77-year-old athletics legend wins 7 of the world's biggest marathons

(Dan Tri) - American athlete Jeannie Rice won her age group by more than 80 minutes at the 2025 Sydney Marathon. Thereby, she completed a collection of 7 races in the World Marathon Major system.

Sunday’s Sydney Marathon marked a historic milestone for 77-year-old American marathon runner Jeannie Rice. She completed the 42.195 km distance in 3 hours, 37 minutes, 48 ​​seconds. This achievement not only helped her win the 75-79 age group but also officially conquer all 7 of the world’s biggest marathons (Abbott World Marathon Majors).

At the age of 77, Jeannie Rice is still persistent and tenacious on the running track (Photo: Running Magazine).

More impressively, Rice also outpaced all male runners in her age group. The fastest male runner clocked 4:00:52, more than 22 minutes behind her. Rice averaged under 5:10 per kilometer for the entire 42.2 kilometers. That’s an extraordinary achievement for someone in her 70s.

Jeannie Rice is a household name in the world of distance running. She has won her age group in all seven major marathons: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Sydney.

Last April, Rice broke the 75-79 age group world record at the London Marathon with a time of 3 hours 33 minutes 27 seconds, beating the runner-up by 30 minutes and even faster than male athletes of the same age. In 2022, at the National Masters Athletics Championships (USA), she also broke a series of world records in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m distances.

Mrs. Rice is in amazing physical shape at the age of 77 (Photo: Getty).

Previously, at the age of 70, Ms. Rice set a world marathon record for the 70-74 age group with a time of 3 hours 27 minutes 50 seconds (in 2018). In 2023, she ran the Boston Marathon in 3 hours 33 minutes 15 seconds, even faster than her current record, but this achievement was not recognized due to the terrain of the Boston race course.

Not only did she excel on the track, Rice also became the subject of medical research. After breaking the record in London, she participated in a series of physical tests at a laboratory in England. The results showed that she had a VO₂ max of 47.8, the highest maximum oxygen consumption ever recorded in a woman over 75, and a maximum heart rate of 180 beats/minute, an astonishing number for her age.

This past summer, Rice continued to show consistent performance in shorter distances, clocking 39:56 in the 8K at the Johnnycake Jog, 24:06 in the 5K at Friday Night Lights, and 23:04 in the 5M at the Rock Hall in Ohio.

Today, Ms. Rice splits her training time between her hometown of Mentor, Ohio, and Naples, Florida, spending half the year training. It is her perseverance, discipline, and passion for running that has kept her in shape at age 77, even achieving feats that many younger athletes may not be able to achieve.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/huyen-thoai-dien-kinh-77-tuoi-vo-dich-7-giai-marathon-lon-nhat-the-gioi-20250905141417823.htm