When she crossed the finish line of the Rock ’n’ Roll San Diego Marathon on Sunday, Harriette Thompson set a new record as the oldest woman to run 26.2 miles. The resident of Charlotte, North Carolina, a cancer survivor and former concert pianist, posted a time of 7 hours, 24 minutes, and 36 seconds, .
It was Thompson’s 16th Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon. She started running to stay fit when she was 76 and set a world record last year for women over 90 when she posted a marathon time of 7:07:42. On Sunday, she beat the previous age group record set by Gladys Burrill, who completed the Honolulu Marathon in 2010 at age 92 years and 19 days. Thompson’s age is 92 years and 93 days.
Thompson will have to keep running for almost another ten years if she hopes to become the oldest overall marathoner. Although Guinness doesn’t recognize Faura Singh’s record because he didn’t have a birth certificate to verify his age, he ran his last marathon at age 101.