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Poland’s senior endurance running champion gears up for new exploits

07.09.2022 23:00
Seventy-nine-year-old Barbara Prymakowska, dubbed “the world’s fastest granny,” is training hard for this month’s Bachledówka Uphill and Przehyba Uphill races in the Polish mountains.
Seventy-nine-year-old Barbara Prymakowska, dubbed the worlds fastest granny, is training hard for this months Bachledówka Uphill and Przehyba Uphill races in the Polish mountains.
Seventy-nine-year-old Barbara Prymakowska, dubbed “the world’s fastest granny,” is training hard for this month’s Bachledówka Uphill and Przehyba Uphill races in the Polish mountains.Image by Markus Distelrath from Pixabay

The regional daily Gazeta Krakowska has devoted much space to Prymakowska’s latest success. 

At last weekend’s 21st World Masters Mountain Running Championships in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, the Pole took the gold in the 75 plus category, covering the distance of nine kilometres in one hour and 16 minutes, over 14 minutes faster than the runner-up.

Prymakowska, who hails from the southern Polish city of Tarnów, is the reigning European champion in mountain running.

A graduate of the Academy of Physical Education in Poland’s historic city of Kraków, she worked as a PE teacher for many years. 

Since running her first marathon at 58, Prymakowska has completed sixty marathons, including those in New York, Boston, Chicago, Berlin, London, and  Tokyo. 

At 68, she scaled Mont Blanc, becoming the oldest Polish woman to achieve the feat. 

Prymakowska has also competed in cross-country skiing events in many countries. 

(mk/pm)