Never Too Old for Anything

Some of you may have heard of the Penn Relays, the oldest track event in the United States. The yearly competition has been around since 1895 and brings thousands of participants to Philadelphia from all over the United States and abroad.

Not being a runner myself I pay minor attention to the event.  I usually know a couple of people taking part in the competition, thus my casual interest.

This year I wasn’t aware of any of my friends running but as I followed the results something  caught my eye that made me stop and read further.

A 100 year old woman, Ida Keeling, had just set the world record for the 100 meter dash at the Penn Relays.  Ida was grouped with competitors aged 80 and up. She finished the race in 1 minute and 17.33 seconds. This is the fastest time ever recordered for a centenarian.

What makes this 100 year old woman so resilient? She did not enter her first road race until she was 67 years old!

If you would like to watch the clip of the race and read her interview in Runner’s World check out the link below:

http://www.runnersworld.com/masters/100-year-old-sets-world-record-at-penn-relays

I am on a quest to meet Ida and hear the rest of her story.

P.S.  I just went for a walk….

Melissa