Woman Sets Paragliding Record ... at Age 101

A 101-year-old Utah woman who ushered in her birthday with a tandem paraglide ride last year will soar into the record books today. Great-great-grandmother Mary Hardison has been officially recognized as the "Oldest Female to Paraglide Tandem" by Guinness World Records. She has supplanted a 100-year-old woman from Cyprus who took her flight in 2007.

Hardison flew with an instructor on Sept. 1, 2011, while four generations of her family watched and cheered. The flight went smoothly and even included a few tricks that Hardison encouraged. In a questionnaire submitted to Guinness, Hardison said she wanted to paraglide because her 75-year-old son began doing it as a hobby. "I didn't want him to do something that I couldn't do," said Hardison, who is used to celebrating birthdays in an edgy way: She rode all of the adult rides at Disneyland to celebrate her 90th. (More world record stories.)