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Ida Keeling: A 102-year-old sprinter
 Ida Keeling 100 years old sets new world record in 100 meters dash
Photo: youtube.com
You read that correctly. Ida, born May 15th, 1915 holds women’s records for the 60 and 100-meter sprints for women 95 - 99 and women 100 - plus.
She is 4-feet, 6-inches tall, and is 83-pounds of dynamite.
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Ida, who lives in New York City, lost her husband to a heart attack when he was 42, making her a single mother to their four children.
She moved the family into a small apartment in a Harlem housing project and supported them by working in a sewing factory.
Today, Ida has two surviving children, one a daughter who is a lawyer and the other, a daughter who is a life-long track and field athlete, and a track coach who also coaches Ida.
It was this daughter, Shelley who convinced Ida to begin running when Ida was 67, after suffering from deep depression and health related issues from the drug related deaths of her two sons.
"I’ve never felt pain so deep," Ida told the New York Times in a 2016 interview. "I couldn’t make sense of any of it and things began to fall apart."
As Ida began to run, the depression lifted and now for decades, she has run competitions across the world, while also continuing to exercise.
Each day, Ida exercises for up to an hour, with a combination of weights, push-ups, stretching, riding a stationary bike or running.
She is also selective in her diet, avoiding foods with preservatives, instead eating fresh produce and grains, and as a supplement, often having a tablespoon of cod-liver oil at breakfast.
But Ida does allow herself a special treat: "This is putting gas in the car," she told the New York Times, before drinking a tall shot of Hennessy.
Ida is a testament to the human spirit. Or as she says, "Your strength is in you. If you’ve got a will, you’ll find a way."
To see Ida in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP4FWwyjfek
Editor's Note:
Editor’s Note: To see Ida in an additional short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S-2eFhoJUI To read her New York Times interview: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/at-100-still-running-for-her-life/
Ida was featured in a segment of the Carl Reiner hosted HBO 2017 documentary, "If You’re not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast," about people over 90 who are thriving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr85aIIrDHU
In the next KazanToday:
The story of a man of miracles.
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