Gladys Burrill, 92, Is World’s Oldest Woman to Finish Marathon

Whereas some of us can barely find the energy these days to walk to work from home, Gladys Burrill is teaching us a lesson in the power of positive thinking and an iron will. At 92, she’s been named the world’s oldest woman to finish a marathon.

Gladys, who goes by the nickname “the Gladyator,” completed the Honolulu marathon in December last year, Examiner informs.

Clearly, she didn’t set out to set a new world record, but that’s not to say the Guinness Book of World Records is oblivious to her achievement, honoring her just now with the title.

“Gladys Burrill, 92 years and 19 days, finished the Honolulu Marathon in 9 hours 53 minutes and 16 seconds, on December 12th, 2010,” Examiner reports.

“This feat earned her the record for Oldest Female to Complete a Marathon, as recognized by Guinness World Records,” the e-zine adds.

“She beat out the previous record held by Jenny Wood-Allen (b.1911) from Dundee, who completed the 2002 London Marathon at the age of 90 years 145 days, in 11 hours 34 minutes on April 14, 2002,” adds the same report.

Asked about her impressive feat, Gladys jokes that “age is but a number” and uses her own case as an example: she first started running in marathons when she was 86. There’s still hope for all of us.

Gladys is not the only granny to cause a stir with her impressive physical abilities, as we also noted in one of our older pieces.

Bette Calman, an 83-year-old yoga instructor, can bend like rubber, pulling and holding certain poses that perhaps not even 20somethings can.

She also says that age has nothing to do with the things you can do with your body, and insists that it’s just an “instrument” that you can use till your final day, if you know how.

“You’re never too old. The body is a remarkable instrument. It can stretch and stretch, and get better all the time. Forget age. Even a basic posture, or just going to a window and breathing deeply, can have big benefits,” she said.

She also said that yoga kept her young – and, clearly, she wasn’t lying.