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Harriette Thompson becomes oldest woman to finish a half-marathon

The nonagenarian completed the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half-Marathon on Sunday morning setting a new record

Harriette Thompson

Harriette Thompson became the oldest woman ever to complete a half-marathon.

The 94-year-old completed the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half-Marathon in less than four hours on Sunday morning. At the California-based Rock ‘n’ Roll event, Thompson completed 21.1K in 3:42:56. The achievement breaks the previous record held by Gladys Burrill, according to Sports Illustrated, who completed a half-marathon in 2012 at 93.

In 2015, the former concert pianist set a record becoming the oldest woman, at age 92, to complete a marathon, doing so in 7:24:36. The Charlotte, N.C. resident is a two-time cancer survivor and races to raise awareness and funds for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

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Thompson had wanted to do the marathon in San Diego but “health issues,” according to the Washington Post, prevented her from attempting to improve on her own world record of oldest woman to complete a 42.2K. The Post reports that she had run the San Diego race 16 times prior to Sunday.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half-Marathon. According to the San Diego Union Tribune, more than 21,000 runners participated across all events.

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