Barbara Poole ran her first half-marathon at 70.
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She finished her sixth 21-kilometre run in Tamworth on the weekend in an impressive time of two hours, 37 minutes.
When the Express spoke with her about ten minutes later, she wasn't exhausted or wiped out, or even noticeably puffed.
The Armidale runner described herself as simply "hungry".
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"I did my first [half-marathon] to celebrate turning seventy," she said.
"I'm only 73, now. I did one the first year. And then I did two last year, and this is my third this year."
Mrs Poole was the oldest runner at Tamworth's 49th running festival on Sunday. The youngest were barely in primary school.
The retired accountant told the Express that her life after work revolved around running, such is her love of the sport.
"I have a running buddy who's 10 years younger than me, and she said, I've just got to keep running so that she's got somebody to run with!'
Club secretary Greg Poetschka said the Tamworth Running Festival was a great event for runners of all levels of skill, and had a much more casual atmosphere for beginners than other long-distance running events.
Having competitors of different ages is a big strength of the event he said.
"If you don't use it, you lose it," he said.
"That's why it's so good to have such a range of ages [taking part]."
But on the other hand, the 10-kilometre circuit is a challenging but comfortable run, being mostly on concrete, he said.
"We've worked on making it a very supportive event," he said.
"People try to beat their own times and whatever, they go really hard. But there's no sheep stations. It's all about supporting each other."
The festival is the state's second-oldest continuous event of its type in the state; it ran in both 2020 and 2021.
The organising committee is preparing for its 50th event next year, Mr Poetschka said.
"We'd certainly look at planning something. Hopefully. You know, the world will settle down and we can actually market a lot further out," he said.
More than 300 people took part in the Sunday event, with 67 running the half-marathon, and 17 taking on the "triple threat" by running two more events in addition to the long-distance race.
The event raised money for Bullimbal School.
Ricky and Evelyn Graham both took part on the weekend.
Bridie Graham said the family of runners had travelled from Gunnedah, setting off before dawn to make the first race.
"It's just good to be outdoors and get a bit of fitness and the kids and it's just great for them," she said.
"It's just good for the kids to be involved in the sport as well."
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