MONROVIA, Liberia – Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is turning 72 but she says she doesn't expect to slow down anytime soon.

I feel 42," she tells The Associated Press, adding "even if I am 72 do I look 72?

The Harvard-trained economist, whose birthday is on Friday, says she is healthy and is eager to run for re-election next year, even though she had pledged when she ran during the 2005 election campaign that if she won she would serve just a single six-year term.

She says she is waiting for opponents in the upcoming presidential race to test her, saying: "When the campaign comes we will know who can run fast.