BATON ROUGE, La. — A 101-year-old runner from Louisiana who just took up the sport a year ago has set a woman's world record in the 100-yard dash for her age group, a newspaper reports.
With a time of 39.62 seconds, Julia Hawkins established the record in the 100-yard dash for women 100 and older at this year's National Senior Games in Birmingham, Alabama, The Advocate reported. She also competed in the 50-yard dash, besting competitors as young as 90 in 18.31 seconds while earning the nickname "Hurricane Hawkins," according to the paper based in the Louisiana capital of Baton Rouge.
Hawkins began her competitive athletic career at age 75, entering as a bicyclist in national and state senior games. A graduate of Louisiana State University, she had given herself a bicycle as a wedding present when she married her college sweetheart. The couple eventually settled in Baton Rouge, where they raised four children.
To train for her cycling events, the 5-foot-tall (1.52-meter) Hawkins would ride a 6-mile (
"There wasn't a single woman around in the meet," she explained. "So I quit. It's no fun."
Her athletic renaissance began at the urging of her children, who entered her in the sprint event at the Louisiana Senior Olympic Games. Hawkins said she had never considered running competitively.
"That amazed me," she says. "I never even tried it. They thought I could. And I could."
Hawkins plans to run once more, at the USA Track and Field Masters Outdoor Championships scheduled this month at LSU's track.
Her training regimen eschews sprinting and weights for tending bonsai trees and continuing to bicycle around her
"At this age, you're not getting better. You're getting worse," she said. "You only have so many 100-yard dashes left. You have to save them."
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
The Associated Press
