Centurion runners set world-record times

Orville Rogers and Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins, two runners from the USA Track and Field Masters Indoor Championships, have proved that age is nothing but a number.

Rogers and Hawkins, 100 and 102 years old respectively, set records for the 60-meter dash in the men’s and women’s 100-plus age groups.

Rogers, a World War II bomber pilot, took up running at the age of 50 and overcame a stroke in 2011 that left his left hand, foot and hip temporarily paralysed.

The Dallas native also set a pending world record in the 400 with a time of 4:16.90 and beat out Virginia man Roy Englert, a 95-year-old.

Englert also set a pending world record, running a 26:52.17 in the 3000-metre race.

Hawkins, who resides in Baton Rouge, is the oldest woman in the history of the Championships and attributes years of cycling to her good health.