Meet the 83-Year-Old Great-Grandmother Preparing to Run a Marathon

Jean Harcourt, 83, a great grandmother is training for the London marathon to cope with the death of her brother.

(Photo: AP/Newsflare Screengrab)

Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj

A great-grandmother is training for the London marathon at the age of 83, to help her cope with the sudden death of her beloved brother. Jean Harcourt was distraught and overcome with grief when her brother Danny tragically died of a heart attack in October 2016, in his sixties.

After reading an article that advised doing something that seems impossible, to help cope with the loss of a loved one, Jean decided to train for the 26.2 mile race.

When the marathon gran started training in June last year, she began by jogging for just a minute, but now she is running 36 miles in one week – and says Danny would think she’s mad.

When my beloved brother died I was grieving for him terribly. I was consumed with grief. It was so unexpected. It was a massive shock. I read an article about how to deal with grief and it said do something that you think is impossible, and I thought about doing a marathon. The last time I ran a marathon 14 years ago, I thought, ‘never again. it is impossible.’ The training takes over your life, but it has helped me a lot with my grief for my brother.

Jean Harcourt

She claimed that she started off slow, by running for a minute back in July 2017, and then for a minute-and-a-half, till she finally managed to run six miles at once, six times a day.

My family doesn’t doubt for a minute that I will complete it. They are all very supportive. I don’t care if it takes me six hours. It isn’t a race. I’m going to try and do seven miles next and gradually build it up. It is a test of stamina and endurance. I know that I’ll do it because I’ve got a very determined nature. It does help with the grieving. I would advise anyone who is grieving to take on what feels impossible.

Jean Harcourt

Jean was with her brother Danny the day before he died, and says it came as a massive shock, when he passed away the next day while running errands for family and friends.

Danny would be over the moon if he knew I was doing this. He would be praising me and supporting me, but telling all of his friends that I’m mad.

Jean Harcourt

Jean is also running the London marathon to raise money for a close family member who has Parkinson’s disease and says he is the real hero.

I’m not the kind of person who likes a lot of attention. I like to fade into the background but I want to raise money for Parkinson disease. I have a friend who suffers from it. He’s the real hero. He is the one who gets up and does his business despite having this illness.

Jean Harcourt

Her granddaughter Ellen Tomlinson, 30, claims that her grandmother is a hero and a huge influence in her life. said: “We are extremely close and I see her more as a friend than my Grandmother”, she said.