Betty Ann Lindberg

Betty Lindberg, the beloved matriarch of the Atlanta running community whose cheerful commitment to fitness proved that it’s never too late to start, crossed her final finish line on June 13, 2026, passing away peacefully at the age of 101.

Best-known for the Peachtree Road Race, she was also recognized nationally for breaking two age-group world records. In 2016, she set the first (ages 90-94) when she ran the 800 meters in 6 minutes, 57.56 seconds at an Atlanta Track Club All-Comers Track and Field Meet, and followed that up by demolishing – humbly and politely, as always – the 95-99 age-group record at the USATF Masters 5K Championships when it was held in Atlanta in 2022. Her time of 55:48 took more than a half hour off the previous mark.

Betty Ann Kathryn Reynolds was born September 7, 1924, in the tiny Finnish-American village of New York Mills, Minnesota, to Clyde Earl Reynolds and Henna Sadie (Hopponen) Reynolds, moving with her family to nearby Parkers Prairie when she was 2 years old. There, she remembers her older brother, Robert, holding tightly to her hand one day so she wouldn’t blow away as they walked home from school in a blizzard.

After moving back to New York Mills when she was a sophomore, Betty graduated from high school in 1942 and as part of the war effort went to work for the National Youth Administration, learning how to construct radios and install them in warplanes. As a telegraph operator with Northwest Airlines, she used the Morse Code she learned in the NYA to send and receive information on flight reservations.

While working for the airlines in Fargo, N.D., she impressed a tall Navy aviation veteran with her speed on the telegraph. Betty Ann Reynolds and H.O. (Lindy) Lindberg were married April 15, 1948. Ten years later, they and their two young children moved to Atlanta when Northwest launched service in the city; until her death, Betty lived in the cozy house they bought in 1959, its walls soon lined with art and souvenirs from their many trips to Asia for Lindy’s job.

A leader for her children’s Brownie, Cub Scout and Girl Scout troops, PTA president at Sequoyah High School in Doraville, and served on the church council at Peachtree Road Lutheran Church, she also worked for Rich's Department Store becoming the secretary to the manager for the opening of the Cumberland store and then transferring to the Lenox location, “She just wasn’t a sit-at-home kind of person,” said her daughter, Kerry. She retired from Rich’s in 1992.

Five years earlier, when Kerry had asked her parents if they would meet her and her husband at the Peachtree finish line to take them back to their car, a new era was born. Betty had long wondered why people would get up at the crack of dawn on the Fourth of July, and after seeing the mass of smiling, waving people she said, “I can do that; that looks like fun.”

A year later, in 1988, Betty ran her first Peachtree. In 2024, she ran her 35th and last – missing the 6.2-mile trek only once, while caring for Lindy as he battled Parkinson’s. In 2019, she served as an honorary starter before hopping into the race to celebrate the 50th running of the iconic race.

Over the decades she became an icon in her own right, her delightful indomitability celebrated whenever she faithfully toed the line of not only the Peachtree but frequent races throughout the year – including a New Year’s Day race about 15 years ago less than a month after getting a hip replaced. Featured in national news outlets, including Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal, and the CBS Evening News, she even overcame her innate modesty to say “yes” when Atlanta Track Club proposed offering a “Team Betty” T-shirt as a fund-raiser for its Kilometer Kids program.

Betty Lindberg was proceeded in death by her parents; her husband of 57 years, Herman Oliver Lindberg; brother Dr. Robert Earl Reynolds (Beth); brother-in-law Kenneth Lindberg; (Maria Celia); sister-in-law Eunice Shasky (Will); and in-laws Elgin and Juanita McBrayer; Max Sharpe.

She is survived by her daughter Kerry and son-in-law Eugene McBrayer and granddaughter Nicole Boolukos (Greg Lamar); son Craig Lindberg and daughter-in-law Cyndi and grandsons Eric Lindberg (Lilly), great-granddaughter Gwen; Kyle Lindberg (Jackie), great grandsons Teddy and George; her niece Peggy Reynolds (Dave Nelson), nephew Peter Reynolds (Jini); niece Judy Anderson (Dave), nephews Chuck Shasky (Diane), Russ Shasky (Deb), niece Xochitl Sanchez (Fred); and many grandnieces and grandnephews. She also leaves many gym friends and special neighbors Sam and Keith.

A memorial service will be planned for a later date. Further details will be shared once they are finalized. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kilometer Kids | Atlanta Track Club.