ATLANTA — She won’t win this year’s AJC Peachtree Road Race, but Betty Lindberg will be one of the most-talked-about participants in the world’s largest 10,000-meter run.
Betty is 98 years old. She’s taken part in every Peachtree except one since 1989.
“It’s the 4th of July,” said Lindberg. “Everybody’s celebrating, and then taking part in the largest 10K in the world, I’m really taking part in a lot of good things in one day.”
She doesn’t hold back when she talks about her performance on Peachtree Street a year ago when she was 97.
“It was terrible,” said Lindberg. “I had to stop at least six, seven, eight times. I was hurting.”
Like she does every year, Betty vowed she would never take part in another AJC Peachtree Road Race. Like every year, she changed her mind.
Before moving south, Betty lived in Minnesota, North Dakota and Chicago. She and her husband both worked for Northwest Airlines. When the company moved them to Atlanta in 1958, running was not a part of her routine.
She was 64 when she got her first taste of the Peachtree. The Atlanta tradition grabbed her and hasn’t let go.
“I wonder if these youngsters who start in their teens or maybe high school, if I’d started at that age I may have been tired of running,” said Lindberg. “I don’t think many of them last until 98.”
We have followed Betty through the years, from her Peachtree adventures to the age group world records she has set on the track.
Preparing for Peachtree at the age of 98 brought a couple of new twists -- a dietitian and a training plan prepared by a running expert.
Each year seems to bring more cameras, more microphones, more attention. Betty wonders, “Why all the fuss?”
“Yes, it does give me some pleasure, but I’m really astonished that people think it’s something great,” said Lindberg. “I mean, I feel so good.”
Betty already has an eye on next year and the 55th running of the Peachtree. She’ll be two months short of her 100th birthday. After that, what about one more?
“Who knows? I may be dumb enough to try it.”
To top it all, there’s now a great-granddaughter to cheer her on.
Maybe, just maybe, tiny Gwen will inherit great-grandma’s longevity and her passion for Peachtree.