New York, NY – A day after retaining her title as the oldest female runner to complete the New York City Marathon, 86 year-old Joy Johnson passed away while napping in her Manhattan hotel room.
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The NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (http://nydn.us/1b9tKgg) reports that Sunday marked the 25th time the San Jose, CA resident finished the prestigious race.
Johnson’s sister, Faith Anderson, who had accompanied her on the trip, said Johnson fell and hit her head around the 20-mile mark, but declined medical attention and insisted on completing the grueling event.
Anderson said she accompanied her sister to her customary post-race interview with the “Today” show Monday morning, after which Joy complained of fatigue and returned to the Roosevelt Hotel for a nap.
Faith said her sister never woke up, and was declared dead at Bellevue Hospital later Monday.
Johnson had long kidded about wanting to “die running,” telling a group of pre-race runners Saturday, “I always say I’m going to run until I drop. I’m going to die in my tennis shoes. I just don’t know when I’m going to quit.”
See below video, In 2008 The Wall Street Journal reporter Matthew Futterman interviewed Mrs. Johnson, how she trains for the marathon.
….אל תפתח פה לשטן
Just goes to show you…running around like a meshugeneh and sustaining head trauma is good for you…napping is what’ll kill you.
That’s another reason not to run the marathon.
It just shows you, that you shouldn’t do things to have something to talk about which will impress people.
You have to be above that.
Think of yourself and think of hashem.
It’s not one size fits all.
Regarding aging health, one obviously needs to focus on honest health. Not external things that give the outward impression of what MUST be a healthy person.
Indeed, some of the healthiest people and who are between the ages of 15-50 would be ill advised to ever do even a half marathon, even if they are athletic.
I don’t think there is any human who gets extra benefit by running more than one hour.
And also, this story shows that there is no point in trying to “prove” something.
OK, it proves that the 80+ y.o. runner didn’t die just like he/she didn’t die when he/she was 30 after a marathon. But that’s about all that it proves.
(actually, i once felt ill for a day or two after swimming more than i was ready for. If you think you SHOULD be able to do something, [not a marathon of course, no one], you should not SPEND your health on it, but should GET health to do it first. And then, not waste that health for proving things, only if it is anyway healthy to do so.
But i agree, it is a big dilema for people growing older to know whether or not they should reduce what they used to do fine, and how to recuce it, especially if there is so much more to acomplish in life.