Older Faster Stronger: 85 and still running strong

Had a chance to hang out with World Record holder Betty Jean McHugh as she underwent a battery of tests at McGill University, the Montreal Masters Study, to find out how she has managed to run marathons so well for so long. Great genes? Yup, probably. Consistent running, yoga, weight training and hiking routine for past 35 years? Most definitely.

Here are a few things to ponder:

1) BJ, at 85, has a higher VO2 max than I do at age 51, and I qualified for the Boston Marathon (and ran it last spring) so I’m hardly a slouch.

2) BJ has 4 more pounds of muscle that I do.

3) BJ has less body fat than I do.

4) On our walks around Montreal, I didn’t want her walking any faster or I could not have kept up.

Hey, 85 is looking pretty fabulous!

Check out BJ’s wonderful book, My Road to Rome, which takes readers from her early days growing up on a small Ontario farm, to adventures in Toronto during the 1940s, across the country to settle in Vancouver where she raised a family before taking up running at age 50 and proving that she is an incredible athletic talent. She has set world records in the marathon and ran three marathons the year she turned 83!

World-record holder in the marathon, at 85, BJ McHugh — she’s on the left. That’s me on the right.