87-year-old woman to run the New York Mini for the 26th time
Watch the 2024 New York Road Runners' Mini 10K wherever you stream abc7NY starting at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, June 8
NEW YORK (WABC) -- At 87, Ulrike Klopfer is running in her 26th New York Mini 10k this Saturday.
She will be one of the 9,000 women in Central Park running in a race steeped in history.
The first so-called 'Crazy Legs Mini Marathon' took place in 1972
"Crazy Legs" was name of a women's shaving gel and "mini" was a reference to the mini-skirt.
It was the first women's only road race in the nation and had only 72 participants.
Klopfer was not one of them as she didn't start running until about a decade later.
"I went out early in the morning and walked a bit and tried to run from one street light to the next, couldn't do it, you know. So, I kept going and going," she said.
She kept going for two years, and then -
"My son on the bus saw a sign - an advertisement - for the 'Crazy Legs Mini Marathon' and he said, 'hey mom, why don't you run it?'" she explained.
So, she signed up for her first Mini 10k in 1982 and has been hooked on running races ever since.
Klopfer has advice she gives new runners, particularly those who want to start later in life.
"It's never too late and give it a try. Don't say you can't do it. This is true with everything. Go out and walk. Let's walk a little bit faster. Try running, Try jumping up and down. Make something of your life. Don't just sit there or lie there waiting to die," she said with a laugh.
Even at 87, Klopfer says she has no plans to stop running and she continues to set goals for herself.
"I should do more training. What I used to do. Haven't gotten to that yet, but I hope to do it, when I stop playing mahjong on my iPhone. I am addicted," she said, laughing.
Watch the 2024 New York Road Runners' Mini 10K wherever you stream abc7NY starting at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, June 8
Coverage of the race, including features, interviews, and professional race begins on Eyewitness News Saturday morning.
The professional race will be available everywhere you stream abc7NY starting at 7:45 a.m. that day.
Reporting live from the event will be an all-women team of WABC sports anchor Sam Ryan and meteorologist Dani Beckstrom, along with U.S. Olympian Carrie Tollefson, host of the Ali on the Run Show podcast Ali Feller, and running advocate Jacqui Moore.
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