An 81-year-old has completed her 175th marathon as she proves that age is just a number and it's never too late to put your mind to something. Not many people will complete a marathon in their lifetime, because let's be honest, it's a lot of work that requires a huge amount of dedication and physical fitness. Most of us will go through a phase where we tell everyone that we're taking up running but after a week we've packed it in while using some weak excuses like blaming the weather. For anyone that needs that extra boost of motivation, let us introduce you to 81-year-old Hilary Wharam who has recently completed her 175th marathon. [[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/calendarnews/posts/pfbid025GBjkvBbKF25HhUBAcgHWmMzYtaYpS9zkRyKfcDKsKzVYBzzR3E2aqs31pUj35Thl]] As reported by the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-65600312?at_medium=social&at_link_origin=BBC_News&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_campaign_type=owned&at_format=link&at_ptr_name=facebook_page&at_link_id=EC4D99D0-F3BE-11ED-8772-E078AD7C7D13&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_type=web_link&fbclid=IwAR004nSWeVZ1KAhUNY8g9h077fecPZC4oTy68175lOt52C8ZXfExpmXsUTc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a>, Hilary first started running marathons when she was 55, and it's her intended target to get to 300 races under her belt. The 81-year-old recently completed the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon and she was absolutely glowing when she reached the finish line. Coming in with a final time of eight hours and 15 minutes, she was the talk of the town as people flocked to congratulate her. "It was amazing. I never expected it to be so good," Hilary said. "So many people know me, not just the runners but from other disciplines, so as I was running round people were jumping out from the crowd to give me a hug." The marathon was in support of Rob Burrow, a former Leeds Rhinos rugby league star who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019. Hilary was running for the Horsforth Harriers, a running group that saw one of their members tragically pass away from the same disease. During the run, it seems like the 81-year-old used her experience to offer words of encouragement to others who were part of the race. "At eight miles, I caught up with a lady who had only been running for two years," Hilary said. "She joined the marathon and had been training ever since, but your training doesn't tell you how to cope when the wheels start coming off and you start hurting. "So from eight miles, all the way around, I talked her to the finish. I'm croaking now because of all the talking. Actually, she gave me one of my very best marathons. It's always hard, it's harder on your own, but if you've got a captive audience, and you're thinking about helping them, you just fly because you're not concentrating on yourself at all." [[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/calendarnews/videos/526567376160656/]] Over 12,000 people took part in the marathon all running for good causes. It's great to see Hilary so active and we'll be cheering her on as she races her way to her target of 300 marathons! <h6>Featured image credit: RUN 4 FFWPU / Pexels</h6>

81-year-old completes her 175th marathon

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