After shattering the world record in 2022, Betty Lindberg ran the Publix Atlanta 5K in a blazing 59 minutes, 6 seconds.
Betty Lindberg, at the age of 98, proves that age is only a number. She recently completed the Publix Atlanta 5K in an impressive 59 minutes and 6 seconds, securing her position as the world age-group record holder in the 5K and winning her age group at the USATF Masters 5K Championships. Lindberg accomplished this feat by walking the entire race at a pace of 11 minutes per kilometer.
As Lindberg crossed the finish line, fellow runners cheered and cameras flashed, but she remained unaware of the attention. Her first action was to stop her watch.
There are reasons why Betty Lindberg pushes her body to its limits, she trains 6 days a week, at 98 years old.
What those reasons are? She has no idea.
“You know, if you could tell me then I can tell you but I don’t know!” said Betty.
Betty started running in her 60s. She has broken multiple world records since then. Her last race was the USA Track and Field Masters 5K Championships.
”That last two-tenths of a mile, it is sort of uphill…and I was really struggling on it but I finished!” said Betty.
She is a legend, especially in the Atlanta running scene.
“It is Betty’s world and we are all living in it!” said Rich Kenah, CEO of Atlanta Track Club.
”I walk as fast as I can. It takes me a long time to do a race but I start it and I finish it. I have never not finished a race,” said Betty.
In fact, she considers her running achievements to be quite unremarkable. She doesn’t understand why people are so excited to meet her, to see her, to cheer her on.
“I am glad that people are inspired by me but it is not my aim to go out there and do that,” said Betty.
While Betty might not understand her impact, the people who know her or have met her can tell you why people flock to her.
”Betty is gold. She is the best of us and every day that Betty is out there as a representative of this running community, this community is better for it,” said Kenah.
She is a reminder that you will find you are searching for: possibilities or limitations.
”I mean, that is it! I just keep trying!” said Betty.
The previous year, the Atlanta resident made headlines by breaking the previous 5K world record for her age group by more than 30 minutes, finishing with a time of 55:48. The previous record of 1:28:36 was set in 2017 by 96-year-old Betty Ashley. If you happen to be a Betty between the ages of 95 and 99, you might have a decent chance of surpassing the record. Lindberg remarked to the local media at the race that she believed the record was within reach but was surprised by how fast she had broken it. “I just walk as fast as I can,” Lindberg said to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.