adminNew York City. — An American grandmother, who on Sunday was the oldest woman to compete in the New York marathon, died a day later. She was 86.
Joy Johnson from San Jose, California, took just under eight hours to complete the 42.2km race through all five boroughs of the biggest city in the United States.
She stumbled and hit her head at around the 20th mile. But she went to the medical tent only after completing the race and declined their insistence that she go to hospital. “She never really ran to compete, she ran because she loved it,” her youngest daughter Diana Boydston said on Tuesday.
Johnson, who would have turned 87 on Christmas Day, had been a physical education teacher and coach for many years, but only took up running in retirement. — AFP.
Online Reporter