92-Year Old Woman Becomes Oldest to Complete Marathon

Looking for a dose of inspiration before your run today? Then check out Harriet Thompson of Charlotte, NC. This past weekend, 92-year old Harriet became the oldest woman to complete a marathon when she crossed the finish line at the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. 

Harriet completed the event with a time of 7:24:36, which was more than two hours faster than the next oldest woman to finish a marathon. According to Runner's World, back in 2010, Gladys Burrell ran the Honolulu Marathon in a time of 9:53:16. At the time, she was 19 days past her 92nd birthday, which is 74 days younger than Harriet. 

The grandmother of 10 isn't new to running. This is actually the 16th time she has completed a marathon, running each of the Rock 'n" Roll races in San Diego over the years, save the 2013 even when she was battling cancer. She even olds the marathon record for 90-94 age group, which she set last year with a time of 7:07:42. That's pretty impressive all things considered. 

Harriet says that she has no intentions of slowing down either. She says she'll be back for future races as long as she can continue to run. Hopefully that will be for many more years to come, as I'm sure she serves as a great inspiration to many people who are much younger than her. 

Think about Harriet the next time you're considering skipping a training run. If she's out there on the road putting in her miles, we can be too.