75 year old runner hits sub3.40 at Boston Marathon
This is Rice's best score through seven times in the Boston Marathon. She self-satisfied with the results when answering Runner's World after the tournament. "This race is always very difficult, I have never run well in the Boston Marathon," added the veteran runner now living in Florida, USA.
At the last time she ran the Boston Marathon, Rice reached 4 hours and 3 minutes in 2019. According to this retired real estate agent, a piece of advice from a friend helped her significantly improve her performance when she returned to compete in the tournament. The oldest running in the world.
"I like to run downhill and always run fast, only to have problems later, like muscle cramps. Last time, I was in terrible pain with cramps," Rice said. At this year's Boston Marathon, on your advice, she ran slower, at a pace of 7 minutes and 50 seconds per mile (1.6 km) - instead of the usual 7 minutes and 20 seconds - on the downhill sections.
This change is effective when the 75-year-old runner improves his performance by half an hour compared to 2019.
Rice's latest achievement is much better than the record in the 75-79 age group, set by Norwegian athlete Vera Nystad at the 2022 Berlin Marathon with 3 hours 38 minutes 56 seconds. But according to Runner's World, Rice's record is unlikely to be counted because the race in Boston did not qualify for recognition.
However, for Rice, who has run all six of the World Marathon Majors, it doesn't matter. "Boston is harsher than anywhere else," she added.
Rice lives in Naples, Florida, during the winter, where it's hard to find hills to work out in. Now, after completing Boston 2023, she will go home to Mentor, Ohio and spend half a year there.
The Korean-born runner revealed to have run the Tokyo Marathon with a record of 3 hours 31 minutes 22 seconds just six weeks ago. At that time, Rice was still 74 years old.
In October 2018, Rice surprised the running community when she surpassed the threshold of 3 hours 30 minutes of the 70-74 age group marathon, setting a world record with a time of 3 hours 27 minutes 50 seconds at the Chicago Marathon. Nearly a year later, on September 29, she broke her own record, finishing at the Berlin Marathon with a time of 3 hours 24 minutes 48 seconds.
Rice started jogging at the age of 35 with the original goal of losing weight. "Running has become a part of my life. People wake up and go to work, kids wake up and go to school, and I get up and go for a run," she said, and once revealed that she often writes milestones. Record the world for age groups on paper, stick them on the fridge and chase them.
