A Fort Collins runner鈥檚 extraordinary career gets a fresh look in a new documentary

In The NoCo

A Fort Collins runner鈥檚 extraordinary career gets a fresh look in a new documentary

By In The NoCo,

Erin O'Toole, Brad Turner, Ariel Lavery

Published April 3, 2025 at 5:35 AM MDT

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Libby James, a woman with short-cropped silver hair and wearing a silver winter jacket walks through a field — A new short documentary, "Never Too Old," explores the legacy of Fort Collins runner Libby James, who's considered a trailblazer in competitive running for women over age 40.

An extraordinary Colorado athlete gets some much-deserved recognition.

Libby James, a runner from Fort Collins, has a under her belt. She鈥檚 run 鈥� including Boston, Tokyo and Pikes Peak. She鈥檚 the most dominant female runner in the history of the , having finished in the top 20 for her age group an incredible 28 times.

And she did most of those things after she turned 40.

is a short documentary co-directed by Colorado filmmaker Patty Jen Arndt, who鈥檚 part of Libby鈥檚 extended family. The film provides a glimpse into Libby鈥檚 running career, which didn鈥檛 start until she was in her mid-30s, raising four children. She retired from competitive running in 2020, at the age of 83.

The film will be screened on Sunday at the Lyric Cinema in Fort Collins, as part of Colorado State University鈥檚 .

Patty joined Erin O鈥橳oole to talk about directing the film 鈥� and how Libby鈥檚 accomplishments grew out of her ability to balance her love of running with her responsibilities as a mom.

An image shows a letter in a newspaper. the headline reads: "Dear Mr. Cloney. I survived the boston marathon." written by Libby James. — "I thought it would be really fun to run the Boston Marathon 鈥� [but] there were no specifications for women over 40," Libby James recalled. "So I wrote to [race director] Will Cloney and I said, 'What have you got against old ladies?'"

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In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC鈥檚 new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS 暗黑爆料hour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

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Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University鈥檚 NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family鈥檚 financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

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