Nationwide — Johnnie Reid, a 62-year-old African American athlete who works on the State Lawyer’s workplace in Naples, Florida, simply broke a nationwide file on the Nationwide Senior Video games in Ames, Iowa. She ran 100 meters in 13.6 seconds within the 60-64 age group.
This, nonetheless, is just not the primary time that she has damaged a file. In 2023, she additionally broke a file when she ran 50 meters in 7.36 seconds in the identical age group. Final week, although, whereas in Iowa, she broke her personal file working 50 meters in 7.23 seconds.
Reid, as soon as a highschool monitor runner, rediscovered her ardour for the game at age 50—and she or he says she’s now quicker at 60 than she was a decade in the past. Her return to competitors started when a pal inspired her to enter the Senior Video games in Fort Myers. One race was all it took to reignite her love for the game, and she or he’s been chasing pace ever since.
Again when her son left for school, Reid was looking for a venture to fill her “empty nest” years. The reply got here from her personal previous. “Working had introduced me a lot pleasure as a young person,” she recalled. “Once I began coaching for the Senior Video games, it clicked immediately. I jumped proper in and by no means turned again.”
Through the years, Reid has drawn inspiration from the outstanding athletes she’s met on the Senior Video games. “The seniors I’ve met there are wonderful,” she stated. “They’ve grow to be my heroes and ‘she-roes,’ pushing me to maintain going and provides my finest.”
Her development as a competitor hasn’t simply come from years on the monitor—it’s additionally been fueled by a willingness to study and alter. Simply weeks earlier than competing in Kentucky this yr, a pal identified that she was leaving the beginning blocks incorrectly. Reid went dwelling, turned to YouTube for steering, and found the way to enhance her drive: explode out of the blocks, keep low, pump her arms at most pace. “When a race is over in seconds,” she stated, “each single motion issues.”
Along with sprinting, Reid competes in shot put and javelin, following a rigorous weekly schedule that balances monitor work, power coaching, and ability apply. Monday nights are for dash drills at Naples Excessive Faculty, working distances from 100 to 300 meters and refining her block begins. Tuesdays are reserved for shot put apply, whereas Wednesdays discover her on the NCH Wellness Heart lifting weights, squatting, and doing plyometric workouts like field jumps and lunges.
When requested what recommendation she would give to others aiming to coach at a excessive degree or pursue targets like competing within the Senior Video games, Reid stated her message is straightforward: if she will do it, anybody can. “It’s a must to see it in your thoughts and put it in writing, nearly like making a imaginative and prescient board,” she defined. “My private mantra was, ‘I’m the quickest lady in my age group,’ and I stored working till that grew to become my actuality.”
Make sure you observe her on Instagram @NubianTF60
