Photo By: Zachary Kelly

Ed True, 85,O’Fallon, Illinois

As you read through Ed True’s life history in the conversation below, it becomes clear that the multi-faceted man has never found himself wondering what to do next with his life. It’s also evident that he has made the most from every turn he has taken.

His mantra for happiness and success in life is simple: Don’t do anything you don’t enjoy doing.

There are a lot of things Ed enjoys, based on his accomplishments. The father of five recently celebrated the 50^th anniversary with his wife Myrna, who went to college at age 54 and just obtained her PH.D. He enjoyed sports throughout high school and college, and then saw the world while serving as a flight instructor with the Air Force. He played and coached basketball during that time, and even helped one country start the sport. His business degree landed him a second career working for the banking industry, and he started a small construction business to keep busy. His next step was to begin teaching college business courses, which he continues doing.

That’s just scratching the surface of Ed’s journey. He served as an alderman of his town for 19 years, and on school boards for 28 years. His interest in youth development led him to participate in the Rotary International youth exchange program, helping students come to study in America. On the side, he has been teaching with Junior Achievement for over 40 years.

We’re still not done yet. One of his most enjoyable pursuits has been his participation in the Senior Games Movement, both as an athlete and organizer. As soon as he reached the minimum age (55 at the time), Ed started with the Southwestern Illinois Senior Olympics, and within three years he was elected president of those games. The same year he began, he heard about the St. Louis Senior Olympics and took the short hop over the Mississippi River to join in the fun. In 1985, he participated in the formation of the board that helped create the first national multi-sport event for seniors which made its debut in the Arch City in 1987.

Thirty years later, Ed True continues to enjoy the National Senior Games, and is among a select few who have competed in every one. When he stacks it all up, Ed True credits his ongoing sports participation for keeping him healthy and fit to be able to continue in his many pursuits. It can do that for you, too.

Ed, thank you for spending the past three decades with us. Tell us how you got started with sports.

I’ve always played sports. I’ve always competed. I played football, basketball and ran track when I was in high school. I was too busy to play in college, but I did play basketball and later coached teams while I was in the Air Force. My team actually won the European conference three times. The Air Force puts an emphasis on keeping physically fit. I was a pilot and served as a flight instructor for most of my career, which was 20 years. I was in Europe for 11 years and in the Far East for a time.

Interesting sports-related story from that time: While I was coaching in England I was asked if I wanted to go to Ireland to help introduce basketball there through the U.S. State Department. I said, ‘Of course I will.’ The country was just starting out with it at the junior high level at the time, so it was a great opportunity.

Really! Now we know why Ireland is such a basketball powerhouse.

What did you do after returning from your military service?

I was hired by banks in the Federal Reserve District of St. Louis to set up their automated clearinghouse. Everything was done with checks at that time, so what I did was the forerunner of direct deposit, ATMs and point-of-sale systems. I also had a little construction business before I started teaching about 17 years ago.

I was also an alderman for my city [O’Fallon, Illinois] for 19 years, and served on school boards for a total of 28 years. One thing I’m proud of was raising the funds and building a new sports complex for my town in 1987. It was the first place in the north where you could play softball indoors. There was even an article about it in Sports Illustrated.

I do a lot of other things to stay active, too. I still teach business courses four days a week at different universities around St. Louis.  I also work with a Rotary North American Youth Exchange Program, and my territory includes six states and Toronto, Canada. This year I have 70 students from eight Asian countries- 35 coming in, 35 going out. I primarily help with obtaining their visas, stuff like that.  There’s also an annual conference that moves around North America, and this will be the ninth year that I’ve been the program chair for it. I do get to travel with the program. In the past three years I’ve been to Bangkok, Sydney and Sao Paulo.

Oh yes, I have been teaching for Junior Achievement for 41 years now. That’s just one hour a week in local schools. And my hobby is repairing clocks. I have repaired about 500 over the last 40 years

Good Grief, Ed. You sure have kept yourself busy. When did you ever get rest between business, civic, family and sports activity?

Well, I, ah, I didn’t sleep much. [Laugh] But that was alright. I have a philosophy: I don’t do anything that I don’t enjoy doing.  To me, all this is sort of an extension of Senior Games. I don’t know that I would have been this active if I wasn’t so involved with Senior Games. It keeps me mentally active too.

How did you get started in Senior Games? Are you impressed to see how it has grown over 30 years?

Yes, very much so. I was involved in the very beginning. Right when I turned 55, I read in the newspaper about the Southwestern Illinois Senior Olympics, which were run by Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. So I competed there in a few sports. In fact, after three years they asked me to be the president of their games.

The same year I started, I also found about the much bigger St. Louis Senior Olympics, so I came over the river and competed in them every year. That’s where I met [national games co-founder] Harris Frank and he said they were going to be starting national games. I said “OK, I’ll be there.”

I was actually on the original board for the National Senior Olympics for the first few years by virtue of my role with the Southwestern Illinois games.  It was just a small group when it started out, mostly local people.

When they started using state games as national qualifiers, Illinois started up their games in Springfield. I was also chairman of Illinois Senior Olympics for about three years.

Ed acts as guardian for one exchange student sponsored by his Rotary Club each year. He poses here in 2015 with Mikhella Flores from Mexico, his 30th such guest.

Well, thank you for helping as much as you have to get the ball rolling. What sports did you compete in when you entered national competition?

Track and field initially, and I remember I did medal in the 100 meter dash. I also bowled. It wasn’t until later on that I got involved with shuffleboard, the sport I’ve done the last few years.

One thing that really impressed me from the games in 1987 was a blind lady that was out on the track. She had a fellow running along with her, tethered arm-to-arm. She ran along well and it made me think, “Boy, this is the type of thing that’s great for everybody.”   

How did you feel the first games went?

The atmosphere was great. l did wonder what was going on and what we were supposed to do at times. It wasn’t nearly as organized as the later ones have been.

Do you have any favorites among all of the National Senior Games?

I really have to say all the games have been my favorite. I’ve enjoyed and taken something away from every one.

What is the main reason why you have kept doing this?

If I had to sum it into one word, I would say “fun.” Everything I’ve done I’ve enjoyed, especially the people I’ve met. Some you only see every two years, and it’s like an “old home week” reunion. Friendly competition is what I really like. If you come in second in the race, you’re going to be the first one to congratulate the winner, that type of thing. There’s very few people that take it too seriously, and that keeps the competition fun.

It makes sense that you like to play doubles with a partner at The Games.

I’ve had several along the way. For many years, my bowling partner was Alice Perdis, who is unfortunately no longer with us. She was quite a bowler, kept about a 200 average. Naturally, we always won. So doubling with her was an easy way to get a gold.

My current shuffleboard partner at Nationals is Alice Carroll from New York. My local shuffleboard partner used a cane and a wheelchair and it was just too much for him to go to nationals any more. So I called your office looking for a partner, and that’s how we got together. We got the gold the very first year.

What attracted you to keep going with shuffleboard?

Photo By: Zachary Kelly

Well, it’s a lot more than just pushing the disc down the court. There is some strategy to it, and I’ve seen others use different strategies. I know mine works for me. I’d like to keep doing track at Nationals, but I often have summer teaching jobs and can’t be away for more than a few days, so it’s hard to stay longer to do two sports.

You mentioned the blind runner. We bet you have had a lot of special moments over the years.

Oh yes. I had a track friend named C.L. Bruce. He taught me the triple jump, even though we are in the same age division. About five years ago we were competing to qualify in a race in the Missouri Senior Games. As we were going down the track, it looked like we were going to be 2^nd and 3^rd. He said, “Here, hold my hand,” so I grabbed his and we went across the finish line holding hands. We brought the house down.

Do you have any plans to retire from sports?

As long as I’m able, I’m going to keep competing. I don’t know how long that’s going to be, but I’m looking to compete at 100.

If you didn’t do senior sports, what do you imagine your life would have been like?

I probably would not have been as dedicated to stay physically fit. It makes me always want to stay fit. I go to our local YMCA at least 5 times a week. I pride myself on keeping my weight down. A lot of my contemporaries like to watch TV. I’m not a big TV watcher.

What would you say to someone about getting involved in The Games?

I do get asked quite a bit, especially people I meet at the Y. When I ask why they aren’t doing it, they say, “Well, because I don’t know what I could do.” There’s a lot of sports you can do. You don’t know what you can do until you try it. Go for it.

From hearing your story, it’s clear you’ve always been willing to try something new.

Definitely. That is what life should be about. Senior Olympics is just an extension of that.

So here’s our closing question: Do you have a stunt double like in the movies? It’s hard to believe all of the things you still pack into your life!

For more information: DM***@**GA.com

Dottie Gray, 91, Saint Louis, Missouri

When Dottie Gray signed up for the first national sports competition for seniors in 1987, she had no idea how fa

r the road ahead would stretch. In fact, before she was 54, the petite powerhouse had no idea she would even become a runner, or that her example would inspire many others to pursue fitness.

Dottie had no competitive sports history growing up, burning energy riding her bike all over south Saint Louis instead. She kept active with the task of raising six kids until she picked up tennis with the help of her husband at 44. Ten years later, she entered a local road race on a whim, training alone at a nearby junior high school track. She ran the race and went home. A friend called to tell her she had won her age group and to come back for the trophy. Dottie joined the St. Louis Track Club and never looked back.

The St. Louis Senior Olympics, one of the first of its kind in the country, captured her fancy, and in 1987 she eagerly entered the first National Senior Games (then called the National Senior Sports Classic) held in the Arch City. Dottie became one of eight athletes who have competed in all National Senior Games over three decades.

Dottie’s love of running has been a year-round avocation. She’s completed five marathons (including the 100^th running

 of the Boston Marathon), 37 half marathons, and countless 5K and 10K road races. Whenever she travels, she always finds a race she can enter, from San Francisco’s colorful “Run to The Far Side,” to Tampa’s balmy “Gasparilla Distance Classic.” With a daughter in Maine, Dottie repeatedly ran in the Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts, and made nearly every “Beach to Beacon 10K” race in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. She recalls at one point in the 1990s she ran five races, in four different states, over a two-week period. No wonder other runners swear she was the model for the Energizer Bunny!      

2015 was a special year as Dottie turned 90 and had three different birthday parties thrown by her family, her senior living center and her track club. Family members also ran in a race with her to celebrate. The big sports moment came when she established a world record as the first 90-year-old woman to complete a 5,000-meter race, which was held at the Huntsman World Senior Games, NSGA’s Utah qualifying games. CBS Sunday Morning captured her in action for a 2016 feature story.  Watch Here.  

For Dottie Gray, it’s literally been a great run, and there’s a lot more road ahead as she continues to pursue her Personal Best. We have no doubt she’ll keep running, and inspiring others to keep moving, for many more years to come.

Dottie, what does it mean to you that your hometown was the birthplace of the National Senior Games?

I think it’s great. I’m really proud that we did it here in St. Louis. But it’s also been nice to go to different cities and states that I never would have gone to. I like that it’s moved around.

How did you get into Senior Games?

I first read about it in the paper, and clipped out a form and filled it out. Then, at the bottom it said you must be 55 [the minimum age at that time] and I was 54 so I couldn’t do that the first year. These were the local St. Louis Senior Olympics, put on by the Jewish Community Center. They’re still going and they do such a fantastic job.

The next year, I played tennis in the morning and did my runs in the afternoon.  After a year or two they scheduled both sports in the morning, so I ‘ve just been running since. I did the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 races, plus the 5K and 10K. Of course, I entered the national event when it came about in 1987.

Every year I still go to the St. Louis games, and I’ve been to Columbia for the Missouri Senior Games. Also, every year I go to St. George, Utah for the Huntsman Senior Games and they are really well run. Of course, I’ve done the National games. Every one. I’ve always done a lot of other races. I’ve run five marathons and 37 half marathons. A lot of 5Ksand 10Ks too. I always try to find a race when I travel.

What makes National Senior Games different from your other running events?

1993 Poster and Program Cover

Well, in many of my other road races now I have to run against women 20 years younger than me, because they just don’t have any for my age group. I meet so many people at Nationals, and I think the athletes are kind of special. You go back every two years and get to see people you’ve met before. Of course, some of them aren’t there anymore, but I enjoy going and always look forward to it.

Has any one of the National Senior Games been a favorite for you?

St. Louis was my favorite, but I thought Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1993 was one of the best. They did have it there a second time, probably because of the way it was run. I mean, everything just went great.

Also in 1993, they featured me on the poster for the Baton Rouge games. I didn’t even know about it. I was very surprised, here I was on this poster. It turned out nice. Some of my children got one framed for me.

That’s better than being on a Wheaties box!

It’s so funny that you mention Wheaties. Last year, a dear friend took a Wheaties box and put a photo of me on it for my 90^th birthday. I keep it in my kitchen, so every morning I see my Wheaties box with my picture on it. I never did eat the Wheaties. They’re still in there! [Laugh]

It’s clear that you are a running freak. When did you get hooked?

Not right away. I really didn’t do too much formal exercise, but I had six children-three boys and three girls-and they kept me running. My late husband, Ben, started taking the older children over to the tennis court at Kirkwood Park, which was only three miles away. So I would come over sometimes with a baby on my lap and watch them play.

One day he came home and said, “Oh Dottie, they are starting a women’s league.” I had never even had a racquet in my hand, but we went over there and I signed up. There were three other women who had never played before, so we started together. My husband would also hit with me for practice. So I played tennis in the spring, summer, and fall. I progressed up the levels and really enjoyed it. I made some good friends.

Ten years later, when I was 54, Kirkwood started a Green Tree Festival and they set up a two-mile and a five-mile run. I lived a block and a half from the junior high which had a track, so I started going over there every day to train. When I finally got around the track nine times I thought I could do the two-miler, so the first year I did that. Everything went well and I went home. Well, the phone rang and my friend Joan said, “Dottie, come back to the community center, you won in your age group!”  So I went back and got my trophy, and I still have it. That did it for me.

There were runs almost every week around St. Louis, so I would enter every chance I got. Then I started going over to Illinois for runs and regular track workouts with my friend and coach Bob Hyten.

Your husband played tennis with you, did he run with you too?

The only thing Ben got up early for was golf. He thought all runners were crazy, that a group of people out running around on the streets, sometimes in the rain, was outrageous.

When I had my first marathon, he saw me “hit the wall” at the 20-mile mark. I finished, but after that he said, “No more marathons.” Well, I ran four more after that, but I never told him I was doing them. He’d ask what I’m training for and I’d say, “Oh, just a run.” “How long, Dottie?” “Well, longer than usual.” [Laugh] He did support me emotionally, but he just didn’t let it on to anyone else.

How often do you run now?

Dottie with 1984 Olympic Marathon Gold Medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson at the Beach to Beacon 10K.

I still run a couple of miles several days a week. It’s always nice to get out. I moved to a senior living community in Kirkwood called Aberdeen Heights a few years ago. I do exercise classes there three times a week. In the winter, I’m not crazy about going out, so I’m happy that I can stay inside and run around a certain area of the building, and it’s like a mile and a half.

I usually run at least three 5Ks a month. I enjoy it so much that I just keep running, you know. Until last year, I’ve run the Beach to Beacon 10K that Joan Benoit Samuelson started. My daughter Mary lives there and we both know Joanie well.  In 2009, it was scheduled at the same time as the National Senior Games. At the time, I was a “streaker,” a runner who had done every race. So, I had to make a choice of which one to give up, and I went to Palo Alto for Nationals instead. It still gives me a little anxiety. [Laugh] I’ve stopped doing 10Ks, but I’ll always go there to volunteer.

This year, Aberdeen sponsored me in the local Jingle Bell Run. They made it Dottie Gray Day and brought out a group of residents in a bus to watch me run. They gave everybody long sleeve shirts that said “Ho! Ho! Ho! Go Dottie Go!” I was even on the news on two TV stations that day.

Another fun thing was that 13 of my family members wore the shirts and ran with me, too. I think it’s because I’ve slowed down now and they can finally keep up with me. [Laugh]

Speaking of TV, NSGA lined you up to be part of a CBS Sunday Morning feature about senior athletes in 2015. What was it like seeing yourself on a major TV program?

Yes, it was awesome. I never dreamed I would be on national television. I didn’t realize until you told me that I would be the first 90-year-old woman to ever officially finish a 5,000-meter race. I wasn’t all that fast, but It’s fun to think that I didn’t break a record…I made the record.

Dottie with her medals and awards

You’ve inspired many personally, and now you’ve inspired a lot more people you don’t even know.

I think I’m healthy because of my running. My kids and everybody else thinks so too. I do encourage people to exercise or run.  A lot of people, even some men, tell me they have started running because of me. I feel really good about that.

I just think that running is so great for you. its good exercise. And it’s easy to do. You can just put on your shoes and go out the door, you don’t need a racquet or any equipment. You don’t have to jump up and run. Just start walking, and every day try to go a little farther and a little faster. Pretty soon, you’ll be doing a 5K. You have to practice, and it’s really important to have good running shoes.

So, I keep active and I have no health problems. I never have taken any medication, except once for some allergy, and it went away. In fact, I’ve never had a headache. I had seven siblings, and none of them are with us now. A lot of them developed osteoporosis as they got older. There’s been cancer and some dementia too. Compared to them, I’ve been healthier. I guess running has helped me.

Our last question is a dumb one. You don’t have any plans to stop running, do you?

It’s something to look forward to doing every day. I’m 91 now. I always thought as I was getting older, “I’d like to compete until I’m 90.” Well since I got there I now say “No, I’ll just compete as long as I can run.”

I always told my kids I’m not competitive and they’d say, “Oh yeah, you’re not competitive.” I have to admit now I always was. [Laugh]

For more information: DM***@**GA.com