All eyes may have been on Mo Farah during his last competitive running of the Great North Run this past weekend, but another runner made history for staying in the game a little longer.
Bill Cooksey, a 102-year-old World War II vet, became the oldest man to complete a half marathon after finishing the race on Sunday.
Aided by walking companion Gavin Iceton, Cooksey finished the 13.1 miles in 5 hours, 41 minutes.
Far from his only impressive feat at an advanced age, Cooksey had completed 10 miles a day for 10 days to celebrate his 100th birthday and biked 1,000 miles in honor of his 101st birthday. For 102, he decided to run in the half-marathon in support of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust.
“I’ve always wanted to do it,” Cooksey told ITV before the race. “I’ve been up here 30 years and always walked, and when I heard about the Great North Run, I thought, ‘I’ll be able to do that surely,’ because there’s the additional impetus of the NHS. Actually, I don’t think I would have done it if it wasn’t of benefit to the NHS,” he said.
The Great North Run saw torrential rainfall following days of high heat in the U.K., leaving many runners stuck walking further than anticipated after floods hit roads and the Metro system.
Despite the challenges, Cooksey braved the conditions and completed his goal to raise money for the NHS. “I am glad I have done it,” he told the Daily Mail. “I wish we didn’t have to go through all that rain—but we did it.”
Pat Chambers, the charity development manager for the trust, praised Cooksey’s efforts after the event: “What a hero Bill Cooksey is. He continued walking through a thunderstorm to become a record breaker, completing it in just over five hours and 40 minutes. We are so proud of him.”
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
