Wow….
Joy Johnson, 81, aims to break six hours in New York Marathon; ‘I want to die running’
By MATTHEW FUTTERMAN
For Joy Johnson, winning her age group in last year’s ING New York City Marathon was bittersweet. First place was nice, but her time had slipped to seven hours.
“This year I cranked up the training,” says Ms. Johnson, a silver-haired, 81-year-old former Minnesota farm girl from San Jose, Calif., competing in her 21st consecutive New York City Marathon. “I want to die running. That’s my goal.”
Never mind the Kenyans who will battle through Central Park early Sunday afternoon and break the tape of the New York City Marathon in roughly two hours. The most intriguing competition among the 39,000-plus runners should come four hours later in the women’s 80-90-year-old division, the oldest group of women competing this year.
Ms. Johnson will try to hold off four others in the race, including Bertha McGruder, who is in the 80-90 division for the first time after completing last year’s race in six hours, 15 minutes, good for third place among 75-79-year-old women.
Ms. Johnson will face four other competitors over 80, including Bertha McGruder who finished the 2007 race in six hours, 15 minutes.
Bring it on, says Ms. Johnson. “I have my stronger leg muscles now,” she says, placing her hands just above her knees. “I can feel it in my thighs.”
More older Americans are exercising regularly than ever. By 2010, a quarter of the U.S. population will be older than 55, and officials with Running USA say seniors represent the fastest-growing segment of the sport’s participants. Since 2003, the number of finishers 80 and above for all road races has risen 23% compared with 16% for all age groups.
Still, Ms. Johnson headlines a tiny segment in road racing’s most grueling mass event. Just 26 runners over 80 registered for this year’s race, including just three women other than Ms. Johnson and Ms. McGruder, none of whom are expected to win the division.
If history is a guide, roughly six hours after she crosses the Verrazano Narrows Bridge from Staten Island into Brooklyn, Ms. Johnson will trot across the finish line hoping to grab the piece of Tiffany’s crystal awarded to the male and female winner in each age group.
It’s a goal Ms. Johnson has been working towards for months. Throughout the summer she ran 50 to 55 miles each week instead of 30 to 35. She ran hills and bleachers at the local high-school football field, and she worked to build up her core strength at a running camp in Minnesota.
The hard work has paid off. Four weeks ago, Ms. Johnson finished the Twin Cities Marathon in six hours, six minutes and 48 seconds, nearly an hour faster than her time in New York last year. Since 1997, she has won her age group in New York five times, finished second on five other occasions and came in third once.
Winning her division once more won’t be easy, though. Ms. McGruder, who declined to be interviewed for this story, ran the race in five hours, 56 minutes in 2005 and has not finished below third in her age group since 2002….
Strangely, other than the occasional game of tag with her five brothers and sisters on the family farm in Waconia, Minn., Ms. Johnson never ran growing up. The only hint of the sport was the verse from the Book of Isaiah on the kitchen wall. “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
2 Responses
This should be inspiring for me as I am doing good to walk to the mailbox. I don’t think I could run if I were being chased by wolves.
Well, next time just try walking a bit farther than the mailbox, Darlene. You might be surprised what you can do! ;^)
For me, it’s mostly Pilates, strength training and yoga right now (but not enough yoga lately…) Pilates is kicking my butt the last couple of weeks since I’ve started with a new studio that has all the equipment instead of just mat work. Fun, but I’m finding muscles I didn’t know I had….