Elderwood Village at Vestal Resident Margaret Betz, 86, is an inspiration. She was a marathon runner later in life and ran several races, setting and beating records for her age group. During her career she won the well-known Los Angeles Marathon and the Boston Marathon for her age group.
Margaret took up running later in life after watching her son and daughter compete in high school. According to Runner World she said, "It looked like fun, so I thought I’d try it."
When she was in her mid-60s, she ran at a sub-seven-minute mile pace. When Margaret was 48 years old, she won her division in the 1984 Los Angeles Marathon with a 3:00:47. Her best 10K of 39:42 was recorded two years later and her 5K personal record of 19:17 in 1990.
"Oh, I never pay much attention to my times," says Margaret. "Someone told me they were records, but I just go out there to run, not break records."
Originally from Yugoslavia, Betz moved to Germany in 1944 and then to Canada with her husband, Helmut, in 1957. They moved to the United States eight years later.
Betz gave up the marathon distance running because, "it required too much training, and it took too long to recover," she explains. "There was too much chance for injury. I liked running too much to take that chance."
In 2014 Margaret was inducted into the USA Track and Field Masters Hall of Fame.
These days Margaret enjoys being a part of our community, participating in a variety of activities, and spending time with friends and family. Stories like Margaret’s show how we can lead a healthy lifestyle as we age and that we can continue to pursue passions at any stage of our life.
