Friday, February 25, 2011

Show Some Love for America's Oldest Sprinter

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via Colorlines by Hatty Lee on 2/24/11

Get your running shoes on and get ready to be inspired. Ida Keeling, a 95-year-old great-grandmother from the Bronx, set a sprinting world record with a time of 29.86 seconds in the 60-meter year dash last week in Manhattan. And this isn't her first record-breaking time. Three years ago, Keeling set a record for the 90-and-over age group by running 50 meters in 31.80 seconds.

With a slight frame of 4 foot 6 and 83 pounds, and wearing trademark yellow sneakers, she runs in the hallways of her apartment, lifts weights and rides an exercise bike. "It's so uplifting," Keeling told the New York Daily News. "Instead of giving these children jail time, they should give them a sentence of exercise. That would wake them up."

Keeling lost her husband in 1958. Then she lost her two sons in 1979 and 1981.  After the deaths of her sons, Ida Keeling's daughter Shelley got her to run a 5K in Brooklyn at the age of 67. And she hasn't stopped since. "The biggest thing with my mom is that she never lets anything get her down," Shelley Keeling told the Daily News.

Keep on keeping on, Ms. Ida Keeling.

We're ending the day as often as possible by celebrating love. We welcome your ideas for posts. Send suggestions to submissions@colorlines.com, and be sure to put Celebrate Love in the subject line. You can send links to videos, graphics, photos, quotes, whatever. Or just chime in to the comments below and we'll find you. Be sure to let us know you've got the rights to share any media you send.

To see other Love posts visit our Celebrate Love page.


 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

No comments: