An elderly Pine Bluff woman demonstrating that age is irrelevant by competing in track

Pine Bluff, Arkansas – It’s never too late to try something new, as demonstrated by an Arkansas woman who races against the odds every day and inspires people across the nation.

It’s a runner’s routine – the shoes, the track, the warm-up, the pace. Vickie Liddell is running with a new gang these days.

“I never imagined that I would be in this position today when I first started running,” Liddell remarked.

She is unique in a lot of ways.

“I compete in the age group of 65 to 69,” she declared. “My age is 68.”

Liddell’s adventure began in the music hall, not on the track.

Liddell remarked, “Even on campus, they would find me rushing from the principal’s office to the band room.”

To the rhythm of her own drum, Liddell sprints. After retiring from teaching band in June 2019, she took up track.

“During my prep period, I would run around the band room, and I turn the lights off at lunchtime,” Liddell remarked. “To me, it felt like a calling.”

One day, she followed that calling to the track. The rest is history after her current coach noticed her, but there were some challenges along the road.

“I pulled a hamstring in the first 15-20 meters of my first-ever meet,” Liddell remarked.

But she continued, foot after foot. Liddell persevered despite suffering from a damaged meniscus and having her gallbladder removed throughout the years. She participated in regional and statewide competitions before earning a spot in the senior national games.

She declared, “I have 75 medals since I retired in 2019.” “Out of 68, five are silver, and two are bronze.”

She competes in long jump, the 50-meter sprint, and the 100, 200, and 400-meter events.

She practices with primary school-aged children who are attempting to keep up with her rather than the other way around.

Liddell remarked, “I think I should be faster the older I get.”

She reduces her time on the clock as she gets older.

Liddell claimed, “Last year, I ran faster than I did when I was 63.”

She will play in one more state game in the hopes of qualifying for a few more events at the 2025 National Senior Games, for which she has already qualified in numerous events.

“Step by step,” Liddell remarked.

Liddell resists letting aging catch up to her. She lives by the adage, “You don’t know unless you try.” Regardless of age, she is motivating people to put on their shoes, make their mark, and go.

“If you want to do something, just get started. If you keep telling yourself that you can’t, you never will. Don’t let this stop you. But if you let yourself get there, you can, you can accomplish more than you believe, Liddell added.

Liddell is presently getting ready to compete in the 2025 National Senior Games in the following year, after dominating the tournament thus far this year.