Just Like Harriette

By Amy Coward

I can just hear the roar from the crowds as she crossed the finish line. It had taken Harriette Thompson 7 hours and 24 minutes, but at 92 years of age she became the oldest woman to complete the San Diego Marathon. What a feat!

I wish I had been there.

I hope when Harriett crossed the line, people were yelling, “Go Harriette!” Or, “You’ve got this, Harriette!” Just like they would any other runner. Too often, when someone older does anything – dance, exercise, even wear something fashionable – you hear the patronizing “Isn’t she cute?” Or “Isn’t that sweet!” What the heck? Why does it have to be sweet or cute? Why can’t it just be?

Furthermore, people sometimes add “Miss” to an older woman’s name as if suddenly she’s too old to be on a first name basis. Surely no one yelled, “Go, Miss Harriette!” I hope not.

But I digress. The point is, I’m in awe of Harriette Thompson and I want to be just like her.

I’ve only been running a few years now (obviously late to the party) and I’ve already noticed how there are fewer people at my age (fifty, ahem, something) at local and regional races. In fact, on the occasion when I place in my age group, I know deep down it’s only because there were only 3 of us there to begin with.

Harriette Thompson didn’t even run her first marathon until she was 76. Maybe she likes running because she knows she has the age group win wrapped up. Or, perhaps she gets a secret high from passing people far younger than her along the way. Bottom line is, she’s doing it and her longevity genes are making it possible. Fortunately, I’ve got longevity genes too. My mother and her sisters are well in to their 80s and 90s and are going strong, as did the generation of women before them. My mother still does “Wii” bowling and is known to join in for an Electric Slide at a wedding. Maybe if she had gotten into the running craze years ago she would still be out there too.

To me, running races and crossing the finish line with a crowd of people cheering is a genuine rush. So I plan to keep at it as long as my legs will carry me. It may or may not be a marathon, but I plan to stay out there pounding the pavement regardless of how long it takes me. Even when my hair is completely gray (beneath the bottled blonde, of course), I’ll don my spandex pants and neon running shoes and pump my 70s funk music (a little K.C., a little Kool) into my ears and keep pushing.

But be forewarned. If I hear any of the aforementioned comments about me being “sweet” or “cute”, just know that I’ll be giving you the evil eye beneath my ever cool running shades. I may even utter something ugly under my breath. Just like Harriette, I want nothing distracting me from the mission at hand – racing across the finish line, smiling ear to ear, waving to the crowd with joy.

Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is turning her empty nest upside down looking for fun and finding it. 

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