After the quite tragic Boston marathon event, the world famous London marathon went ahead today. Whilst viewing on TV is about as interesting as watching paint dry, if you either a) watch it live or even better b) run it yourself, the buzz and atmosphere are quite amazing.
Although I can't vouch for the London one, I have some experience with the Stockholm one so I do know the feeling. My point was about a quite incredible lady, yes, even she admitted she was proud of her age, indeed the ripe old age of 85.
No, this is isn't a typo, 85. The reason I chose to write about this person is mainly due to her little BBC interview before the start, as the oldest female in this years race (possibly including the men, but don't take my word for that), which obviously caught my eye.
Apparently she hadn't done a marathon for a few years (you know, like you do) but I had to look her up just now to see if she actually finished. Most people would think it's some PR campaign but oh no, not with this lady. The time was 6 hrs and 37 mins, which is quite staggering. I mean I'm genuinely impressed. 85 years old!! If ever you wanted some inspiration or you are just a lazy bugger, please take note.
There aren't too many amazing people on this planet, but this is an amazing feat. It's easy to remember how much pain your body is in during the following days after running a marathon. I'm not yet 30 and I thought I had it bad. Imagine doing it when you are almost 3 times my age. I probably won't even be on this planet at that age.
Iva Barr, take a bow, you are an inspiration.
