemia and lymphoma, according to WRALSPORTSFAN.
“At that time I had lost several people in my family to cancer and I said, ‘Oh, maybe I should do that,’” she recalled. “When I got out there the first year I just planned to walk it, but everybody else was running so I started to run with them.”
Thompson said the competitions have helped keep her healthy, and she enjoys raising money for cancer research.
