By Canadian Press

In Newfoundland, champion runners look up to 85-year-old woman still ‘killing it’

Oct 16, 2023 | 11:08 AM

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — An 85-year-old woman ran a notoriously agonizing 20-kilometre road race in St. John’s on Sunday, completing her 10th competitive run of the course and beating 121 much younger people.

Florence Barron ran the steep, relentless hills along the Cape to Cabot course in two hours and 20 minutes, shaving a full minute off her time from last year.

Barron was the 267th runner to cross the finish line after a 150-metre climb to the top of Signal Hill, in downtown St. John’s, and was the only competitor in her age category.

She says she began running at age 59, the same time her husband got Alzheimer’s disease, and used the sport as “therapy.”

Newfoundland runner Kate Bazeley, who has represented Canada internationally, says the 85-year-old is revered as a “superwoman.”

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Bazeley, 39, says everyone in the Newfoundland running community is inspired and awed by Barron continually “killing it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2023.

The Canadian Press