New Jersey celebrates 100th birthday by running 100-meter dash at Penn Relays
On Friday, Lester Wright turned 100.
On Saturday, he celebrated by toeing the line and taking off in a race for the ages as a crowd of thousands cheered him on.
Wright ran the 100-meter dash at the Penn Relays, said to be the oldest and largest track and field competition in the country.
After serving in World War II and running a successful dental lab in Long Branch with his wife for nearly four decades, Wright picked up running later in life.
At the age of 76, he won the 200 meters at the Penn Relays and this year he returned to run the 100 meters at age 100.
"I guess it's really something that you don't often hear about and it seems like it would be somewhat novel if I can get out there and really perform," Wright said.
"It's up to him. If he wants to do it, that's what he wants to do," Wright's wife, Adele, said.
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