Runner, 86, dies a day after completing 25th consecutive NYC Marathon

Every year — for the past 25 years — Joy Johnson spent an autumn Sunday competing in the New York City Marathon. This year, however, was her last.

The 86-year-old retired gym teacher from San Jose, Calif. died just one day after completing the 26.2-mile run. Johnson was the oldest woman to finish the marathon since 2011.

Johnson stumbled and hit her head on the road at about the 20th mile during the marathon, her sister Faith Anderson, 83, who accompanied her during the race, said. It took Johnson about 7 hours and 57 minutes to finish the marathon on Sunday.

Anderson told the New York Daily News that medics wanted to take Johnson to the hospital but she insisted on continuing the race.

On Monday, Johnson felt tired after her visit to the "Today" show and lay down on the bed at her hotel. She never woke up.

She was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.

The city medical examiner's office said Tuesday that Johnson died of complications of blunt trauma.

"We're saddened about the passing of Joy Johnson. She was an inspiration to us all," Chris Weiller, spokesman for the New York Road Runners, told Al Jazeera. "She was a special member of the New York City Marathon family."

Johnson's daughter was concerned with her aging mother's passion to run. I would see the 86-year-old woman who struggled to walk late at night," Diana Boydston said, San Jose Mercury News reported. "But then in the morning, she would stretch a bit, eat some oatmeal, go to the track and then suddenly she was 32."

Johnson ran in the NYC Marathon in 1988 and every year after that.

"She was determined to run 'til she dropped," Johnson’s friend Will Sanchez said, Today.com reported. "That gives some comfort, some closure to her family. She did it her way."

Ehab Zahriyeh contributed to this report. Al Jazeera and wire services