PROFILE--Jeannie Rice has been running for 37 (very fast) years


(June 2021) Jeannie Rice, now 73, holds the single-age world record for a marathon by a 71-year-old woman. She set that mark, 3:24:48, at Berlin in 2019, improving by 3 minutes on her 70-year-old time (3:27:50) the previous fall in Chicago. “I’m more competitive than ever,” says Rice, who laughs that she gets faster as she gets older. She also knows there are no short cuts to training and works hard, putting in the weekly miles and the speed workouts to meet her goals. This October's Tokyo Marathon (her 124th overall) is next on her list. It will give her all six of the Abbot World Marathon Majors. Rice, who was born in Korea and came to the states as a 19-year-old, splits her time between Ohio and Florida.

Career-Occupation? I am a semi-retired real estate agent. I like to keep busy and also keep my own schedule so I can get in my training.

When did you start running and why? I started running in the summer of 1983 when I was 35. I had been visiting family in Seoul, Korea, for 3