Running in Style – Ann McGowan, 92, Providence, Rhode Island

It’s always good to look your best. For Ann McGowan, it’s essential, even when she’s competing as a senior athlete. That’s because Ann was a hairdresser, cosmetology instructor and salon owner for more than 40 years. As a youngster, she discovered her love and aptitude for hair styling when she was inspired by glamorous stars in the movies and then begged her sister to let her replicate the designs she saw. While not at it full-time anymore, she still styles her own hair and has her tools at the ready to help others.

If we had to describe Ann in one word, it would be “survivor.” Through the course of our conversation with her below, she describes family crises going back to early childhood, and later with the untimely death of her husband while she was still raising her children. Everything she achieved came through patience, persistence and hard work. After starting a family, she successfully obtained her GED and attended trade colleges, where her career path opened.

The same passion and determination that drove her to succeed also brought the love of sports back to her in midlife. She started running again, largely as an activity to work through the loss of her husband and the stress of adjusting to a new life. When she heard there were games for people her age, she immediately signed up and a long journey commenced.

Ann McGowan is grateful to be one of a handful of people who have managed to compete in every National Senior Games. Besides the health benefits she has gained, Ann most enjoys meeting people and the longtime friendships and camaraderie that people find when they participate. Many have been inspired by her journey and example, including her granddaughter, who knew Ann had dreamed of running the Boston Marathon and did it herself to raise money for charity in Ann’s name. That’s the beauty of pursuing your Personal Best, because your journey has a positive impact on others to do the same for themselves.

 

Ann, you are from the smallest state, and yet among only eight people who have been to every National Senior Games.

I’ve lived in Providence all my life. I’m the oldest original homeowner in this neighborhood. That could be due to some stubbornness. [Laugh] Looking back now, I can’t imagine how I made it to all of those games. There were all the things I had to do to get by-paying bills, working, keeping up with my children. Lo and behold, we’ve gone all these years, and here we are!

 

Sounds like you’ve had your share of challenges.

As a youngster, I learned how to survive. My mother passed away when I was five, and two years later we had a step-mother who came in with her own three children. I became an independent person from that time on to get along and move along.

My husband Bill died when I was 49 – he had angina and didn’t make it through the bypass operation. At the time, my daughter was finishing college and my son was still in high school. It was untimely, and a very difficult situation because we were a very close family and my kids were still dependent on their dad. I had two choices- to sit in the corner and end it all, or get up and keep going. I had to survive and learn what to do to cope with my responsibilities. I can talk about it now at the ripe old age of 92.

 

How did you become such a sports nut?

I’ve played many sports in Senior Games, but also when I was growing up. We played on a community playground. That was where we were sent to keep us out of the kitchen. I played hardball baseball with the boys in the neighborhood whenever they would allow. That was usually when they didn’t have enough players.

I learned to swim in the Woonasquatucket River near my house. You either swam or you got swept away.  I got interested in competing in sports in high school. They never encouraged girls to pursue the world of sports back then, but I did all the sports they would allow me to do. Gymnastics was one of my favorites.

My husband played many sports like football and baseball in school. We were an active family and went skiing, ice skating, and roller-skating – things like that.

 

Were you a stay at home mother?

I did not finish high school or go to college at first. I had to take a job to help the family to pay expenses. There were six children in the house by then. After I was married, I decided I should go to college. I went at night to get my GED, and then studied industrial education at Rhode Island College. I then did well in cosmetology school and became an instructor. I taught senior classes in hairdressing and became the manager of the beauty school for the owner.

In 1981, one of my students encouraged me to look at a beauty salon that was up for sale. I took my daughter with me to the bank to get a loan. Remember, I was a widow and in those days, you had to have the husband who supported you go to the bank with you.  The lady we met with was nice enough to hear my story and told me, “I’m going to gamble and give you the loan.” I got the salon!

I still taught at the beauty school early in the day and go to my salon and stay until 10:30 at night, then get up and do it again the next day.  I did that for ten years until we had a devastating fire in the complex that had five businesses in it including mine. The whole thing burned to the ground. That ended my beauty salon, but I still taught and did hairdressing out of my home.

Later on, I needed to have gall bladder surgery and took some time off. I visited the Cherry Hill nursing home five minutes from the house, and they offered a job assisting the nurses. So, I got my white dress and shoes and helped out. After some months, they told me they could use another person in their beauty salon. I stayed there for 27 years. The families all wanted their loved ones to look and feel good, so I made the ladies and men look their best.

 

Are you retired now?

People ask when I’m going to retire and my answer is, “The time I retire is when I go to bed and don’t get up.” After I left the nursing home, I haven’t done it much, but I still do it for shut-in people, those who are home bound. I still cut, tint and style my own hair. I’m 93, and I’m available. Have scissors, will travel! [Laugh]

 

When did you find the opportunity to return to sports?

After Bill died, I started running. Early on Sundays, I would go up to the college nearby with my pocket radio and walk around that track all morning long. I’d do a little running too. That helped me to cope with what I was going through.

One day, I heard on the radio about Senior Games going on at Brown University for people who were 50 or older. I signed up for the race walking and the 100-meter race. That’s how it all began. I made a lifetime friend, Virginia O’Connor, at those first games. There were other games in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. So, we got around to all of those. Virginia and I heard about the national games and decided to go together in 1987. Oh, my gosh. It was a new world of wonder for both of us. There were more men than women at first. I enjoyed competing with all the other women, and we would look forward to seeing who would come back for the next ones.

 

What sports have you played in national competition?

I ran the 100, 200 and 400 meter races. At that time, there was this girl Pat Peterson who was a college coach and the fastest runner in my group. I was always just a step behind. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride! Also, I watched the field events, and decided to take them on to go along with my track running.

Someone who knew I played softball in high school asked me to join The Golden Girls, a team from Colorado. I was put in as a catcher and substitute base runner- they knew I was a good runner! We won a silver medal at the second games in St. Louis in 1989.

There weren’t any basketball teams in Rhode Island, so Virginia and I got on with a team in Connecticut and played with them at Nationals for a few years. It was fun. We also competed in volleyball in for the National Senior Games in Syracuse in 1991 and came in second. I made one shot that went up into the rafters and wouldn’t come down! [Laugh]

I stopped doing team sports at Nationals after Orlando in 1999. I kept running, and had picked up the long jump, javelin, discus and hammer throw. In the early Senior Games, only the men did the hammer. I went out and bought a hammer and asked to do it at the local games so I could qualify to do it at Nationals. There was only myself and another woman who threw hammer when they offered it the first time at the San Antonio games in 1995.

 

Looking back now, what are your feelings about your experiences?

I’ve had such a glorious time with this. It helped me survive through my troubles in the beginning. I’ve made so many friends, both women and men. There’s a group of us from New England who stayed in the same hotels, worked out transportation and went sightseeing together. Through the years, we got to be like a family. The camaraderie is wonderful. Some are retired or home bound now, but there’s about eight of us still doing local games, and a few still go to Nationals. Because of my work, I’ve been able to continue to pay my way.

I’m grateful and fortunate. The aging process is fine. Getting older is just a number. I try to help people in any way I can help them. For me, to be around to assist other people is the name of my game.

 

Have you had health challenges?

In 1991, I developed a lump in my left breast. The doctor told me what I expected, that it was cancer. I had a mastectomy and was left with one breast. I asked my physician if he would remove the other one. He said, “I can’t do that, you’re not having a problem with it.” I said, “Well, I’m asking you to please do it, because I don’t want to be back in here in another year or two to have this done all over.” To my thinking, it wasn’t so much worrying about the cancer returning, it was how it would affect my sports! [Laugh] I didn’t want to wear the prosthesis. It would be an extra weight I’d have to carry when I ran. The operation was in April and I managed to get to The Games that summer, and I had a good time.

Then, in the past few years, I started having back and spine problems that made it hard for me to run. I had cortisone shots for the pain a couple of weeks before I would compete. I was told I needed to replace some disks with a rod to support my back. It’s not easy to get back surgery like that at my age. But the surgeon said, “Mrs. McGowan, because of the lifestyle you’ve had, your body is in good enough shape that I think we can do it, if you’re game.” I came through with flying colors.

The surgeon said it would take a year, if not more, for me to be completely healed. He wanted me to keep up with physical activity, but advised against competing in The Games. I was very cautious, but I knew my body and made it my games in the New England states.

The Games made me appreciate what life has to offer. You get to meet new people who are interested in the same things. It has motivated me to keep going. It passes on to generations of children. My granddaughters are into track and running, and I am so proud of them!

The way I feel right now I think I can do the events I’ve qualified for. But even if I can only do one event I’ll go. I want to keep up with my friends. My granddaughter Liz says she will chaperone me.

 

Liz told us that you always wanted to do a marathon, so she ran in the Boston Marathon and raised money for charity in your name.

I’ve only done one 5K, back in 1999. My longest race is the 400. I was so proud that Elizabeth would tackle something like that. She worked very hard to raise that money for charity. That was quite an accomplishment.

My other granddaughters, Annie and Bonnie McGowan (Annie was named for me) went on to be track stars of their high school in Virginia, Both girls helped their team win in both indoor and outdoor track at the state level. They were both on the same relay team for national competition. I so much enjoyed going to their track meets to cheer them.

 

Since you are a hairdresser, we suppose you’ve never at a loss for words. What do you tell people about fitness?

Yes, I’m a talker. I think that’s my problem! [Laugh] I enjoy talking with people. I like to hear what they have to say, and I enjoy the camaraderie.

I found through my years of experience that people don’t like to be told what to do. However, if you suggest it in a storytelling way they are more accepting. I talk about my experiences to encourage them.

 

What movie star would you want to make yourself look like for the next National Senior Games?

[Laugh] Well, I always wanted to be [Olympic figure skater and film star] Sonja Henie and look like the movie stars when I was young. I would study their hair when I went to the theater, and talked my sister into letting me style her hair in the way I saw in the movie.

Maybe Marilyn Monroe. I used to have a red dress like she wore in that movie [Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]. But I do my style to fit my own facial features. I want to look like Ann McGowan, so my friends will recognize me! [Laugh]

 

Roy Englert, 94, Springfield, Virginia

For a man who didn’t start running until after he was 50, Roy Englert has made up for lost time. In fact, the level of fitness he has achieved as a senior athlete has undoubtedly added to his time on earth. At 94, the retired U.S. Treasury employee isn’t contemplating anything but continued running and competing to achieve his Personal Best.

Roy was not an athletic type in his youth, though three years of Navy service (including participating in D-Day) during World War II helped to keep his trim form. In his 40s Roy picked up Dr. Ken Cooper’s book “Aerobics,” which advocated running as good exercise, and the path ahead opened.

Within a few years of running casually, a nearby masters track meet caught his attention, and he enjoyed the experience of competing against others of his age. When he got word of a new national multisport event for seniors being organized in St. Louis in 1987, he had to go. Thirty years later, Roy has kept coming for every National Senior Games, and eagerly awaits toeing the line in Birmingham for the 2017 National Senior Games presented by Humana.

Along the way, Roy has steadily racked up more than two dozen USA Track & Field masters championships and has won an armload of National Senior Games medals, mostly in mid-distance track events and road races. In 2013, Roy set a masters indoor record in the men’s 90-94 3000 meter race, and in 2014 he was part of a relay team of runners in their 90s who set three world records at the USATF Masters Outdoor Championships. Their accomplishments were publicized worldwide-check out this New York Times feature about Roy for more background. Since then, Roy has run his way to #1 in National Senior Games all-time rankings for men’s 90-94 for both 5K and 10K events.

However, medals, publicity and accolades are not the great motivators for Roy Englert, who doesn’t display his awards in his house. He literally runs for his life. Competing in sports is the most fun way he has found to motivate himself to maintain optimum health and well being through fitness. Sounds to us like a Personal Best plan to smash the 100 age barrier!

 

Roy, we have to ask you this first. We notice your email address starts with “Frodo49.” Are you a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books?

[Chuckle] Thirty years ago, when my kids were in high school, all the young people were reading the Rings books, and I picked up on it. Besides the email, I had a personalized license plate for years that said Frodo 49. Frodo is for the book character, of course. The 49 is for the three years I spent in the Navy on LST 49 in World War II. We went to Southern France, participated in the Normandy Invasion, and then went on to Okinawa in the Pacific. They said “Join the Navy and see the world.” So, I’ll never forget 49.

 

Thank you for your service. Before we talk about running, tell us a bit more about your history.

I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. I graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1943 and went directly into the Navy. After that, I went back to Nashville and went to work for National Life and Accident Insurance Company, which owned the WSM radio station which broadcast the Grand Ole Opry. In the early days, not many people paid attention to the country people coming into town on Saturday nights. Then it got much bigger. I regret I did not become a country singer and get rich. [Laugh]

From there I got a law degree from Columbia University, and then landed a job with the US Treasury in Washington D.C. in 1951. I still live in Virginia 12 miles away from the capital.

 

Were you an athletic kid?

No, I was very small and never competed in anything until I started running casually in my late 50s. I never did any set thing to stay fit, but I’ve always kept active, chasing my kids around you know. [Laugh]

I started running when I read Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s book Aerobics, which said exercise was good for you, and that running was good exercise. He was my inspiration to try it. So, I began running around my basement, which was pretty large back then. I couldn’t go a quarter mile without getting winded. But I kept at it and graduated up to local high school tracks to run on.

 

How did you take the step from running for fitness to competing on the track?

My first competition was when I was 60.  The Senior Games hadn’t started yet. There was a regional masters track meet at Georgetown University, which was close by. Once I got going, I realized I wasn’t a sprinter, so I have mainly concentrated on the longer races like the 400 and 800 meters and the road races. I’ve done the mile also. So, I ran the 400 and 800 at this meet, and there were only two in my age group. I won a silver in one, and in the other one the guy pulled up lame and didn’t finish, so I got the gold. [Laugh]

My son had been going to national championships in judo, and he’s now an international referee for the sport. He encouraged me to do the masters national track championships. I thought, “Well, I got nothing to lose, I’ll go try it.” It was fun, so I just kept going.

 

This was in the mid-80s. How did you find out about the first National Senior Games, and what kept you coming back for every one since then? 

I think I read about it in National Masters News. The first one had track events at Washington University in St. Louis. There weren’t nearly as many people there as are in it now.

I like to compete against others. I compete against myself and my times, but it’s not as much fun if there’s no competition. I don’t go to as many races now because sometimes there’s no competition in my age division. In Minnesota in 2015, there was only Joe Barger and me in our age group for the 10K race.

In Birmingham, I’ll do the 5K and the 400 this time. “God willing, and if the creek don’t rise,” as they say.

I’ve had a lot of fun doing it. The best thing was it gave my first wife, Helen, an excuse to travel. She was my cheerleader. We went all over the country, places I never would have gone. Like Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We went there twice. It’s a delightful town. I think that first one in St. Louis and Baton Rouge stand out.

I was married to Helen for 65 years before she died a few years ago. Last year I got married to Maureen, who I’ve known for 15 years. She travels with me now.  I’ve been really lucky.

 

Looking at your results from the past two Nationals, we see Joe Barger keeps coming in right behind you.

Well, the other times I’ve competed against him in the masters track events he has beaten me. Funny, I didn’t even know he was in the 10K with me in Minnesota. There’s so many folks lining up there, you know. I passed him not long before I made the finish line. I’m sure he was surprised to see me. But that’s what it’s all about.

 

You finally made it to the top, though. You are #1 all time in National Senior Games for men 90+ in the 5K and 10K. You also made a mark in 2014 as part of the 90+ relay team that set age records in masters track competition. How did that come together?

One of the people with the Potomac Valley Track Club came up with the idea. He noticed there were no records for the 90-year-old and up in three relays- the 4×100, 4×400 and 4×800 meter races. He suggested we get together and go set the world records. And that’s what we did.

I enjoyed running with those guys. There were five on our team. Besides me, it was Charles Boyle, Charlie Ross, Goldy Champion and Orville Rogers. Orville is a real phenomenon.

 

Do you think the relay team will get together again?

There’s no reason to do it again once you’ve set the record. Charlie Ross said afterwards that somebody would come along and break it. All records get beaten sooner or later.

 

The media reported about it all over the world.

I got enough publicity at the time. The New York Times called me up out of the blue and the lady wrote up a nice story. What was funny at that time involved a friend of my daughter’s who knew I ran but did not know I had been part of that. He saw my picture in the Times and told his wife, “There’s a 90-year-old runner. I’ll bet Mr. Englert can beat him.” Then he looked closer and said, “It IS Mr. Englert!” [Laugh] But really, I don’t care much for publicity.

 

Do people call you an inspiration for them?

People do that, but I don’t consider myself that much of an inspiration. I’m a slow runner. But I guess I’ve outlasted almost everybody. It gets easier to win when there’s not as much competition around.

 

Turning back to our Games, do you consider yourself lucky to have made it for every National Senior Games?

Oh, yes. Over 30 years a lot of things can happen to you. I’ve just been fortunate. I’ve never been injured from running. I just keep on going. I’m sittin’ here knocking on wood now. [Laugh]

I have good genes, but I’ve also not abused my body. I’ve never smoked or drank to excess. A positive attitude is very important also. For the last 30 years, I’ve gone to Johns Hopkins for an annual physical. They usually say, “Call us if you need us. Otherwise, come back in a year.” As I’ve said, I feel fortunate.

 

No doubt, you’ll keep running as long as you can do it.

I’ve made some speeches about running and aging and I make the statement that people make themselves older. They keep telling themselves, “I’m too old to do that,” and pretty soon they are old. The point is that to some extent it’s a mental thing. Of course, you gotta have a little luck in this life as well.

I get slower every year, but I don’t know why. I know it’s because of aging, but what is it about aging that causes you to get slower if you’re still active?

I’ve been a participant in a study on the aging process at the National Institute on Aging. I go to a hospital in Baltimore every year for three days and they run all kinds of tests on me. This is my eighth year to do it. One of the other relay record team members, Charlie Boyle, is part of it too.

They always ask me a bunch of questions. One of the researchers asked if I ever get depressed. I just laughed, and they asked me why. I told them, “I don’t have time to get depressed. I keep busy!”

 

What do you do now to keep in shape and train?

I run. We live in a retirement community, and I run on the treadmill there.  It’s an acceptable substitute but it’s really not the same. I don’t run on the street except in competition, and they don’t let folks run on the high school tracks around here anymore. But there’s an indoor track in Fairfax County that I go to when I closer to a competition.

Maureen is a power walker. We’ll sometimes go out to the lake park where there’s a path that goes about five miles. She’ll power walk and I run out and back to her. We have a lot of fun doing that.

 

What other things help you to stay busy and active?

I’m a Washington Redskins fan, though maybe not as much as when they were pretty good. [Laugh] My son and I got to go to the Super Bowl in 1991, which was fun. I’m also a great opera fan. I’ve been a longtime subscriber to the Kennedy Center Opera Series for many years, and I’m also a fan of the Virginia Opera Company.

I don’t have any problems keeping busy. I’m on a lot of committees here in my retirement community, and I was on the board of directors at one time. I still have an office where I go regularly to do all of my paperwork.

 

Maybe your military training has contributed to your “go go” attitude through life.

That may have something to do with it. Discipline is very important.

 

So, keeping an office helps you maintain a routine and be more organized?

Absolutely. It also keeps me out of my wife’s way all the time. Too much of a good thing can be too much. [Laugh] Don’t quote me on that! [Laugh]