Harriette Thompson finished the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego this Sunday in 7 hours, 24 minutes, 36 seconds. It was her 16th marathon; she’s a cancer survivor who enjoys raising money for research. She decided to run this year despite missing much of her training owing to her husband’s death from cancer in January.
Thompson also happens to be 92 years old and is now the oldest woman to ever run a marathon. Thompson, who did her first marathon when she was 76, told the San Diego Union-Tribune last week, “I don’t consider myself special. It’s just that I’m 92. All you have to do is get to 90 and you get all sorts of attention.”
Thompson does have a secret strategy to getting through those 26.2 miles. She is a classically trained pianist and plays her favorite pieces in her head throughout the race — usually landing on the Chopin Études. When her friends ask why she keeps traveling all the way from Charlotte, North Carolina, to San Diego every year, she replies, “I guess it’s just a bad habit.”
And what did you do this weekend?
