This elderly 107-year-old woman known as “the Hurricane” has not allowed her age limit her talents!
In actuality, Julia Hawkins broke a new world record for fastest 100-meter run in November 2021, at the age of 105, in the Louisiana Senior Games, a tournament for persons over 50.
She is now 107 years old and shows no signs of slowing down!
Hawkins told WWNO that she hasn’t always been a runner, and that when she reached 100, one of her daughters recommended she attempt running the 100-yard sprint in under 100 seconds. “And I did it in a lot less time than that,” she adds.
She aimed to run the dash in under a minute at the 2021 Louisiana Senior Games, but she ended up running it in little over 62 seconds. “I have done much better than that,” she conceded. “It was cold, cold, cold.” But on that particular day, it seemed like the best I could have done given the circumstances.”
Hawkins, a retired teacher, had several of her former pupils cheering her on from the sidelines, which was one of the most uplifting elements of the marathon! “I had three different children from three different schools from where I taught at that race.” They’re also 90 years old. They were in fourth grade when I taught them, and they are now 90! “It tells you how old I am,” she explained.
While she was upset that she didn’t run the dash in under a minute, she did win the quickest 100 meter dash in the 105+ years category (though she wasn’t shocked). Her family was overjoyed that she was able to win the event and that she broke the world record for her wonderful feat!
“Well I knew it was a possibility because there are not that many older people doing things like this,” she said. “When I first started running, there were only a few of us, and they weren’t exactly athletes.” Simply elderly women attempting to do something unusual. So I generally defeated the ones who weren’t really athletic.”
Aside from running, Hawkins enjoys gardening and spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
She also enjoyed spending time with her husband, Murray Hawkins, to whom she had been married for 70 years until his death a few years ago. “He was from New Orleans, and I was from a small town called Ponchatoula.” “When I saw him and met him and saw how smart and attractive he was, I went home and wrote about him in my diary,” she recalled of their early days together.
Eight years later, the couple married over the phone! “He was working for the Navy at the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.” So, when they sent him out there, we married over the phone. That was rare for the time. My father-in-law accompanied me to Baton Rouge to determine whether it was legal in Louisiana. That it was. “So we got married over the phone,” she explained.
Hawkins has some words of wisdom for others as she grows older, noting that we should constantly seek to discover the “magic moments” in life. “Magic moments are things that you don’t see very often.” “Like a particularly lovely sunrise, sunset, or shooting star,” she explained. “Amazing things like that are worth keeping an eye out for.” You do not need to be affluent to see them. You just have to remain alert and keep an eye on what’s going on.”