Oak Hill, WV (WOAY-TV): A Greenbrier County race had a special visitor; not just any runner, but a record holder!
A world renowned runner, was in our backyard for the Greenbrier Resort half marathon on Saturday. While she didn’t have her best finish, coming in first for her age division and sixth overall for women, Jeannie Rice has a running history that digs into the record books.
Chief Meteorologist Chad Merrill has her story.
Jeannie Rice just made headline news in Runner’s World magazine for her outstanding performance in the Boston Marathon (130th marathon). On April 17, she ran a 3:33:15 marathon at age 75, beating all the women AND men in her age group!
That’s not her best performance in the marathon though. At age 70 in 2018, she shattered the world record for her age group, 70 plus with a time of 3:27:50 in Chicago! Then, one year later in 2019 she ran 3:24:48 at the Berlin Marathon in Germany. That is the world record for her age group (70 plus).
That’s no her only records! She has the world record for her age group (70 plus) in the half marathon with a mind-blowing time of 1:37:01.
Jeannie was inspired to run after gaining extra weight while in Korea. She simply started by running around the block and then that turned into running marathons. She said the best advice for someone wanting to tackle world records is plenty of sleep, eat well and be disciplined with your running schedule.
Jeannie says she and her friends will return next year to run Greenbrier because the course was so beautiful!
All of us at WOAY wish Jeannie the best on her future running endeavors!
