Jeanne Daprano

W70-79
Jeanne Daprano
Middle distance running
Fayetteville , Ga.

More than 40 years ago, at the age of 30, Jeanne Daprano sat bolt upright in bed, realizing her life had to change. "I had a period of about 10 years when I drank and smoked," says the 71-year-old. "Then, at 30, I woke up and said, 'What am I doing?' And the Lord picked me up and turned me around."

Daprano was buoyed by what kept her strong and fit as a young girl growing up on an Iowa farm: running. Daprano eventually embarked on a teaching career in Long Beach, Calif., where she became known as the "running teacher."

"You feel so much better" by exercising, she says. "I was amazed at the number of teachers who backed away from me because I ran with my (third-grade) students. But if I couldn't physically participate in the game, we didn't play it. I made sure I could be out there. There was something about them chasing me, and me chasing them, that was so important."

Daprano is still running. And fast. Last May, she became the first woman over 70 to record a sub-7 minute mile, clocking a 6:47.75. At the USA Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she set national age-group records in the 800-meter run (3:04.26) and the 1,500-meter run (6:22.77). "Some people are drawn to malls and like to shop.

Some people are drawn to the theater," she says. "I just am drawn to the people I meet at these events, like those who are 100 and still competing. Athletes are just a different breed then those you'd see at the mall, or the theater. They're just so alive and wonderful to be around."

Competition is also where Daprano met her husband, Bill, an accomplished Masters competitor in his own right. Both had lost a spouse to lung cancer when they connected at an international meet in England. Eight years ago they married. Today, Daprano and her husband, now 80, make their home in Georgia, "because he wouldn't give up his grits," she says with a laugh.

Daprano continues to teach, working with high school runners, mostly girls. "It's encouraging to let kids know that they don't have to be an athlete just in high school," she says. "You can be an athlete when you're a grandparent. It's not over."

Photo courtesy of Ken Stone.