We’ve told stories of record breakers and people who live to be very old, but this story is very special.
It’s a story many have seen and shared in recent weeks. At 103-years-old and with just a few years of running under her belt, Julia Hawkins out raced the competition for two gold medals at the 2019 National Senior Games in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
At her age, Hawkins’ athletic career can be described as nothing short of magic. It’s the magic that Hawkins says she most interested in experiencing.
“I have a thing in my life where I’m very interested in magic moments,” she says.
Lining up on the track on June 17, before even snagging her gold medals, Hawkins had already broken the world record for oldest woman to compete on a US track.
“Some of them were a lot younger,” Hawkins says of her competitors. “But they weren’t quite as fast as I was.”
At 101, Julia took up running in order to keep herself moving. And move she did.
In 2017, Hawkins dashed past her competition at the Senior Games to set her first world record in the 100-meter dash for her age group.
During her two heats last week, the 50 and 100-meter dash, Hawkins would set record time in the 50 and come close to surpassing her 2017 record in the 100.
READ MORE: Baton Rouge woman, 103, dashes by competition to set Senior Games record
Julia says that her training regimen is the secret to her long life, but that her passion for gardening is responsible for her youthfulness.
“It’s one of my big passions,” she says. “You need to have interests, friends, books, exercise. All kinds of things like that are passions.”
And with a life this full, there is no slowing down for Julia Hawkins.
