# 85 year old Newfoundland runner beats 121 younger runners on 20 km race **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 18, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-year-old-newfoundland-runner-beats-121-younger-runners-on-20-km-race/991763 "2023-10-18T19:13:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-year-old-newfoundland-runner-beats-121-younger-runners-on-20-km-race/991763/1 "2023-10-18T19:13:00Z")
News item: > [@](#): > > As she lined up to start Newfoundland’s annual 20-kilometre Cape to Cabot race Sunday, 85-year-old Florence Barron might have been underestimated by some of her competitors. But after an agonizing run up and down the tallest, steepest hills in St. John’s, N.L., Barron had left nearly a third of the field in her dust. > > Barron completed her 10th edition of the race in two hours and 10 minutes, shaving a full minute off her time from last year. She was the 267th runner to cross the finish line after a 150-metre climb to the top of Signal Hill overlooking St. John’s harbour, and was the only competitor in her 80-plus age category. > … > The race takes runners from the top of a hill at Cape Spear, the country’s most easterly point of land, to the top of Signal Hill. The course is a relentless battery of long climbs, and knee-jamming descents. The steep ascent up Signal Hill marks the race’s final kilometre, and it often begins with someone dressed as the grim reaper at the bottom of the hill, reminding runners of the gruelling battle ahead. I’ve never done long-distance running, but I’ve climbed Signal Hill and Cape Spear at walking paces. They’re a tough slog. > **[In Newfoundland, champion runners look up to 85-year-old woman still 'killing...](https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/in-newfoundland-champion-runners-look-up-to-85-year-old-woman-still-killing-it)** > > ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — As she lined up to start Newfoundland’s annual 20-kilometre Cape to Cabot race Sunday, 85-year-old Florence Barron might have been… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-year-old-newfoundland-runner-beats-121-younger-runners-on-20-km-race/991763/2 "2023-10-18T20:13:21Z")
Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-year-old-newfoundland-runner-beats-121-younger-runners-on-20-km-race/991763/3 "2023-10-18T20:33:44Z")
Signal Hill from across the Narrows: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Cabot_Tower%2C_St._John%27s%2C_Newfoundland%2C_South_facing_side.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Cabot_Tower%2C_St._John%27s%2C_Newfoundland%2C_South_facing_side.jpg) And the view down from Signal Hill: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/NLA_StJohns1_tango7174.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/NLA_StJohns1_tango7174.jpg) (If I’ve got my geography right, that little spit on the horizon directly above the cannon is Cape Spear, where the race starts.) ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-year-old-newfoundland-runner-beats-121-younger-runners-on-20-km-race/991763/4 "2023-10-19T16:36:21Z")
Love the photos! St. John’s is a great place; many fond memories brought back by these pictures. Walked to Signal Hill a few times, and as you say, it’s a slog. Luckily the trip down is easier, with pubs galore at journey’s end. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-year-old-newfoundland-runner-beats-121-younger-runners-on-20-km-race/991763/5 "2023-10-19T16:45:31Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > pubs galore at journey’s end. That could be the civic motto of St. John’s. 🍻 ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-year-old-newfoundland-runner-beats-121-younger-runners-on-20-km-race/991763/6 "2023-10-19T16:49:09Z")
I like the way your mind works! It’s changed a lot since I did my PhD there 30+ (gulp!) years ago, but 'tis a grand place, my son! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-year-old-newfoundland-runner-beats-121-younger-runners-on-20-km-race/991763/7 "2023-10-19T17:13:01Z")
I’ve been there three different times over the years, and every trip has been just marvellous. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-year-old-newfoundland-runner-beats-121-younger-runners-on-20-km-race/991763/8 "2023-10-25T00:33:03Z")
And while we’re on the topic of old, fit, Canadians: > [@](#): > > A 99-year-old Hamilton man climbed 1,776 steps to the top of the CN Tower over the weekend, his third time pulling off the accomplishment in support of charity. > > Walter Decker was joined by his son, grandson and two great-grandsons at the United Way ClimbUP on Saturday, where he raised more than $3,000 for people struggling to meet basic needs from housing and food to mental health supports. > > Decker, who turned 99 last week, said he first began stair climbing more than 10 years ago as a distraction from his grief after his wife passed away, which he said made him “lost.” > **[99-year-old Hamilton man completes CN Tower climb for 3rd time | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/99-hamilton-cn-tower-1.7004841)** > > A 99-year-old Hamilton man climbed 1,776 steps to the top of the CN Tower over the weekend, his third time pulling off the accomplishment in support of charity.