“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

~Isaiah 40:31

This scripture from the bible was Joy Johnson’s fuel. As a retiree at age 59, Johnson read it every morning as she began her morning routine. Wake up at 4:30, read the bible, drink her coffee, lace up her running shoes, and off she went to the track to run. You see, Joy Johnson BEGAN her running career at age 59. She first started with short distances, gradually started to enter local races, one thing led to another and she found herself at the starting line of the New York City Marathon to run her very first marathon. Little did she know, it would be the first of 25 New York City marathons in a row!

When Johnson was asked why she ran, and why she did this every morning, she said, “I didn’t want to be one of those old ladies who stayed at home pushing a vacuum around until she croaked.”

Joy Johnson was born in 1926 on a dairy farm. It wouldn’t be 40 years until the very first female registered and ran an official marathon. For half of Joy’s life, it was believed that running such far distances (26.2 miles) brought irreparable damage to women’s health.

Johnson’s marathon running continued. She traveled all over the country, did multiple races (around 70 marathons between the ages of 61 and 86!) She loved the memories she made, the adventures she had, and the many friends she met from all over.

In Joy’s own words…