Sister Madonna Buder, author of The Grace to Race, at the Boston Marathon

After I read an article about the difficulty of qualifying, as well as getting a place, at the Boston Marathon, in the latest issue of Runner's World, I remembered that Sister Madonna Buder, author of The Grace to Race, had mentioned to me in our interview that she had hoped to run the Boston marathon:

I plan to run the Boston Marathon in April.  I want to open a new age group for women if possible.  I don’t know if there’s been an 80-year-old woman to run Boston.  When I last ran Boston in 2008, there were several men in their 80s, but no women.

She had told me about quite a few negative race experiences that she has had lately--not finishing different triathlons or other races because of health problems, so I was concerned that she might not get a chance to compete, or finish, the Boston Marathon this year.

Well, she did, and she finished!  And she opened a new class for over-80 women, coming in first (and I assume only) in her class.  Her time was amazing,  finishing in just over 5 hours.  (5:01:05).    That's a great time for many runners, regardless of age.

Congratulations, Sister Madonna!  And thanks for the inspiration!