Jeannie Rice (born April 14, 1948) is an American runner, known for her short finish times at an advanced age. She holds multiple marathon world records in her age division. Her unusually robust physiology has drawn the attention of medical researchers, who found that she had the highest VO₂ max for a woman 75 or above ever recorded.

Early life

Rice was born on April 14, 1948, in South Korea. She immigrated to

Mentor, Ohio Mentor ( ) is the largest city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 47,450 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Mentor was first settled in 1797. In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home in ...

when she was 18 or 19 to go to nursing school. She was a real estate agent by trade, and managed to sell 27 homes in her first year. She has since semi-retired.

Running

Rice began running at age 35 to lose weight from a vacation. She was inspired to take up marathon running in particular by Joan Benoit's gold medal performance at the 1984 Olympics. She began with the Cleveland Marathon in 1983, running a 3:45. By 2016, she estimated that she ran 1,000 races by that point. She began setting world records when she reached 70 years of age (in 2018). This was around the time she began attracting attention in the running community. By 2019, she held the world records for the Akron Marathon and Akron Half Marathon for women 70+ years of age, posting 3:27:50 and 1:37:07. In 2023, she became a World Marathon Majors six-star finisher. She had completed 134 marathons by 2025, placing first multiple times in her age category of 70+. She has surpassed all male competitors of her age group in a marathon five times. In a 2025 study published in the ''Journal of Applied Physiology'', her VO₂ max was recorded at 47.8, the highest ever recorded for a woman aged 75 or older, and her max heart rate at 180 beats per minute. For reference, such a VO₂ max is average for a 25-year-old woman. The study also noted that with times of 3:24:48 and 3:33:27, Rice holds world records for the marathon in the W70 marathon world record progression 70-74 and W75 marathon world record progression 75-79 year women age group categories. Conversely, her

running economy Running economy (RE) a complex, multifactorial concept that represents the sum of metabolic, cardiorespiratory, biomechanical and neuromuscular efficiency during running. Oxygen consumption (VO2) is the most commonly used method for measuring run ...

was found to be unremarkable. As of 2025, she is the fastest woman (aged 75 to 79) worldwide in the 1500m, 5km or 10km.

Personal life

Rice was married but divorced due to her husband's lack of support for her running. Rice is a mother of two sons. She has grandchildren. In addition to running, she

skis Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins can ...

. She is a snowbird, spending time in both

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

and

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

. Throughout the course of her running career, she has suffered only one injury. She consistently runs per week. Rice is a lifelong

pescetarian Pescetarianism ( ; sometimes spelled pescatarianism) is a dietary practice in which seafood is the only source of meat in an otherwise vegetarian diet. The inclusion of other animal products, such as eggs and dairy, is optional. According to res ...

and says "I eat a lot of rice." She was present at the

2013 Boston Marathon The 2013 Boston Marathon was the 117th running of the annual marathon race in Boston, United States, which took place on April 15, 2013. Organized by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.), it hosted the second of the World Marathon Majors to ...

, and was near the bombing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Jeannie 1948 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) South Korean emigrants to the United States American female marathon runners World record holders American real estate brokers