Judging by video showing her dancing before a second attempt at the 100-meter dash, Ella Mae Colbert has plenty of life in those 100-year-old legs. Now that she’s warmed up with a solo, exhibition race in 46.79 seconds, it’s time for her handlers to get serious. As commenters have noted, her mark Tuesday at Chesnee Middle School in South Carolina is far from record-eligible: She didn’t have three in the race. The event didn’t have a USATF sanction, and who knows whether a zero-control test was performed or the track was certified? I contacted Paul Humphries, her nephew, and he replied, in part: “The purpose was for the Guinness record and not the U.S. track record. The company out of Charlotte did the wind speed (0.9) and had all the proper equipment. They also invited Miss Ella Mae to participate in an official track event to make it a U.S. track record for her age. They had all the proper certification and were well organized in the coordinating the event for the purpose of a Guinness Record.” I hope to get more details. In the meantime, don’t stub your toe, Miss Ella Mae! Ida Keeling is waiting!

Several accounts of the race:

http://www.today.com/video/100-year-old-retired-teacher-sets-100-meter-race-record-688063555609

http://www.11alive.com/news/100-year-old-woman-sets-record-in-100-yard-dash/201670843

http://www.wyff4.com/news/100yearold-retired-teacher-dashes-toward-world-record/39593630

http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/31983535/100-year-old-retired-chesnee-teacher-attempts-to-break-world-record

Sample story:

CHESNEE, S.C. —A retired teacher from Spartanburg County could be a record breaker.

Ella Mae Colbert, 100, ran the 100-meter dash at Chesnee Middle on Tuesday.

Students, teachers, school district employees and people from the community lined the track to support her. They chanted “Ella Mae” at times, causing Colbert to do a dance before she started running.

When the gun went off, she started running but tripped. She needed a bandage for a chin after the fall.

“When she fell, I almost cried, then when she got up it made me feel 100 times better,” said Martha Cox, a seventh-grade student. “She’s a major inspiration on me, because I run track and I hope to be like her when I get older.”

Colbert then went back to the starting line. The gun went off again and she took off.

“She fell, but she got back up to do it. I think we should all be the same way she did. Every time we fall, just get back up and keep trying,” said Eva Vaca, a seventh-grade student.

An official timing company tracked Colbert’s every move.

She crossed the finish line after 46.79 seconds. The world record for a 100-meter dash run by a 100-year-old was 1.17 seconds.

Colbert’s family will take the statistics from the timing company and share them with Guinness World Records, hoping to have Colbert certified as the new record holder.

“Oh, I feel all right. I’m not tired,” Colbert said after sitting down. “Some of these kids around here, they know I don’t stop.”

Colbert, who is a retired teacher from Spartanburg School District 2, took the moment as a chance to teach the people around her.

“I’m glad that you came. I’m glad that you thought about me,” Colbert told the crowd. “I want you to do your best so when you get my age, you’ll be running, too. Most of you got to do good, do better and do your best.”

Some of Colbert’s former students were there to cheer for her.

“She was as tough then as is now. She was awesome. She kept us all in line,” said Carla Horton, who was Colbert’s student in sixth grade. “What an amazing testimony to these kids that when you fall down, you get right back up and you keep going.”

Colbert said she may have broken a record, but that doesn’t mean she’s done.

“You do not stop. Go ahead. You’ll have some trials and you’ll have something that gets in your way, but you don’t let it get you down. You get up; you go again,” Colbert told the crowd. “Do your best at anything you do, then when you get 100, you’ll be beating me then, but I’m going to hang around to see that you do.”