Marathon will be woman’s 100th race

Associated Press

MENTOR

From the time she began running seriously more than 30 years ago, Jeannie Rice’s goal has been to run 100 marathons by the time she reached 70.

The 66-year-old Northeast Ohio woman will have a chance to complete that ambition a few years early if she finishes the historic Boston Marathon today, a likely possibility after her third-place finish in her age group last year and first-place finish in 2013. She said about 20 friends and relatives will be in Boston to help her celebrate.

Rice feels fortunate that she’s largely escaped injury during her running career.

“Some of my friends’ bodies are falling apart,” Rice told the (Willoughby) News-Herald.

Rice, a real-estate agent who lives in Concord Township, a bedroom community east of Cleveland, believes she’s a medical marvel of sorts. She said she typically runs about 60 miles a week but must shorten her workouts before marathons.

“I love the runner’s high,” she said. “Seven miles on a day doesn’t satisfy me, but that’s what you have to do leading up to a marathon.”

Competition is one of Rice’s main motivators and a key to her success. She holds a U.S. time record for her age after running a marathon in just over 3 hours and 21 minutes last October in Utah.

Though it looks likely she’ll hit 100 marathons long before her 70th birthday, Rice said she already has a new goal for when she reaches that age milestone.

“I’d like to run under four hours when I’m 70,” she said.