A local runner is heading to Australia to participate in the World Marathon Majors Age Group World Championships.
Seventy-one-year-old Judy Sheppard ran her very first marathon at the age of 50.
Since then, she’s participated in marathons in London, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Tokyo.
She even ran the Boston Marathon in 2013, the year that the event was targeted by a deadly terrorist bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds of others.
She was about 800 meters from the finish line when the race was held up. “We had no idea what was going on, none, never heard anything, we were just stopped. So after a while they told us there was an explosion at the finish line, and then there was another explosion. So we were there for hours before we ever got back to the hotel.”
She never let the traumatic experience stop her. In 2023, she crossed the finish line in Tokyo, completing her Six Star journey, for which she was awarded the Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Medal.
Now she’s heading to Australia for the Sydney Marathon on September 15.
“To get to that one, you had to run one of the majors. So if you ran one of the majors within 2023 and had a good time within your age group, you got invited. I was delighted!” she laughs.