105-Year-Old Sprinter Ida Keeling: “I’m Running From Old Age”
So began the career of the runner, Ida Keeling, we all know and love. It was then that she didn’t give up. Day after day. Walk after walk. Run after run. She became more and more dedicated.
Ida’s 4-feet-6 inch and 83-pound self across the finish line and said, “My doctor told me that I’m as healthy as a healthy 20 year old. I feel like I’m a winner.” How many great-great grandmother’s do you know would even come close to finishing a 100 meter race? When asked why she runs, she says, she’s “running from old age.”
Even after all her success and fame, Ida remains modest: “I was just exercising, and now I’m all over the world.” She wrote a book called ‘Can’t Nothing Bring Me Down’, an inspiring and motivational read, which I would recommend to everyone – all genders, all ages.
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In the book she explains all her secrets to keeping fit and healthy. Keeling claims to work out 3 to 4 days a week, including a dance class. Her diet includes greens, fruits and cod liver oil, for joint health. A few times a week she’ll add a shot of Hennessy to her coffee! (Although it might sound cheeky she does it to aid her circulation). She stays on it! Even when she’s cleaning and cooking she manages to fit in squats.
“When my two sons were murdered I questioned why God chose that for me, but never questioned His will,” explains Keeling on facebook. “My faith is what carried me through those dark times; then I was introduced to running and my life changed. I am very thankful.”
