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"Not your average 91-year-old": Missoula Marathon's oldest racer
By Claire Peterson,
28 days ago
Returning for her twelfth year, Myrtle Miller will be this year’s oldest competitor for the Missoula Half Marathon.
Racing as a 91-year-old, Miller hopes to demonstrate the importance of exercise.
Miller was a pediatric nurse in Potomac before moving to Missoula 11 years ago.
To train for the Missoula Half Marathon, Miller likes to walk with her dog outside.
“I just enjoy getting out and seeing all of nature and knowing that it’s good for me,” she says.
In previous years, Miller also trained with Run Wild Missoula, a runners club that helps people of all fitness levels prepare for a marathon.
“She’s kind and she was always very early to our 8 a.m. class,” Abby Margolis, a coach at Run Wild, says. “She’s not your average 91-year-old.”
Miller typically walks the half marathon with her son, Brian — an ultra-marathon runner who slows down to walk the race with his mom.
“I just like the time with him, even though we don’t do a lot of talking, just being together for 12 miles, 13 miles, it’s just inspirational,” Miller says.
The motivation to keep coming back to the race every year is to not only upkeep her own fitness levels but to encourage others to do the same.
“I just think people need to realize that exercise is important,” Miller says.
And even though Miller doesn’t notice the 13 miles getting any harder year after year, Margolis loves to see Miller breaking the status quo for a marathon racer.
“I think when people think of others doing a half or a full marathon, they probably jump to conclusions about what that person looks like, how old they are, and Myrtle defies all of those expectations,” Margolis says.
Miller plans to race every year she is able — not letting her age hold her back.
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