Don’t let all those candles on your birthday cake ruin your mood. Age is just a number… and it’s not nearly as important as the number on a marathon time clock.
Photo credit: Kali Nine LLC / iStock / 360 / Getty images
An impending big birthday can really bring you down. Take a note from these amazing marathoners and don’t let a simple date on a birth certificate dictate how you live your life.
Oldies but goodies
- As of 2008, the oldest marathon winner was Tatyana Pozdnyakova, who won a marathon in Austin, Texas, at just shy of 51 years old. Interestingly enough, the oldest male winner, was 45-year-old Jackson Kipngok. Looks like girls really do run the world.
- In 2011, Fauja Singh finished the Toronto Waterfront Marathon at the age of 100, making him the oldest marathoner in the world.
- At 93-and-a-half years old, Gladys Burrill (from Canada) became the oldest person to compete in a half-marathon when she ran in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 2012.
- At 49 years old, Steve Edwards became the first man to run in 500 marathons with an official time below the 3 hours, 30 minutes average.
- In 2012, at the age of 46, Irish marathoner Richard Donovan set a world record for running seven marathons on seven continents in fewer than five days.
- At around 49 years old, Belgian marathoner Stefaan Engels became the first person to run a full marathon for 365 consecutive days. That’s right. At almost 50, he spent an entire year getting up every day and running a full marathon.
The young’uns
- According to Association of Road Racing Statisticians, as of 2008 the youngest marathon winner was a 14-year-old Indian girl, Ruwiyati. For the boys, Ethiopia’s Lemi Chengere holds the record at age 17.
- Budhia Singh is the youngest marathoner in the world. He was only 3 years old when he began running in marathons.
- In November of last year, 14-year-old Winter Vinecki finished the final marathon in a seven-continent tour, making her the youngest person to do so.
- In May 2013, Matthew Feibush became the youngest person to compete in a half-marathon at almost 6 years old. He clocked in at just more than 3 hours.
- The youngest girl to compete a half marathon is Rosey Dunham, who came in at 3 hours and 40 minutes.
Do you feel as lazy and unaccomplished as we do right now? Time to dig out the running shoes.
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