Running News Daily

99-year-old completes AJC Peachtree 10K in Atlanta

American masters runner Betty Lindberg is nothing short of amazing. On Thursday morning, the 99-year-old was the oldest finisher at the annual AJC Peachtree 10K Road Race in Atlanta, held annually on U.S. Independence Day, completing it in three hours and eight minutes.

Lindberg didn’t start running until she was 63, and she has run the AJC Peachtree 10K Road Race 35 times in the last 36 years. Although her running days are behind her, she now goes for what she calls “quick strolls” around her neighbourhood.

The women’s 90+ division at this year’s AJC Peachtree 10K was deep, with Lindberg finishing fourth out of five runners in her age group. She completed the race alongside her son Craig, who is 68, her grandson Eric, and various other family members.

Lindberg has many American masters running accolades to her name, including the American W95+ 5K record: 59 minutes and six seconds. She held the world record for the age category until Canada’s own Rejeanne Fairhead set a new 5K record at the 2023 Ottawa Race Weekend, smashing Lindberg’s time by eight minutes (51:09).

(07/04/2024) Views: 243 ⚡AMP
by Marley Dickinson

Rejeanne Fairhead sets new 5k record for 95 plus

Canada’s Rejeanne Fairhead can now call herself the fastest 95+ woman in the world. On Saturday afternoon in 30 C weather, the 96-year-old unofficially destroyed the women’s 95+ world record, running 51:09 for five kilometres at the Ottawa 5K.

At Friday’s press conference, she said her secret to running fast is keeping busy. “I try to be active in all sports, and take care of myself and be happy,” said Fairhead.

Fairhead received honours from the race announcers before and after the race for her attempt and new accomplishment. She is the eldest participant of the Ottawa Race Weekend for the second consecutive year.

The women’s 95+ world record Fairhead beat was that of American Betty Lindberg, who ran 55:48 at the 2022 Atlanta Peachtree 5K.

(05/28/2023) Views: 897 ⚡AMP

Betty Lindberg sets world 5k record for age 98

At 98 years old, Betty Lindberg continues to demonstrate that age is merely a number. This past Saturday, Lindberg, the world age-group record holder in the 5K, completed the Publix Atlanta 5K in a blazing 59 minutes, 6 seconds, an accomplishment that topped her age group at the USATF Masters 5K Championships. Lindberg, who walked for the duration of the race, clocked an 11-minute per kilometer pace. 

Lindberg was greeted with flashing cameras and applause from fellow runners as she crossed the finish line. Still, the nonagenarian was oblivious to the fanfare as the first thing she did after crossing the timing mat was, of course, stop her watch.

Last year, the Atlanta native made headlines when she crushed the previous 5K world record for her age group by more than 30 minutes, running a time of 55:48. That record, set in 2017 by 96-year-old Betty Ashley, was 1:28:36. (If you are a Betty between the ages of 95-99, you have a decent shot at toppling a record.) She told local media at that race she thought the record was achievable but was amazed at her record-breaking speed. “I simply stroll, as quick as I can,” Lindberg told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Lindberg has been making local headlines for years with her racing exploits. She began running in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race, an annual 10K, after driving her children to the race’s starting line in 1988 and feeling inspired by the runners there. “I was watching all these people come running by, and I said, ‘I can do that,’” she told WXIAlast year.

“I always say I’m never going to do it again,” Lindberg, then 97, told the news outlet in 2022. “I guess I just don’t know any better. As soon as I get across that finish line, all the aches and pains just disappear.” Since her first race in 1989, she has only missed one Peachtree Road Race.

At 91, Lindberg broke the world record in the 800m for women over 90 at an All Comers Track and Field Meet hosted by the Atlanta Track Club. Her time of 6:57.56 outdid the previous record of 6:59.18 set in 2001.

Lindberg works with a personal trainer three times a week to stay in top racing form while still getting in runs around her neighborhood regularly.

With Lindberg’s inspiring story, she serves as a reminder that age should never keep anyone from running. Take it from Lindberg herself, who told Runner’s World last year: “At 97, why are you supposed to do so poorly?”

(02/28/2023) Views: 1,194 ⚡AMP
by Runner’s World

Runners set world, state records at Publix Atlanta Marathon

ATLANTA — With nearly 8,000 participants, world and state records were set in the Publix Atlanta Marathon weekend. From distances of 50 meters to 26.2 miles, runners of all ages shattered records.

On Sunday, during the half marathon, Kenyans Nicholas Kosimbei and Dorcas Tuitoek made history. Kosimbei ran the fastest half marathon ever in Georgia shattering the previous mark of 1:03:59 and finishing more than two minutes ahead of his nearest rival with a time of 1:00:36.Tuitoek also shattered the record with a time of 1:08:22 in the women's half marathon race just seven seconds under the Georgia state record set by Molly Seidel last year, who went on to win a bronze medal in the Olympic Games marathon. 

Additionally, Matt McDonald of Cambridge, Massachusetts, finished 6th overall in the half marathon at 1:05:32 and Dakotah Lindwurm of Eagan, Minnesota, finished with a time of 1:12:27. Chris Nasser of Atlanta won the Push Assist Division at 1:17:14. 

“It’s fun to run by so many of my old spots,” McDonald said. “Almost every mile, I had some memory of some good time in that neighborhood, whether it was Georgia Tech where I did my Ph.D. or Piedmont Park where I did all my workouts.”

Shlomo Fishman of Silver Spring, Maryland, finished in 1st place in the Atlanta Publix Marathon with a time of 2:37:32.  

“At Mile 18, I just decided I needed to get out of the rain,” Fishman said, who ran a personal best in his first marathon victory. “So, I picked it up a little bit and just went for it.”

In the women's marathon race, Amanda Furrer of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, finished in 1st place with a time of 3:02:47, despite starting in Wave C, eight minutes behind the first non-elite runners. “I was alone for a while, so the cyclist on the course just started telling everyone my name. So people kept cheering for me. It was awesome!” Furrer said. 

On Saturday, the 5K was won by Luke Mortensen, 39, of Athens, at 16:11 and Ellen Flood, 24, of Atlanta, at 17:25. Flood is also a former Georgia Tech runner. 

Atlanta Track Club also hosted the USATF 5km Masters Championships, with 225 athletes ages 40 and over competing for both overall and age-group titles. Bryan Lindsey, 41, of Zionsville, Indiana, and Jessica Hruska, also 41, of Dubuque, Iowa won the overall titles. A world record was set by 97-year-old Betty Lindberg of Atlanta, a legend of the Atlanta Track Club. Her time of 55:48 set a world age-group record winning her 95+ division and destroying the previous mark by more than 30 minutes. 

The 3K Atlanta Publix Kids Marathon was won by 13-year-old Nuriel Shimoni Stoil of Atlanta and 14-year-old Valeria Zambrano of Marietta. 

(02/26/2023) Views: 1,316 ⚡AMP

95-year-old woman sets Canadian 5K age group record

In what was her first-ever road race, Rejeanne Fairhead, a 95-year-old runner from Ottawa, made history on Saturday at the Ottawa Race Weekend 5K. Fairhead set a new women’s 95+ national record of 58:52 over five kilometers.

Although Fairhead set a new Canadian record for her age group, she was second in her 80+ age category. She was beaten by 80-year-old Marie Mullally of Ottawa, who clocked a speedy 5K of 48:01. Mullally’s time is 20 minutes back of the 80+ 5K record set by Alice Cole of Montreal in 2015 (28:38).

Fairhead received honors from the announcers before and after the race for her attempt and accomplishment. She was also the eldest participant of the entire 2022 Ottawa Race Weekend.

Her time was only a few minutes shy of the women’s 95+ world record of 55:48 set by American Betty Lindberg at the Atlanta Peachtree 5K in February. Lindberg smashed the previous record of 1:28:36, which was set in 2017 by 96-year-old American Betty Ashley.

Fairhead ran the 5K to raise money for Perley Health, a community care project that empowers seniors to live life to the fullest. You can contribute to her fundraiser here.

She can now rightfully call herself the second-fastest 95+ woman in the world.

(05/30/2022) Views: 1,295 ⚡AMP
by Running Magazine

Betty Lindberg 97-year-old surprised after breaking age-group 5K world record

On Feb. 26. a 97-year old athlete was astounded as she reached the finish line at the Atlanta Peachtree Marathon Weekend 5K, to find out she set an age-group world record. Atlanta-resident Betty Lindberg broke the previous 95+ 5K world record by 30 minutes, clocking a time of 55:48.

The record will be passed on from one Betty to another as Lindberg broke Betty Ashley‘s 95-99 5K age group record of 1:28:36, which she set in 2017 as a 96-year-old.

Although Lindberg walked the entire race, she averaged 11 minutes per kilometer. According to local media, she believed the record was attainable going into the race but was shocked at how quick her time was. “I simply stroll, as quick as I can,” Lindberg said to the media.

Lindberg, who didn’t start running until she was 63, used to run with the Atlanta Track Club but now goes for quick strolls around her hilly neighbourhood.

Leading up to the race, Lindberg would train by getting out for an hour’s walk around her neighbourhood. She would also supplement her walks with yoga classes at the local fitness center.

(03/03/2022) Views: 1,294 ⚡AMP
by Marley Dickinson

93-year-old Betty Lindberg is running her 28th Peachtree 10K and she just keeps on going

Betty Lindberg likens herself to the Energizer Bunny because she just keeps going and going. Born Sept. 7, 1924, she is the oldest participant set to run in the 49th annual Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race this Fourth of July. Though there is another competitor who also is 93, Lindberg is exactly one week older than the most senior male runner, Lamar Perlis. This year’s race will be her 28th since completing her first at age 64. The Parkers Prairie, Minn., native was not aware of the Peachtree Road Race until her daughter and son-in-law asked her to drive them to the start line in 1987. At the time, she was not overly enthusiastic about getting up at sunrise on the Fourth of July, but once she witnessed the celebrations at the finish line, she decided to give the 10K a try. Lindberg began training by walking around her neighborhood and hasn’t stopped since. She now works with a personal trainer three days a week, completes races of various lengths throughout the year and follows the Atlanta Track Club’s 12-week program to prepare for the race. (06/27/2018) Views: 1,752 ⚡AMP