At 77, She’s as Fit as a 25-year-old
Jeannie Rice is nothing short of amazing. The 77-year-old runner has won several races and broken world records in the 75-79 age group across all distances. At 5 feet 2 inches tall, the 95-pound runner even beat the fastest men in that age group.
Runner’s World reports that Rice currently owns the world record for every distance between the 1500 meters and the marathon. Rice has run in the Boston and London marathons and participated in the Tokyo marathon 133 times. A team of researchers discovered Rice’s maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) —a measure reflecting her aerobic fitness and endurance capacity—equaled that of a 25-year-old woman.
Without a doubt, Rice is challenging perceptions about aging and running.
Learning more about Rice will help scientists “better understand the potential limits of human performance as we age,” primarily “when exercise is performed at a high level over the adult lifespan,” Scott Trappe, director of the human performance laboratory and a professor of human bioenergetics at Ball State University, told The Washington Post. Trappe was not involved in the study about Rice.
Although Rice has garnered worldwide acclaim, she appears unfazed by it all. She said her parents were healthy and active but not “impressive athletes.” So, she worked hard and credits her training for helping her win races.
“I’m just a normal, average person,” Rice said in an interview with Runner’s World a few days after racing the 2025 Tokyo Marathon. “… I’m not any different than anybody. I don’t do anything different; I’m just lucky, and I’m blessed, you know.”
Rice, a retired real estate agent, said she often runs with friends who are in their 40s and 50s. “I forget how old I am because physically, I can keep up with that.”
Rice began running when she was 35 as a way to lose the weight she had gained during a trip to her hometown of Seoul, South Korea.
“I figured if I jogged around the block, I’d lose five pounds right away,” Rice told The Washington Post. “I was only running one or two miles at a time. I didn’t even have running shoes.”
Rice, who splits her time between Cleveland, Ohio, and Naples, Florida, thought it would be fun to enter a few local races. As it turned out, she won them! After her wins, she decided to run marathons.
Rice ran her first marathon a year later in Cleveland without any serious training. She completed the marathon in three hours and 45 minutes and thought she could improve her time. Six months later, she ran her second marathon in Columbus, Ohio, where she finished in three hours and 16 minutes, 29 minutes sooner than in Cleveland. Rice’s finish time qualified her to run the Boston Marathon, one of the most famous racing events in the world. By this time, there was no turning back. Running would be a part of her life for the next 40 years.
While winning is always motivational, Rice said Joan Benoit Samuelson, an Olympic gold medalist, was her inspiration for running. Rice said, “She was my idol.”
Samuelson, who set countless records during her running career, was the first women’s Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Samuelson, now 67, told The Washington Post that these days, Rice is her source of inspiration.
“Jeannie is incredible,” Samuelson said. “Her times are even more impressive to runners who have been aging up in the sport. Her passion for running as she ages only seems to become more evident with her times and her desire to keep breaking age group records.”
Researchers Marvel at Rice’s Abilities
Researchers in the United Kingdom sought to identify which biomarkers and physical characteristics distinguished her from others of her age. They also wanted to understand how humans can stay fit as they age, regardless of natural ability and the reduced physical activity often seen in older people, Bas Van Hooren, one of the study authors and an assistant professor in nutrition and movement sciences at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, told The Washington Post.
Rice agreed to meet with the researchers six days after she set a new age group world record in the 2024 London Marathon, finishing in 3 hours, 33 minutes, and 27 seconds (averaging 8:08 minutes per mile). While at the exercise lab in England, Rice underwent body fat measurements and various assessments of running and jumping abilities.
Van Hooren and Michele Zanini, who, at the time, was a doctoral researcher at Loughborough University, had Rice run on a treadmill with increasing intensity while measuring her oxygen consumption and heart rate. They were astonished when lab tests showed Rice’s VO2 max was equal to that of a 25-year-old woman. VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen an individual can use during maximal exercise. It serves as a key indicator of aerobic fitness and endurance.
“Her unique physiology allows her to be extremely competitive in any distance running event from the track to the road, a rare feat at the world-class level,” Zanini, now a lecturer in exercise science at the Open University in England, told The Washington Post.
Ways to Maintain Fitness While Aging
Rice may be genetically predisposed to have a high VO2 max and cardiovascular efficiency, Van Hooren said. However, other contributing factors could offer lessons on healthy aging, researchers noted, such as:
1. Consistent exercise. Rice runs 50 miles a week, or 70-75 miles a week, when she’s getting ready for a marathon, with one day off. She also lifts light weights three times a week for upper body strength.
2. Balanced training and recovery. Rice hardly suffered any overuse injuries, such as tendinitis or a stress fracture. Van Hooren said her lack of overuse injuries suggests this balance may have allowed her to maintain high mileage consistently over the years.
3. Healthy diet. Rice said she eats salads, fresh vegetables, Rice, fish, and nuts and avoids fried foods and sweets. However, she admits to occasionally indulging in cheese.
4. Passion and purpose. Rice said she loves running and being an example for athletes of all ages. When people in their 50s and 60s say, “I’m too old to do that,” she tells them they are not.
5. A social life and other interests. Rice has an active social life. She told The Washington Post that she enjoys going out to dance, although not in the week leading up to an important race. “A lot of runners are so serious they don’t do anything socially. But I like to have fun,” she said. “I’m the last one to go home.”
Rice told The Washington Post that she feels over 20 years younger and has ambitions of running for years to come.
“I feel as young as when I was 50,” Rice said. “I’d like to be doing this well into my 80s—that’s my personal goal.”
Source Links:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/77-she-fit-25-old-164243791.html?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=website&guccounter=2
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a64286969/jeannie-rice-vo2-max/
https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/health/boston-london-marathon-diet-exercise-31486757
