94-year-old racer becomes oldest woman to run a half-marathon


Harriette Thompson nonchalantly raced into the record books Sunday when the 94-year-old became the oldest woman to run a half-marathon.
"I guess it's unusual, but I don't know why people make such a big deal," she told NBC 7 after finishing the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon in San Diego. "I feel just like I did when I was 16. But I just can't move as fast." It wasn't even Thompson's first record — in 2015, she became the world's oldest woman to complete a full marathon.
Thompson is a two-time cancer survivor, and uses races to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; she has brought in $100,000 over the last few years, and $15,000 this year alone. Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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