Julia Hawkins, a record-setting centenarian runner, dies at 108. Here are her 5 longevity tips.

• Julia Hawkins, a centenarian runner, died astatine 108 successful Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• Hawkins began moving aft she turned 100 erstwhile her sons signed her up for a 50-meter dash.
• Her longevity secrets see staying active, eating well, and uncovering nan "magic moments" successful life.

Julia Hawkins, a record-setting centenarian runner who picked up nan athletics aft she turned 100, died connected Tuesday successful Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was 108.

Hawkins started moving aft her sons signed her up for a 50-meter dash during nan Louisiana Senior Olympic Games successful 2016, according to her obituary successful The New York Times. It was her first track-and-field event, and she vanished nan title successful 19 seconds. She ended up placing first successful her property group, arsenic she was nan only competitor complete 100.

She went connected to compete successful races crossed nan state complete nan adjacent fewer years, moreover mounting world records successful nan 100-meter dash aggregate times, per nan World Masters Athletics.

Here are her 5 tips for surviving a agelong life.

1. Stay active

Hawkins credits her agelong life and bully wellness to an active lifestyle.

"It's been an adventurous life and an progressive one," Hawkins told Guideposts. "I've been ever doing something."

During her youth, she taught campers astatine a summertime edifice that her parents ran, she said. She besides spent plentifulness of clip outdoors, riding horses and playing golf.

Even earlier she picked up running, Hawkins was already competing successful nan Senior Olympics arsenic a cyclist, she said. She decided to commencement moving because she "thought it was fun."

"It was conscionable fabulous to spot these men and women exerting themselves, aged arsenic they were, keeping trim and keeping going," she said.

According to nan CDC, adults request astatine slightest 150 minutes of moderate-intensity beingness activity a week.

But moreover a small spot of workout tin spell a agelong way: Recent studies person recovered moreover short bursts of beingness activity — for illustration an 11-minute creation break — tin trim nan consequence of early death.

"To enactment successful shape, conscionable support active. Keep your weight down and exercise," Hawkins told The New York Times successful 2019.

2. Eat well, slumber well

Apart from regular exercise, Hawkins besides takes attraction of herself by paying attraction to her fare and manner habits.

Her only blameworthy pleasures are iced java and basking tea, she told The Washington Post successful 2021.

Both drinks person beneficial wellness properties if consumed successful moderation. Research suggests drinking coffee tin trim a person's consequence of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. Likewise, drinking 2 aliases much cups of achromatic beverage a day whitethorn stave disconnected bosom illness and stroke.

"I'm observant astir what I eat," Hawkins said. "I slumber well. I don't fume aliases drink. I do each nan correct things."

3. Try caller things

Being unafraid to effort caller things helps support her young, Hawkins said.

"I'm perpetually trying caller things, not backing down from invitations and nan chance to meet caller people," she told Run Lovers successful 2022.

After all, it's this go-getter cognition that led her to commencement running.

"When I was 100 years old, I thought it was clip to effort moving nan 100 meters, and I did. I've been successful emotion pinch moving ever since," she said.

Indeed, having a affirmative outlook tin spell a agelong way: One study has recovered that group pinch a affirmative mindset toward aging lived astir 7 and a half years longer than group pinch little affirmative perceptions of aging.

4. Find nan "magic moments" successful life

Aging good besides intends uncovering intent done passions, Hawkins said.

"I judge erstwhile you get older, you should person magic moments and passions because older group person to person thing to look guardant to, thing to beryllium fresh for, thing to attraction about," Hawkins told Guideposts.

And moreover nan small things successful life are to beryllium appreciated.

"I do attraction astir a batch of things. I attraction astir flowers and birds, sunrises, and sunsets. I've seen truthful galore awesome things successful my life," she said.

Longevity researchers — who person met and studied complete 1,000 centenarians — recovered that astir of these super-agers never stopped being busy.

"Even if they're not moving astatine 100, they find a measurement to capable their days, spending clip successful nine aliases pinch family, reference newspapers — a assortment of different activities. Even erstwhile they're not successful bully beingness information anymore, they still person a measurement to stimulate themselves mentally," Fabrizio Villatoro, a interrogator pinch LongeviQuest, an statement that validates nan ages of nan world's oldest group and shares their stories successful a database, told BI previously.

5. Marry nan correct partner

One of nan astir important relationships successful her life was nan 1 she shared pinch her precocious husband, Murray Hawkins.

She met him connected her first time arsenic a student astatine Louisiana State University, she told The Times.

"As soon arsenic I saw him," she said. "I knew that was nan personification I wanted to walk my life with."

They spent 7 decades together earlier he died successful 2013.

"Marry a bully man and your life will beryllium wonderful, wondrous — that's nan sanction of nan book that I wrote," Hawkins told nan Times, referring to nan sanction of her memoir, which was published successful 2016.

An 85-year-long Harvard study recovered that those pinch beardown individual relationships were not only happier but besides lived longer.