“Wait to Worry” – Ryan Beighley, 90, The Villages, Florida

Most of us can (or one day will) point to a moment or experience that brings about a profound change. When you ask 90-year-old Ryan Beighley what has motivated him to keep running and swimming through his life, the decorated World War II veteran has one of the more interesting answers- he literally had to run and swim for his life.

Ryan, who was raised by a single mother who resorted to bootlegging to feed her family during the Great Depression, was sent by a judge to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps at age 14. When that program was disbanded after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the underage youth managed to enlist into the Marines after two tries. Shortly after joining, an officer asked if he could swim a mile. The patriotic lad replied “Sure!” even though he had never done it before. Ryan found himself assigned to the newly-formed Amphibious Reconnaissance Company, a forerunner of the Navy Seals. For the next three years his team would paddle from ships in rubber boats and then swim ashore onto enemy-held islands in the Pacific to identify and map best landing sites in advance of assaults. It was perilous work, and he witnessed the reality of war at close range.

The Korean War called him back into service. His excellent fitness level earned him a position serving as a member of President Harry Truman’s presidential guard and drill unit in Washington, DC.

Like many others, the war experience changed his life, and he credits the intense training and discipline instilled in him for his success and continued commitment to health and fitness. Ryan regularly entered various distance running events and enjoyed open water swimming competitions, and then discovered Senior Games when he moved to The Villages, Florida in 2004. He changed his focus to sprint running and pool competition, and has been to four National Senior Games and earned numerous medals at every level. Ryan was also motivated to help grow the track club in his senior living community.

The former insurance executive and father of six hit a bumpy patch while caring for his Alzheimer’s-stricken wife of 65 years until her death in 2009, and he had to overcome an atrial fibrillation with the help of a pacemaker. Through an unusual turn of events, his second wife Marty-herself an accomplished senior track and field athlete-entered his life four years ago and instilled new energy. The pair is inseparable, and together they actively recruit and advise new members in the track club.

With his omnipresent smile and Irish wit, he preaches the health benefits and camaraderie to be found in athletic participation. His greatest advice to others is encapsulated in his favorite expression: “Wait to worry.” What does that mean? You owe it to yourself to read on to learn more about the life and philosophy of this Personal Best athlete.

 

Let’s start by asking how you became a Senior Games athlete.

I started Senior Games when I moved to The Villages and they started having local games in 2004. Before that, I mostly ran 5Ks and 10Ks. I also enjoyed distance swimming in open water. Now I do the sprint events. Senior Games are fun. You meet nice people, you have good times, and you get your ego fixed up with sports, no matter what age you are. It’s satisfying. When they stop being fun I won’t do them anymore. People say they never see me without a smile on my face. I smile when I run, I really do. I like the tell people if I can’t make you smile, I’ll irritate you. I guess that’s my Irish heritage. (Laughs)

 

You’ve done well in national competition. This year you entered the 90-94 division and took two gold and a silver in swimming, and a silver in javelin. Did you know you are also now ranked Number Two all-time in the National Senior Game’s 50 yard breaststroke for your age?

No, but the breast is my favorite stroke. That’s all I did in the Marines. I do a little butterfly, but I’ve done the breast all my life and I’m more durable in that. I like all of the strokes, and I’ll try to do all of them in practice and at many meets, just for the heck of it.

 

How did you start your athletic pursuits?

It goes back to my service in the Marines, and how I got in is interesting. My mother came from Ireland. I was born 1925 in Detroit Michigan-so I’m told. My mother had several husbands, and I had a lot of brothers and sisters. I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the Depression and my mother was a bootlegger. Her name was Hannah, and they called her Hard Hearted Hannah. Nobody had jobs and she had no other means of income, so she made moonshine and my older brother and I helped her.

When I was 14 she got arrested and we all went to court. She told the judge she didn’t have the means to do anything else. So, he sent my brother into the Army, my sister to a hospital to be a nurse intern (and she did go on to be a nurse) and I was sent to CC camp – that’s the Civilian Conservation Corps that President Roosevelt set up under the New Deal.

The next year, Pearl Harbor was bombed and the CC camps were disbanded. I went home where my mother was running a rooming house. I tried to get into the Marines and they told me, “You’re just a kid-get out of here.” So I got a job at a steel mill and was running an overhead crane at 15 years old. Now, you usually had to be 17 to be in the CC camps and my discharge papers that said I was 17. So when I turned 16, I went back in to the recruiting office and showed them, and first thing you know I was on a train headed for Paris Island.

After basic training came placement. This officer asked me, “Son, can you swim a mile?” I said sure, even though I wasn’t quite sure if I could. “How would you like to be in a recon outfit?” I said that sounded good, not knowing what that even was. That’s how I got assigned to the Marines’ Amphibious Reconnaissance Company.

We were the forerunner of the Navy Seals. Our main job was to go into these Pacific Islands right before the assaults and do hydrographic work, mapping the beaches and water depths to make sure the boats could get in. We also had to make contact with the Japanese, which meant getting close enough to see or hear them to know where they were, what kind of implementation they had, and how far off the beach they were. We didn’t carry a weapon when we did it either.

 

Dangerous work! And you must have been exhausted swimming that far in open water under that stress.

It wasn’t as far to go as when we trained. They put a little platform a half mile out in the ocean that we had to swim to. You could sit on the platform and rest, but you always had to swim back! In operations, the ships would drop us off in rubber boats about three miles out, and then we would paddle close in and swim from outside of the breakers. We never knew what we were getting into in each mission. But our work saved a lot of lives.

 

Is your war experience and Marine training and discipline what has shaped your outlook about fitness and kept you going as a competitive senior athlete?

You are dead right about the Marine discipline. My athletics started in the Corps. In my training we had to run in the sand carrying these big rubber boats with six men on each side. Then they made us swim a mile. And we did it a lot.

See, when I started, you ran because somebody was chasing you so you had to run. (Laughs) But I loved to run, as goofy as that sounds. We didn’t have running shoes, just these Sears and Roebuck high toppers. After the war, I just kept running and swimming.

I found out there were running groups, 5Ks, 10Ks and marathons, so I did all of those (mostly the 5Ks and 10Ks) right up until 2004, when I moved to the Villages at 79 and got into the track club and the Senior Games. I started running with John Topliss, this guy from England who wanted to start a track club. He is the real brains in this, and he asked me to help out. There was only about six in it when it started, but we now have around 60 people involved.

We use the facilities at the local high school, and we reciprocate by volunteering to help at the kid’s meets. The swim club does that too. That’s one the good things about being in The Villages. They really push all of these activities and sports, and we have a lot of people compete in The Villages Senior Games. That’s why you’ve got so many from here that qualify at state finals and go to the National Senior Games. We call this place Disneyland for adults. (Laughs)

Our routines are really very basic, but it does prepare people to compete. The club gives them tutelage and works them up so they don’t get hurt. You don’t just show up and start going lickety-split. But you will if you work up slowly. We make sure they do their warmups and stretches.

We also have some who are just walkers. We encourage everyone to come out because they become associated with everything going on and some do try new things. Maybe you do exercise walking, well, I will suggest you can also do intervals to raise your activity. Try walking from light pole to light pole, and then jog to the next light pole. You can do the same thing with swimming. You’ll find you enjoy it more because you get more things going in your brain than you can imagine. You get a kind of a high out of it, you know the endorphins and all that business. And it also gives you low attainment levels- if I can do this, I can also do that, you know? But I now know a whole lot of people who can’t believe they are doing what they are now. And I’m one of them! (Laughs)

 

So you enjoy helping others to achieve better fitness.

Well, I won’t lie, I’m a little egotistical. When people come up and tell me I’m wonderful that’s always good. (Laugh s) But it does feel good to help others. There’s this guy here who’s 71 and plays softball. I told him if he ran track he could get around the bases a lot faster. We did a 5K together and boy did he catch on. That kind of thing makes you feel good.

 

People around here say they don’t see you without your wife Marty. She’s a Senior Games athlete too, right?

Oh yes, she’s quite the athlete. Marty’s done a lot of running. She once did an event that was a climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro followed by a half marathon. She won seven medals-two gold-in Minnesota doing sprints and field events. We’re very active in Senior Games. We go to most of the ones around Florida, and we’ve been to the Huntsman Games in Utah. We enjoy going up to the Georgia Golden Olympics, too. They run good games, and they serve the best fried chicken! (Laughs)

Quite a few of the runners in our club were recruited by Marty and me.

There’s a sports expo held here every March, and we set up a booth where we display pictures and our medals. We talk to people about getting involved and staying fit, and we’ve really been pulling them in. We tell people about the enjoyment of running and the sport, and the camaraderie you find doing this.

We both work out and train every day. Monday, Wednesday, Friday is track club, I throw javelin and discus with her twice a week and I swim on the weekends. It’s a beautiful thing to have her to do this with me.

How I met her is another interesting story. I was married to my first wife Kit for 65 years. After she died, I got a call from this gal that I had done a Ragnar relay race with. Ragnar relays involve teams who pile into a couple of vans and do a 191-mile relay run that goes all day and night. Everyone takes turns running while the others ride behind. It’s a lot of fun. So I was asked to coach a team for the Ragnar relay from Miami to Key West. I invited Jan Melberg from our track club to be on the team, and she recommended her sister in law could fly in from California to join us. Well, that was Marty. At first, she didn’t want to have anything to do with me, she thought I was too bossy. (Laughs) But we became friends.

In 2011, I was invited to come to Camp Pendleton in California to give a speech on the Marine Corps’ birthday. So we arranged for me to come up to visit her in Redondo Beach. After that, she would fly here and I would fly there, and after a few months we decided to get married.

I’m just lucky as the devil to have met Marty and to stay interested in what I’m doing. My first wife developed Alzheimer’s and one of my sons and I had to care for her for several years before she died. It was a lot of pressure. I’ve also had a pacemaker put in. I’m certain I wouldn’t be alive today if not for my running and swimming activity that keeps up my strength.

 

You look at least 20 years younger. You obviously keep active, how else are you taking care of yourself?

I just do things in moderation. I’ve never really been on any kind of diet, but I don’t believe in indulging. I never got into smoking or drinking, so I think that helps too.

I’ve never had any joint problems. The doctor tells me it’s my genes. I’ll tell you though, when I was doing a marathon many years ago I met this retired doctor who told me to take coenzyme Q10 for my breathing and my heart, and to take glucosamine for my muscles and bones. I’ve been taking both every day since then, and I think that glucosamine has given my joints some buffer.

 

Exercise, training and competing is not just a physical task. What do you tell people to get the mental part moving?

The mental part is important. The big thing I tell people is “Wait to worry.” I preach that to everyone, and they ask me what I mean by that. I’ll give you an example. An athlete heard that someone who had beaten her before was going to be at a race and told me she can’t win. I said, “Wait to worry! She might not show up. She may have a bad day, and you’ll have a good day. She might go on a cruise. So why worry about that now?”

You can’t waste your time with worry. It preys on your body and your capabilities. Worry will kill you. Think about this: most of the things you worry about in your life never come to fruition. Isn’t that true? I learned that in the insurance business and I’ve carried it over to sports.

Just go out and do it. Your body will tell you how you are doing. Always listen to your body-that no pain, no gain stuff is nonsense. There was this guy Larry Lewis, who ran six miles every day past the age of 100. He used to say that if you don’t feel better after your workout than when you started, then don’t do the same thing the next day. If it’s not feeling right, rest it.

So pay attention, but wait to worry!

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Shuttling Around The World – Debbie Lorenzo, 64, Las Vegas, Nevada

It’s only fitting that Debbie Lorenzo found herself settling into Las Vegas two decades ago. The previous years, beginning in her native Singapore, were full of action, surprises and excitement-and not all of it pleasant. She gambled on her life moves, scored on opportunities and overcame all manner of challenges. At every turn, a badminton racquet was never far from her reach for very long.

While naturally athletic, Debbie’s physical development was hindered by a severe four-year bout with asthma that nearly ended her life. Rebounding with the aid of traditional Chinese healing and a resolve to play sports again, she was then bullied due to her smaller stature. Undaunted, she regained her strength and became a successful multi-sport high school athlete, then earned a position on both Singapore’s national junior and senior teams and benefited from training by a legend of the sport, the late Wong Peng Soon.

Debbie’s view was world-embracing, and she went to work for a French-based international company that offered her a one year work and cultural exchange opportunity in Paris, which she eagerly accepted. Once there, she passed tests to enter into international civil service with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and a series of European assignments followed. She also took advantage of summer vacation breaks to attend badminton camps and competitions around the continent. She also picked up the ability to speak a dozen languages from her life experiences.

In 1995, due to heightened security in the former Yugoslavia, Debbie’s position there was dissolved and she was ordered to evacuate. With virtually no possessions or any place left to live in Singapore, the only haven was to come to Las Vegas to live with her mother and step-father. Finding work and her own living arrangements took time, and she even had to wait to be able to afford a racquet to return to her beloved badminton, but once back on court she excelled. She was excited to hear about the Nevada Senior Games but had to wait five years to turn 50 to compete. She hasn’t missed one since, and has medaled at every National Senior Games since her first in 2007, including two golds and a silver from the 2015 National Senior Games presented by Humana. Her “aha moment” came in 2009, when she traveled to the World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia and returned to Las Vegas with two gold medals for singles and mixed doubles, and a bronze medal for the A Division team event.

The social aspect of her sport participation is as important as the competition, and she is grateful for The Games and has been a volunteer for Nevada Senior Games for five years. She is also a passionate advocate for senior fitness and her advice is simple: If she can do it, anyone can do it. Doing whatever you can, as best as you can, for as long as you can is exactly what Personal Best is all about.

 

Curiosity begs this first question: Both of your parents are of Chinese descent. How did you get the name Debbie Lorenzo?

Ohh. That’s from my ex-husband. He’s American-Italian. (Laughs) I was baptized into the Catholic faith so I chose the name Deborah. My friends and people in the badminton world know me as Debbie.

 

OK, that would be consistent with people describing you are something of a world citizen.

I speak about a dozen languages. I was born in Singapore, which is a cosmopolitan country. In elementary school I was with girls from other ethnic groups so you just pick it up as you go along. I spoke Malay and it has similarities with Indonesian. My father was a well known Mandarin scholar and my grandmother was one of the early immigrants from China and did not speak a word of English. When I started working, I was with an American export company who had business interests in the French Congo, so I learned French. From there, I was able to work for a company based in France and they had a professional and cultural exchange program where I could work in Paris for one year. So I went to Paris and during my year I took some tests to do civil service work for the United Nations system, which I passed.

While working for UNESCO in Paris I needed major surgery on my feet. They had to break some bones to fix it- it was pretty gory. I was given three months to convalesce so I went to Austria and took a one-month crash course in German at the University of Vienna. I then applied for a transfer and went to work at the U.N. office in Vienna. After the outbreak of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, I volunteered to go to the Balkans and learned how they spoke. So it was from my physical presence in these countries that I mostly learned the languages, although I did start learning French in Singapore. Oh yes, I also know American Sign Language, which I went to school to learn here in Las Vegas in 2008.

 

That sounds like an interesting and successful career. You’ve also been very successful playing bad minton.

Badminton is widely played in Southeast Asia. I started at a very early age, maybe 5 years old. I was no taller than the racquet itself! The racquets in those days were half wood and half metal, very big and heavy. There was a fence between houses where I lived and I would hit the plastic birdie back and forth with my neighbor, who was about 12. He was using one hand and I had to use two. (Laughs) So that was how it started.

In the school system they promote all kinds of sports like basketball, volleyball, table tennis, lawn hockey, athletics, and badminton. I had tried volleyball, but most of the girls were taller and I would get pushed down and always came home with cuts and bruises. Basketball didn’t go too well because I always shot the ball under the net due to my height. (Laughs) I did very well at track and field. Maybe being smaller made me faster.

Badminton was my favorite. There were leagues sponsored by soft drink companies and before I left high school a talent scout got me an endorsement and induced me to play on a team. They got me to try out for the junior national badminton team and I was successful. I trained with the national team and played some tournaments before it was time to decide on my career.

 

So you found your best sport without too much trouble.

Actually, no. When I was eight my uncle came to live with us after his house was inundated by floods. He had three cats, and I actually contracted asthma from breathing in tons of cat hair. My physical education teacher noticed I was slowing down, especially in the 400 and 800 meter runs. I would stop every so often and had difficulty breathing, and I heard a wheezing noise and started to tense.

It got to the point where I had to be propped up with pillows and sleep at a 90 degree angle for almost four years. I never grew another inch during that time, and I got pushed around and bullied because I was smaller than the other girls my age. It affected my grades. What was heart wrenching for me was that I was required to go to PE, but after starting to run I would bend over and start wheezing, panting and coughing. I actually would turn olive green. I was ordered to just sit down on the bench while all the other girls were running around and having fun.

My brothers and sisters would get anything they wanted to eat, but my daily meals consisted of medications in the form of colored syrups and pills and a strict diet of congee, which is a rice porridge. I also had to go to the emergency ward for periodic injections every time I had a breakout. In those days the syringe was so big!  I became very thin and weak. At one point I didn’t have the strength to do anything and was almost giving up on life. I was virtually on my death bed.

 

Wow. How did you overcome it?

My grandma was from the old school of Chinese healing and I was not allowed to have any cold drinks – no ice or refrigerated things, only hot, lukewarm or room temperature liquids. She wanted to keep my body temperature constant. Air conditioning was taboo, so I would take double sweaters when we went to the movies. (Laughs) One day while going to the local market with her, we came across a street vendor who recommended a small bottle of herbal medication which was good for pulmonary diseases. It only cost one Singapore dollar, but that was all it took to start improving my breathing and reviving me. So all of these things which I call the wisdom of the ages contributed to my wellness.

I started to run again and little by little, and with support and encouragement of my family, I was taking in more fresh air and opening my airway. So by persevering I kept improving. I’m totally asthma free now.

I started back doing all kinds of sports when I was about 12.  I even took up volleyball again, the very thing that I hated. And I picked up the badminton racquet again. But I was so far behind. My brothers and sisters had all kinds of trophies from their sports and my dad had a display cabinet to show them off. I cried because I had just one tiny one before I got sick, and then no more trophies for me. But my mother and grandma encouraged me and said one day I would have more trophies than them. And you know what? That came about. My trophies outgrew the collection and my father had to get a bigger cabinet to display them. (Laughs)

 

So did you go to college and stay with sports?

Right after high school it was career time and I went to work and couldn’t do as much. Then I went to Europe and badminton was not widely played in France in the early 70s. But I found a club and got to play some. Then when I moved to new assignments I would train and play tournaments off and on when I could. During the summer vacations there were badminton camps around Europe and I took advantage of them for the training.

 

2015 Medal Ceremony (Glen Stubbe-Star Tribune)

How did you end up coming to the United States?

As I said, I had the opportunity to travel around Europe doing office and field logistics work. But things got bad and I had to suddenly evacuate my duty station because heightened security in the former Yugoslavia. I did not have a place to live back in Singapore, so the only option for me was to come to the United States, to Las Vegas, to be with my mother and step dad.

I arrived here in 1995 at age 44. Because of the evacuation I didn’t have any equipment. I didn’t have anything! I had to wait for my work permit, so it was very difficult to get going at first. The need to find work and affordable housing took precedence over my badminton. But after awhile, my step father told me there was badminton going on at one of the recreation centers, so I started doing it again off and on. It was there I found out about Nevada Senior Games and National Senior Games-but I was too young to play.

After five years I reached 50 and said “Yay! I can finally do this!” I was so excited. I wanted to go to the Nationals in Pittsburgh in 2005 but I was working variable shifts at a casino so it was difficult to train and to get the time to go. And there were no real badminton clubs around town then. I did go to Louisville in 2007 and won two golds and a bronze. I have been to every one since.

I was also able to go to the World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia in 2009 and won three medals. I made it to Nationals in Houston in 2011, but missed out on going to Turin Italy for the world games because I had to cut down on badminton to care for my senior mom. But whenever I could pick up my racquet I would go play. Luckily, Mr. Don Bolwaire came to the Valley and set up many badminton programs. He coordinates badminton for the Nevada games every year, together with Nedra Paschal. And the Las Vegas Badminton Club came into existence about four years ago, which is another major contributor to my success. I would not be able to train and play at my best without them. I’ve worked as a volunteer for the Nevada Senior Games for about five years. I’m grateful that they provide seniors with multi-sports opportunities that enhance the quality of their entire lives.

 

That’s the benefits sports offers – it provides fitness, fun and fellowship.

I am fortunate to have friends who enjoy playing badminton. Some of the people I play with are half my age but I don’t care. We challenge each other on the court, and win or lose it doesn’t matter. It’s all about keeping fit, working up a good sweat and have a fun game.

It’s the same with Nationals. Whether I come home or not with a medal, what is important is to maintain a quality life. How can you have a quality life if you are not fit? There’s also the camaraderie. I get to see my friends every two years and see how everyone is doing. And I get to go to a part of the United States I have never been before. It’s so rewarding. It was the same when I was in Europe. I participated in tournaments and got to see new places and faces through my sports.

 

How do you tell others about the importance of staying active, even if not in sports?

It is a major contributor to keeping fit and staying away from doctors. Whatever you can do is beneficial. We all have a choice. You can choose to be a couch potato or be active. You either want to get off your butt-pardon my French-or you want to do something about it. What is it going to be for you? Excuses are excuses.

When I was so sick and almost died, I didn’t think at the time that I would live to be 64 years old. I look around now at men and women that are my age and I feel so bad for them. They have illnesses, some of course are no fault of theirs, but many bring them on themselves. I choose to have a good quality of life. I have to watch what I eat and have a balanced diet. Naturally, daily dietary supplements such as vitamins and minerals are also major contributors. To me, the most rewarding thing is that I don’t have to depend on anyone to do things for me.

Everything in life is about doing things in moderation. Have some fun. Go out to the casino and have some fun, you know, but do the other things that keep you in shape. I really want to encourage anyone my age who might feel like they can’t do it, I want to tell them it’s not about being old and dying. It has to do with how we choose to live. Sharpen your wits, sweat a little bit.

 

You spoke of your mother and grandmother inspiring you. Who or what is else has inspired you?

I am inspired by badminton because it is a fascinating sport. It requires focus, concentration, discipline, and strategy. And believe it or not, mathematical and rhythmic coordination similar to dance is also involved. I love it.

My favorite sports slogan is “Just Do It.” To this day I keep telling myself that. And I can really relate to the movie Forrest Gump. Tom Hank’s character had polio and ran until his braces fell off. I ran until my asthma went away. If I can do it, anyone can.

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Against All Odds – Brenda Talley, 60, Las Vegas, Nevada

What happens when life suddenly deals you one bad hand after another? Do you fold, or do you find a way to play it out? Brenda Talley, who was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer in 2008 and has undergone more than 40 rounds of chemotherapy, five surgeries and three recurrences, refused to believe each succeeding doctor’s dire prognosis and dug down deep for more “chips” of determination and inspiration.

Although she got away from sports after high school and only started playing tennis at the age of 47, by all accounts Brenda applies a competitive yet compassionate spirit into everything she does. After experiencing the sportsmanship and camaraderie at the 2006 Nevada Senior Games, she was all in, setting her sights on competing in the National Senior Games.

Then, cancer changed the game.

While the medical opinions offered little hope for survival, Brenda set a goal: get back to competitive strength and make it to the National Senior Games. She credits her husband’s and family’s support and the burning desire to participate in The Games as her inspiration to remain positive and motivated to get out of bed and continue to work, exercise and play tennis through the rollercoaster ride of exhausting medical treatments and setbacks. December 2012 was her last chemo and scans showed her to be cancer-free a few months later. Brenda finally attained her goal and competed in the 2015 National Senior Games presented by Humana, which included sharing the court with her husband in mixed doubles play.

There‘s another layer to Brenda’s story. While still surfacing from her nightmare, the fourth generation native of Las Vegas discovered that the 2013 Nevada Senior Games were at risk and desperately needed help. There was talk of canceling that year due to inadequate sponsorships. Despite her low energy level, Brenda stepped up to take the director’s position in 2013 without pay, secured enough sponsors and salvaged the event. People called her a game saver, but in Brenda’s view it was The Games that helped save her.

Brenda Talley continues to be the coordinator for the annual Nevada Senior Games and hopes to attract more support to see them grow even more. Her Personal Best passion to keep them going is not just for herself, but to benefit others, particularly those who need to set a goal to make themselves healthier and enjoy a quality life.

 

Before we get to the serious stuff, tell us about your background and long family history with Las Vegas.

My great grandmother came here from Silver Reef, Utah in a covered wagon before Las Vegas was even incorporated. I’m told she lost her husband in a mining accident and was grief stricken and wanted to get out with her children. She didn’t know anyone. She also had the first non-native baby here after the city was formed.

 

So she was a gambler of sorts before there even was big gambling in Las Vegas.

(Laughs) Yes, I guess so. I’m a fourth generation Las Vegan. My grandmother was born here, and so was my mother, me, my children and my grandchildren. I love it here.

 

You took up tennis later in life. Were you athletic as a youth?

I was a tomboy. My parents had four kids, three girls and a boy. I was the second and closest to my brother, so I went out and played football, basketball and baseball with him and his friends. They always seemed to be one man out, so I had the chance to play.

My dad coached my brother’s baseball team and I used to have short hair and sat on the bench to watch them play. One time, a kid got hurt and I grabbed my mitt and ran right out to center field. When I caught a ball my dad noticed it was me and made me come off the field. I was so upset because I just knew they would let me play if I proved I could do it. “Man, he should have left me in after I caught that ball-I made an out!” That was my one Little League play. (Laughs).

In junior high I was on the girls softball team. I was like four feet two inches and the shortest girl on the basketball team, so my job was just to grab the ball and give it to someone else. I also liked track. But I was a bus student when I got to high school, and there wasn’t an afterschool athlete bus to get me home. So I was unable to participate in sports then.

 

Too bad. Sounds like you have natural athletic ability and could have continued to college.

Well, music was my other big passion, and still is. I hear music when the wind blows through the trees-it’s in my soul. I was in band from 6th grade through high school. I played clarinet and taught myself to play piano. There’s still one in my home and I play all the time. I also learned guitar, banjo and ukulele, and played organ at my church. I had music scholarship offers but didn’t use them. After high school, I wanted a break from school, managed a flower shop, and then got married and started having kids.

I didn’t play organized tennis until much later. After I first got married, I was in a bowling league until I hurt my shoulder falling in an orchestra pit. So that did away with sports for awhile.

 

You fell into an orchestra pit?

Well, it’s a long story related to my work. From 15 to 35 I was a florist. It started as an after school job and I became a designer and was pretty good at it. But I couldn’t see a retirement in that line of work, so I went to Clark County Community College to get a teaching degree. I needed to schedule a course that fit in with my daughter’s day care time. I didn’t want to take math, so I signed up for a technical theater course. I had worked with my dad’s tools, making a treehouse and stuff, so

I figured I could handle stage craft. I just fell in love with it, learning lighting design and scenic art and so on. A new theater had been built at the school and they were hiring a lighting director that paid more than being a teacher. I ended up getting that, and while doing the job I had the fall (17 feet!) into the orchestra pit. Because of the severity of my injuries, I couldn’t return to my position backstage. I was moved to the front of the house working for the director of the Performing Arts Center. Shortly thereafter, I was promoted into the director position, where I finished my last ten years before retiring.

 

Brenda and Beni at 2015 Games (Photo: Eric Todd)

OK, so you had a demanding career, family and the injury that put sports on the back burner. When did you start with tennis?

Beni, my husband, is an avid tennis player. So in my late 40s I went to some clinics and then got on a league. I just love playing tennis.  Some couples don’t like to play doubles together. I guess they have enough arguments off the court. (Laughs) But we love it. I really love to play singles too.

I was 51 the first time I played Nevada Senior Games in 2006. A friend in my league told me about it so we signed up. Beni and I had a ball and thought it was great fun.

 

When did things get serious with your health? 

It was in 2008. I was presenting at a conference in Austin Texas. I’m a vegetarian, by the way, and on lunch break all I could find to eat was a turkey sandwich. That night I felt nauseous and thought it was the turkey I ate. I was up all night sick. I didn’t fly out until 8 pm the next night, and several times thought I would call the ambulance. When I got off the flight, my daughter said I was pale white. I figured out which hospital would be least busy and went to this little place out in Henderson where I could get in fast. They couldn’t even touch my stomach.

It turned out to be pancreatitis that was causing the pain, but they found a large tumor and told me I needed to see a gynecologist right away. In a way, the pancreatitis was a blessing in disguise.

The doctors said it was probably a cyst. My sister had one removed, so I just thought it was my turn. In the month between then and the surgery it grew from the size of a lemon to a cantaloupe, and it was attached to everything. The doctor told me how they would cut and where it would go if it was cancer. After eight hours of surgery I pulled up my nightgown and said “Oh s_ _ _!” I knew it was cancer before being told.

I didn’t finish chemo until the day before Thanksgiving, so I missed the Nevada games that year. I told myself I would get back in shape. In my tennis clinics I told the coach I didn’t have the stamina to go through all the drills, that when I needed to sit down I would, and when I could get back in I would. I tried to stay as active as I could. I played in the games in 2009- I didn’t play very well, but I got there.

 

That wasn’t the end of your ordeal. What happened next?

In December of that year we were up in Utah climbing around to get our Christmas tree. I told my husband I was finally feeling like my old self. Then that night, I woke up with this terrible pain and went to the hospital. I was in for three weeks and they still couldn’t figure out what was wrong. On Christmas Eve I told them they better cut me open see what’s going on because I wasn’t eating, on IV’s and was wasting away. They found a blockage in my intestines and another tumor so they had to do a resection.

Before this setback I had been told I had a 90 percent chance of making five years. After this surgery – it was Christmas Day- I asked what my chances were now and the surgeon just shook her head and said “Once you recur it’s not good. I just can’t tell you how long you have.” I was devastated.

 

Wow, no Merry Christmas that year!

Well, I woke up the next day and decided no more pity party. I knew I needed to see another doctor so I went to the Mayo Clinic. In March there were more tumors and they decided to try a controversial and aggressive IV/IP procedure. In one session they put the chemo in the chest port to the vein, and then they put another type through a port right into the abdomen, lay you back and shake you around. They call it the “shake and bake.” I had that three times in a week, then wait three weeks and do it again. That went on for six months.

The doctor said the procedure could add 18 months and that a handful of patients had gotten seven to ten years. Well, the cancer recurred one month later and she said there was nothing more she could do for me. So I went to a new doctor at Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, but the news was no better. In the one month in between, the scan showed the cancer had moved into my liver with two large tumors, plus others too numerous to count. We started more chemo in February of 2011. In May, the scans showed the tumors had enlarged and increased in number. That’s when that doctor said I didn’t even have four months.

I kept working all through this to keep my insurance to pay for all of this. I would come home at 6 o’clock and go to bed, and then drag myself up in the morning.

 

Brenda rolls for cancer walk in tougher times

It’s incredible that you are still here to tell this story. How did you get through such a dire situation?

Through all of this I kept telling myself “I have to get up and keep going. I’ve got to get ready for the Games in September. I can’t let my muscles get weak.” To play in the Nevada Senior Games was the prize. That was the driving force to get me up out of bed. My mom also used to say “Don’t stay in bed-you die in bed.” That was in the back of my mind too.

I live in the mountains outside of Las Vegas and the mailbox is three houses down at the end of the street. I would force myself to go down there every day. I had to stop several times coming back up to catch my breath. Other times, I would take out my racquet and just swing my arm to get some muscles moving. I knew I had to keep building up my strength.

After two months of new chemo, there was a tumor reduction in size and number so that was a victory. I got to play in state games that September. I played horribly, and had to withdraw from the mixed doubles, but I did it. By 2012 things were looking a lot better, even though there were still tumors and some lymph node involvement. By May they couldn’t see any more lymph activity. In August they took me off one of the chemo agents, and on December 12th I got off the other agent.

So I qualified in 2012 for doubles play in the 2013 National Senior Games, but I didn’t know how I might be doing the next summer so I didn’t register. And I didn’t want to go until I could do singles- that was always my driving force to play at Nationals. I kept building up, playing doubles with Beni and improving in my singles, and in 2014 I qualified in Nevada for the 2015 Games in Minnesota.

My singles match this year became so special for me. My first surgery was on July 7th of 2008, and the semi-final competition for the playoffs was on July 7th of 2015, exactly seven years to the day from that surgery. 7-7-7…pretty lucky for a Vegas girl! (Laughs) I ended up coming from behind and winning on a tiebreaker to go to the finals of the consolation round the next day. It hadn’t dawned on me until that morning about the date. It felt like my victory over cancer, that I had finally beat it. Winning in that semi-finals match was very emotional.

Photo: Eric Todd

 

It didn’t matter whether you won the next day, did it?

No, not at all!  I finished fifth overall in my age division, but that was the biggest victory ever for me. I’m very competitive, but win, lose, or draw, just being able to come and play is what it’s all about.

 

So now you are the Nevada Senior Games Coordinator. How did that come about?

In 2012, when I was told I had four months to live I retired from my job. If that was going to be it, I was going to spend the time with my family and grandchildren. But by July, my health was looking up, so I decided to help the Nevada Senior Games with registration and office work until they were over in October.

A little later I heard that the games were in trouble. They didn’t have enough sponsors and had less than $600 in their account. They were talking about taking a year off in 2013 since it was not a qualifying year for Nationals. I thought “No, you can’t do that. First, you would lose a lot of people who might not come back. And secondly, there had to be a lot of people like me where those games are the one thing they are focusing on as a goal for the year. You can’t take that away from them!” So I went in and worked for free to help keep it going. We got a big Caesar’s Foundation grant and a couple of sponsors and that allowed us to hire staff again, and I was able to take a stipend. We had a great year in 2014.

We still have had our challenges. Because of a bankruptcy the Caesar’s money was frozen this year and I don’t have that stipend right now. But we have some great sponsors and seeing more and more interest. We’re partnering now with the local YMCA to share information about us with their active seniors. And the turnout is looking good for this year.

 

It’s simply amazing. You shouldn’t even be here based on the odds you were against, let alone regain your competitive ability and to devote so much energy into saving the Nevada Senior Games.

The Games are really close to my heart, because this was my light at the end of the tunnel. There’s a lot of older people in Senior Games that use this as their motivation to stay active, and may need to get through a challenge of their own.

Then you see all of these people in their 80s running track, jumping in the swimming pool, playing tennis and other sports. It’s a testimony that you use it or you lose it. If you stay active, keep that exercise going and have good nutrition, your later years are going to be much more productive and happy. Not just physically, but emotionally. The socialization is such an important part of The Games as well.

My favorite expression is one that you’ve seen around a lot: You don’t stop playing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop playing. And so I’m not stopping!

---

 

From left: Monica, Tom, “Pop”, Nancy, Buffy, Dan, Carl Jr.

The Family That Plays Together…-The Horstman Family, Evansville, Indiana

As the biennial National Senior Games approaches its 14th gathering of athletes since the first event was held in 1987, we are delighted to see more and more intergenerational participation. Earlier in our history, we saw participation by couples, siblings and cousins; then children began to join with parents in the athlete ranks as they came of age. Family connections continue to grow. 

And why not? Our athletes consistently speak about the unique atmosphere of fun, fellowship and fitness found at The Games that adds layers of enjoyment and meaning to their core competitive efforts. Family members have always been cheering on the sidelines and gaining cherished memories while watching parents and grandparents striving for their Personal Best. It usually starts with one person who gets into the game and inspires family members and others to do the same.

Carl Horstman was just that sort of inspiration, and he got the ball rolling with his family in a big way. He was an avid league bowler since he returned from his service in World War II, and when he discovered the National Senior Games at the age of 68 he was all in, making every one until his last appearance in 2007 at the age of 90. His enthusiasm for the sport caught on with four of his seven children, and then with two of his daughters-in-law. They all enjoyed local league play through the years, and one by one, the family members reached 50 and began to compete in the Indiana State Games with their beloved “Pop.” At times when everyone was healthy, seven family members would qualify in the state games, and in 2005 and 2007 the entire contingent of bowling Horstmans rolled the rock at National Senior Games.

“Pop” took more pride in seeing so many of his kids following his lead than in the gold medal he won in doubles play in 2003. He weaved a tight family unit, so much so that he even influenced the careers of his children. Carl worked as a letter carrier, and four family members also followed into the postal service. The other children all took on careers that involved serving others, and that spirit of service has carried on after his passing in 2012 with several family members regularly volunteering to help with the Indiana State Games that are now held annually in their hometown of Evansville. For the Horstmans, it’s a tribute to “Pop” and a way of thanking Senior Games for helping to keep their father motivated and active into his 90s. It’s also giving them the same health and social benefits, and that’s what pursuing your Personal Best is all about.

We asked son Tom Horstman, 64, to represent the family and to share more about their patriarch’s legacy in the following conversation:

 

Tom, we appreciate you doing this interview on behalf of your family. It’s clear that your father Carl Horstman epitomized Personal Best, because he persevered and inspired many others to get in the game.

Carl – we always called him Pop – was an avid bowler for a zillion years, ever since he got back from World War II. He missed the very first National Senior Games held in St Louis in 1987 because he did not know about them, but participated in every one subsequent to that from 1989 through 2007 in Louisville at the age of 90. He was very proud to win the gold in the doubles play with Doug Morrison from Lafayette, Indiana in 2003.

I also want to point out that Pop made sure over the years to schedule his knee, hip and heart valve replacement surgeries at times to avoid a conflict with qualifying or participating in Senior Games. Pop passed away in June of 2012 at the age of 95, but he will definitely be on my shoulder, giving me a few helpful hints, when I bowl in Minnesota this year.

We all laugh that his last event was difficult because of his baseball cap. He continued to collect state pins during all of his national games, which he put on the cap. By 2007, it got so heavy from all the metal he couldn’t wear that thing when he bowled anymore!

 

So he knocked down pins, and collected them too!

Oh yeah. There you go. (Laughs)

 

Carl‘s had an influence on many more family members than yourself. Tell us about that.

Pop’s determination was a definite inspiration and the main reason so many of us are participating. When I came home from my college days at Indiana University, I started subbing for him in his league. Then I got going pretty steady and haven’t stopped since 1973.

I have seven brothers and sisters. Two of my brothers, Carl Jr. and Danny also regularly bowl, as well as one of my sisters, Monica- we call her Moni. Four out of eight ain’t bad. And my wife Nancy and Carl Jr.’s wife Buffy also bowl. In fact, four of us bowl together on a league team every Tuesday. And all of us have been in the Senior Games. I should mention that at one time many years ago our brother Clem bowled with us too. But Clem, who is a disabled Vietnam veteran, had an automobile accident that created back problems. That eventually made it impossible for him to continue bowling.

We have a lot of people from Evansville that participate in the state Senior Games, even when they were held in Indianapolis. I remember several years ago 18 people from Evansville went up there and qualified for Nationals in bowling, and 7 of them were Horstmans!

 

So, are all the bowling Horstmans going to The Games in Minnesota this summer?

From left: Tom, Nancy, “Moni” and Dan join “Pop” at the 2005 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh.

All of us usually bowl in the Indiana games every year. Danny, Carl and Buffy have not made it to some of the National Senior Games due to surgeries and schedule issues. And only Moni made it to California in 2009. None of the rest of us could get free or afford it at the time. But we all went to Nationals with Pop in 2005 and 2007 before he had to give it up. Moni, Nancy and I went to the most recent games in Houston and Cleveland. Moni got a bronze in doubles play in 2011.

As far as I know, everyone is still planning to go to Minnesota this year. I’m hoping we’ll do well. My wife Nancy has two good knees now. Danny, Monica, Carl and Nancy all have artificial knees. Pop had them too. Somehow I’ve avoid that problem, but I guess it runs in the family. (Laughs)

 

Based on his dedication, it must make your family members feel guilty about not going even if they have a good reason.

Exactly. I knew that I could never quit bowling while he was here, and now that he’s gone…I don’t want to! It’s something he instilled in me.

 

So Pop’s influence has brought a couple of wives into the bowling family too?

You could say that. My wife Nancy hasn’t been bowling as long as me. She started after we got married 35 years ago. I was in leagues so she decided to join one too. She is the only member of our family who has ever bowled a 300 game. That was two years ago. It was amazing, but she has always been a good bowler. The first time she and I could go to the National Senior Games in 2003 she took a silver in the 50-54 division. Then we won gold in the mixed doubles. We both bowled pretty hot in those games in Virginia. I did not imagine that would happen, and it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever been part of. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to duplicate that effort at Nationals since! (Laughs)

 

Maybe it was the excitement of being in your first national event and the atmosphere around it.

It was awesome. At first it seemed like any other tournament, but then I noticed that the people there were really involved and wanted to be there. The friendship among the participants was fantastic. Everybody wanted to find out where you were from and a little of your history. There is an overwhelming sense of camaraderie in these games. It was really an eye opener that first time to meet a gentleman from Texas who was bowling at the age of 101. He told us he took up bowling when he turned 80 to give himself something to do. (Laughs) That was fascinating.

And I do love to go to the Village and see all the sponsors and booths that contribute and help make this all happen. It’s great to see all the athletes from other sports. Sometimes they kid us and ask, “Bowling? Is that a sport?” That tickles me. To each his own.

 

Bowling does take physical skill, concentration and practice. We call that a sport.

Sports are all different. Bowling is different than playing softball or running track, but it still does require that you get up off your rear end and participate. It also requires you to keep mentally active, which I believe is as important for you as the physical activity. And as for the physical part, doing 30 frames every night you bowl in a league takes a lot out of you.

All I can attest to is that Pop did it until he couldn’t do it anymore. I always thought as soon as he couldn’t pick up that bowling ball we would have to bury him right there. He really lived for bowling. We believe it helped keep him going year after year after year. His last National Senior Games was in 2007 when he was 90.

 

What did Carl do for a living?

He was a letter carrier. So were my older brothers Clem and Danny, Carl Jr.’s wife Buffy, and my baby sister Martha. She’s only 58.

Carl’s pin hat

Wow. Your Pop must have been one whale of an influencer!  Do you deliver mail too?

No, but I wanted to. At the time I started work the post office was mainly hiring veterans, and I wasn’t in the service. My brothers and of course Pop were all veterans. I’ve been working for the state unemployment service. It’s called WorkOne in Indiana. I got started on a work study program while I was still in college, and it just continued full time. It’s been 41 years now. But when I retire, I might pick up a part time rural mail delivery job. I will say all of Pop’s children found work in service oriented jobs. Monica is a licensed practical nurse, and Carl Jr. worked for the utility company before he retired.

 

That helps explain your reputation for volunteer service. We hear the Horstmans always help out with the Indiana State Games every year.

The Southwest Indiana Regional Council on Aging sponsors these games. SWIRCA does their best to broadcast out to everyone in the state that Senior Games keeps you active and involved. Whenever they get a chance, they point to our Pop and the fact that his sport kept him going for 90 plus years. Being in Senior Games helped make that happen. It gave him something extra to live for, and he stayed active until he simply could not do it anymore. This means a lot to us. So every year, when the Indiana State Games come around, SWIRCA really looks forward to having us come help. We are happy to do it and would like to see more people get involved. For my part, even if it means in the long run that I wouldn’t qualify, I’d love to see more participation in senior bowling.

 

You haven’t mentioned your mother as a bowler.

She didn’t mind Pop bowling, but for some reason she wouldn’t be caught dead in a bowling alley. I remember when we wanted to surprise Pop on his 80th birthday. The date occurred on bowling night, so we had to take the party to the bowling alley. Family and friends poured in, except Mom. I thought it was hilarious that she didn’t come for his birthday party.

 

What about the extended family? Is bowling important to the younger Horstmans?

I don’t have any children myself, but there are several children and grandchildren in the family. As of now, none of the next generation below us bowl regularly except for one of Pop’s grandsons that has been bowling regularly in a league. That’s Clem’s oldest son Bruce.

But this is a common problem bowling is facing nationwide. Not as many of the younger generation seem to be willing to commit the time and effort to get involved with league bowling. Now, with video games and iPhones, it’s more difficult to get them physically involved. I hope we can reverse that trend.

Younger folks don’t realize that you can do sports like bowling and golf for your whole life. You may not do it as well later as when you were 30 years old, but as long as you can walk up to the lane and throw that ball it will keep you going. Pop was proof of that.

I remember once that one of my nephews flunked a bowling course in physical education in college and Pop was just livid. (Chuckles)

 

You have your share of fellow Baby Boomers that aren’t very active as well. What do you tell your peers?

Get out of the house and get involved in something active, regardless of how minor it may seem. You’re going to sit there and rot if you don’t. I’ve been thinking about retiring and wonder what I will be doing. I need a reason to get up in the morning and be connected to something.

Like I’ve already said, there’s the need for mental as well as physical activity, and they drive each other. Walking around t he block is good for you physically, but if you don’t keep mentally and socially active it will come back to haunt you. Doing a sport gives you both, and it will keep you going in the right direction. You’ll be surprised how it grows. It’s an opportunit y to connect with friends and make new friends.

There are a ton of senior bowling leagues in this area, so it shows that there are many who know they need to do this. Being involved in a sport and with others helps keep you healthy, wealthy and wise all around I think. (Pause) Well, maybe not the wealth. I haven’t gotten rich by bowling yet. (Laughs)

Walk Like a Mississipian – Donna Gonzales, 72, Terry, Mississippi

Race walking is an often unappreciated sport. The casual observer might consider its movements quirky, but anyone who has tried it or watched closely will attest to the skill and focus it demands of athletes. Precise technique and endurance, requiring extensive mental and physical preparation, is required to properly compete. Race walking form is closely judged, and it is customary to see many competitors disqualified.

Donna Gonzales makes it look easy. Even though she did not learn the sport until she was 55, she has been on the National Senior Games medal stand every time she has attended, including sweeping up gold medals in both the 1,500 and 5,000 meter race walk events in 2011 and 2013. The Mississippi Senior Olympics saw fit to recognize her dominating performances as a senior athlete locally and nationally in just her first decade by inducting Donna into its Hall of Fame in 2009. Another key factor for the award was her unflagging enthusiasm for fitness and constant advocacy that has resulted in many others joining the Senior Games Movement.

A native of Rayville, Louisiana, Donna kept active with gymnastics, cheerleading and being a lifeguard through high school. Moving to Terry, Mississippi just outside of Jackson, Donna says raising children and helping with her husband’s business kept her moving, and she also found time to teach aerobics and Middle Eastern dance at her YMCA. Her outg oing personality and Southern charm landed a regular exercise segment on a morning TV talk show on WLBT, Jackson’s NBC affiliate station. Once that ended and child rearing duties subsided, Donna craved a fun new challenge. A younger woman taught her to race walk, and the rest, as they say, is history.

People call her a natural race walker, but as you will discover in our conversation, perhaps her proficiency at belly dancing in the late 70s helped speed up her learning curve for this unique sport. Leave it to a Personal Best senior athlete to make that connection!

 

You’ve been a dominant presence in your age group at National Senior Games. When was your first?

I have gone to Nationals since…well, let me count the years here. (Laughs) My first was in 1999, and I got two silver medals in my age group that year and 2001. I got one more at Virginia in 2003 but got disqualified in the 1,500 meter race because I had a bent knee. I know what happened to me. I was trying so hard to beat someone that I forgot my form. I got that straightened out and won two Gold medals in Pittsburgh in 2005. I missed 2007 for health reasons and 2009 because of a lot of things going on with our family business. But I came back and got two gold in Houston, and then did it again in Cleveland in 2013.

 

How did you become a race walker? Are there many doing the sport around Jackson?

Well, surprisingly there are. We have a Mississippi Track Club, and there’s a race walking division with quite a few people in it. When I became 55, I was at the point where my children were finally out of the house and I was looking for something I could do. My husband Ray likes to hunt and fish and all that stuff, so I wanted something for myself. We had our own heating and air conditioning business so I did office work for Ray in the afternoons, and did my exercise and activities in the mornings.

I’ve always been into gymnastics, exercise and fitness. As a matter of fact, I taught aerobics and Middle Eastern dancing for awhile at the Jackson YMCA when that was the big thing in the late 70s. A little later I even had a regular segment leading exercises on the Coffee With Judy morning TV show on Channel 3 here in Jackson. The experience was really good. Even when I got pregnant with my third child I just kept right on doing it, and added some maternity exercises as I went along. After I took time off to have the baby, I brought her onto the show six weeks later. We sat her on the table and I went back to the fitness! (Laughs)

Anyway, I had tried to be a runner in my younger years, but I’m kinda short and I was just never good at it. Then I met Barbara Duplechain, who was one of the very best race walkers in Mississippi, and I told her I’d like to learn to do that. She took me along to some races and showed me how it’s done. My first race was on St. Patrick’s Day and it was 40 degrees and fa-reezing in downtown Jackson. I called my friends and none of them would go with me. But I got myself down there and did the race, and I came in third in my age group. And that was it. I was hooked! (Chuckles)

Race walk is a technically challenging and unforgiving sport. Are you as much competing with yourself to do it right as you are trying to beat others?

Absolutely. It’s hard. You have to get your form right or you’re going to get disqualified, no matter how fast you can be. It’s a technique you really have to perfect, especially at the national level. If you have a bent knee, or get your foot off the ground like when you run, they will call you out. They have people lined all around the track looking for you to make a mistake. You get three warnings, and on the third you’re out!

That’s what I like about it, actually. Anybody can go out and run. In this, you’ve got to be mentally prepared to have everything moving right – your feet, your legs, your hips all the way up to your head. If something gets out of line you’ll do it wrong.

Now older people like us in Senior Games have a problem because our knees start to get knobby, and it looks like a bent knee when it’s not sometimes. But it is what it is.

 

That’s your story, and you’re sticking to it, right?

I’m absolutely stickin’ with it! (Laughs)

Let’s back up a bit to your time teaching Middle Eastern dance. Did you or the class actually perform?

Oh yes, we just wore leotards in the class at the YMCA but we would dress up to do shows at nursing homes and other events. We didn’t do any nightclubs or anything like that. We all had a good time. It really is good exercise. You find muscles you didn’t know you had.

 

Do you think any of the dance techniques were helpful for you to learn race walking?

Well, it is kinda similar. In belly dancing you learn to isolate your hips and control muscle movements. In race walking, you have to use your hips to push off and twist to get your legs to move the right way. People have told me before that my dancing must have helped me.

 

Now that belly dancing has been compared to race walking, no one will ever look at either in the same way again.

That’s true! (Hearty laughter) Actually, I did get a phone call recently from a woman who used to take the dance classes from me. Dang if she didn’t come out and do a race with the track club, and now she’s started race walking. That was exciting for me.

 

So you found a sport as a senior, and have always been active. Were there any challenges along the way?

The only big thing I’ve had was a hysterectomy that went wrong in March of 2007. It was supposed to be a simple procedure. I scheduled it to allow time to be ready for the National Senior Games in Louisville that summer. But during the procedure they sutured my bowels together. I was supposed to be in and out the same day, but instead I was in the hospital for a month. They had to do three surgeries to make it right. I almost died. So When I got out, I had lost 30 pounds and was basically a skeleton. I could not walk from the back of my house to the front because I was so weak. It took me a year of recuperation to get my strength back. I didn’t get to go to Kentucky because of it.

I finally started walking for exercise again after 8 months. It’s hard to lay down when your brain wants you to get up and go , but you can’t. Oh my! But I was just not going to be put down by all that, and I came back eventually. I was so glad. But other than that, I’ve been healthy and I know it’s because I’ve stayed physically fit all my life. The doctors told me if I had not been in such good physical shape I would have never made it through all of that.

 

Has your success helped to get others involved?

I’ve gotten several girls into race walking at the Mississippi Senior Olympics, and several others are waitin’ to get on when they turn 50. Barbara Duplechain, the girl that taught me how to race walk, finally got old enough to join us last year. She came with me to Cleveland and got a silver medal. She is an awesome race walker.

We have fierce competition at races in the state and at Nationals. But once we get across the finish line we’re all friends. Everybody’s there to help everybody else. I’ve made some good friends.

 

What advice do you give to people who don’t think they are good enough, or don’t want to do sports?

I encourage them to get active. Get out and walk. Don’t just sit around. You’ve got to go out and play. Find something you like to do. That’s why the state games are so good, there’s all kinds of things you can do, from the big sports to games like throwing washers into a box. You have fun and there is so much camaraderie. If they want to learn to race walk, I always help. I live a little out in the country where the roads aren’t as busy, so I’ve marked off a 5K where I can train and teach it. And I have had several people come out.

OK, so we heard that you travel another way that is unusual for most folks your age. You own a motorcycle?

Yes! (Laughs) My husband has had a Harley for a good while and I would ride everywhere with him. But eight years ago I told him, “I want my own!” He bought me a Honda Shadow, but I’m a short legged person and it would tip over when I tried to get my feet down to the ground. I got scared trying to hold it up. So what I got was a trike. It’s awesome. I had a red one, and now I’ve got a blue one. And I love it!

It is important for older people to do all kinds of things so the younger ones coming up can see what you can do all of your life. I remember when my mother was 30 I was thinking, “Oh my goodness, she is sooo old!” but when I got to be 30 I wasn’t old one bit. When I got to 50 I sure didn’t feel like I was old. And I still feel good.

The main thing is to keep going, keep doing things and you can keep your health. I’m always telling folks “C’mon let’s go!”

 

 

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Photos by: Matt Oleszczak

Rallying Through Life’s Kill Shots – Sharon Huczek, 67, Rochester, Michigan

If you are looking for a model of perseverance and persistence, you need not look farther than Sharon Huczek. The same would be true if you are looking for a model of an inspirational person who makes a difference in other people’s lives.

As you will find from our conversation below, Sharon’s personal journey and accomplishments alone would be inspirational enough to showcase her as a Personal Best athlete. Rising from a poor and difficult family setting in a blue collar suburb of Detroit, she fought the perception that girls weren’t capable enough for athletics. She also clung onto a dream to become a teacher one day, despite being told girls didn’t need to go to college and should just get married.

As an athlete, Sharon has carved out a long, successful career as a fiercely competitive racquetball player and a leader in her sport community. She is grateful that she somehow overcame multiple surgeries that sidelined her over the past three years, and was able to triumphantly return to the court and compete in the 2015 National Senior Games presented by Humana.

Regarding the teaching dream, Sharon worked virtually every possible hour she could as a teen to pay her own way to college. She eventually earned three degrees and pursued a 40-year professional educational career teaching at every public school level. This included many years of taking on the toughest jobs with youth struggling with learning disabilities or who were emotionally impaired from experiences no one should ever have to go through. She finally realized her ultimate goal to serve as a counselor and career tech advisor before reluctantly retiring.

It is her amazing strength, courage, empathy and patience helping others that also makes Sharon’s story stand out as an inspiration for anyone seeking to improve themselves, get out of a bad situation, or to attain a goal. She has guided many to pursue their own dreams, including nurturing her own son’s athletic ambitions and success.

Sharon Huczek (the name rhymes with “music”) continues to counsel and guide others, running classes at her YMCA and sharing her own 8 step program teaching tough lessons built on a spiritual foundation. The following exchange with her is well worth the read as we appreciate yet another way senior athletes demonstrate their Personal Best journey.

 

Your competition says you are a racquetball machine, Sharon. How long have you been playing?

I started playing in 1974 while teaching junior high math. I’ve been competing for 41 years and have been in well over 300 tournaments. I can’t count them all or tell you how many medals I have, there were so many in my earlier years. I’ve been on the RAM (Racquetball Association of Michigan) board for 27 years and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2011, both for my ability and leadership in the organization. Racquetball was a real craze in the 70s through the 80s, and I was on the metro league travel team and we played all over, even up into Canada. There’s fewer people involved in the sport now, I guess it’s because it’s so hard on the body.

 

You had a pretty healthy run up until two years ago when it seemed to be one thing after another. Tell us how your worked through that.

I won a silver medal in singles and a bronze in doubles in the National Senior Games in 2011, and I qualified for 2013. But I had surgery on my shoulder in July of 2012, and then my knee got weak. The doctor said it was bone on bone and I needed a knee replacement. I resisted and just wanted arthroscopic surgery, which I got in February of 2013. But it didn’t work. He was right. Even with the problems, I had signed up to go to The Games in Cleveland thinking I would be back on the court.

So I had the knee replacement, and for the Michigan Senior Olympics that year I couldn’t play racquetball, but I did the power walk. I was very slow and limping. They wanted to take me off the track, but I was determined since I had played in all of them since I started several years ago.

Then, on Thanksgiving Day, the snow had come down in buckets and I was out walking and slipped on a spot that was frozen underneath. I came up into the air and landed hard on my wrist. At the hospital they said it was the worst break like that they’d ever seen. I had two surgeries, including a bone graft and putting in a plate with ten screws to bridge the gap. The doctor told me that he didn’t think it would heal at my age and that I probably wouldn’t be able to flex my wrist again. My therapist told me this was going to be a long, slow journey. I was pretty depressed about it, but I didn’t give up. I worked night and day to get my movement going. Three months later the x rays showed everything had grown back. After they got the plate out in October of 2014, I got 80 to 90 percent of my flexion back. And here I am, back on the court. I just couldn’t stay away.

It’s a real blessing to be able to be back. God has blessed me with the ability to persevere, always striving to do my best.

 

You certainly have a passion for your sport, and it’s brought others into it, including your own son.

We had our son Jack in 1983, and I took him everywhere I played. He started hitting a racquetball when he was only two years old, and he told me at three he was going to become the best player in the world. And I said, “Yes, you will, son.” He was blessed with the physical coordination, the work ethic, all the elements for success-and he went on to be the greatest junior in racquetball history! Jack went on to win consecutive world titles from the age of eight until 18.  His extensive professional career included three world championships and Pan American gold medal winner in 2003. He was the total package.

 

You’ve stayed active most of your adult life. Did you come from an athletic family?

My dad was an athlete, quite a ballplayer on baseball teams around Detroit. He was very strong and really could run. There are some genes on my mother’s side, I think she could have been an athlete, she had the right body for it. But she suffered from a mental illness and ended up in a nursing home from 1959 on.

I had one brother and two sisters. My aunt had four boys. My brother was the closest in age and I was a tomboy. I could do everything the guys could do, playing ball in the street, riding bikes and playing table tennis. We used to bike all over the place. My family was poor, my dad was a factory worker and my mom’s care took a lot of money. So we did the things that didn’t cost a lot to do.

But back then there weren’t as many things girls like my mom could do. Even in my day girls basketball was half court. They still treated women like they weren’t capable. I did whatever the school let me do, playing basketball and some softball, and I liked to run too. I’ve run three marathons in my life.

 

You made it to college-did you do any sports there?

No. I’ll tell you how I got to college. I dreamed of being a teacher since the second grade. But my dad didn’t believe that girls need to go to college, they just get married. I told him “You’re not going to stop me.” I made my own way and started working and saving every nickel I made. I worked seven nights and five days, sometimes 105 hours a week, in factories, waiting tables, whatever was being offered. One of my bosses paid me under the table because I went beyond the restrictions for a minor. But he was a wonderful man and helped me to obtain my goal.

So I went to Michigan State and worked my way through. I bought an old beat up Corvair and I would get paid to take people home to Detroit on the weekends, and then wait tables all weekend and go back to East Lansing. That car burned more oil than gas in the end. (Laughs) Then at school I did work for the professors, did housecleaning, babysitting, painting houses, I was never too proud to take a job.

 

But you attained your goal to teach.

I graduated with a math major and biology minor in 1970 and rented a house with some friends in Warren where I started teaching at Washington Elementary for the Van Dyke public schools. I kept my waitress job at first because I bought myself a brand new bright red Pontiac Firebird! I loved teaching and doing activities like PTA and camp programs. Whenever they needed somebody they called me. Four years later I moved up to junior high and later to high school.

My ultimate goal was to become a counselor. I realized I could do more than I could as a teacher. You can build relationships and be an advocate and help get them into programs. So I got my masters degree at Wayne State University while teaching. I also started coaching all the junior and high school girls basketball teams…all at the same time.

 

So everything really started coming together for you.

Actually, there were budget cuts and I got a pink slip after I finished my masters. So I went to Oakland University and got another masters in special education, focused on learning disabilities and emotional impairment. I worked in special ed for 12 years in a lower economic area of borderline Detroit. 90 percent of the families were on welfare. It was brutal. We had gang problems and a full-time cop at the school. And when you gather all of the emotionally impaired kids in one class it was a zoo.

I got back into teaching high school math to get some fresh air. That’s where I met my husband John and we got married in 1980. He was the wrestling coach there. He competed in archery at the National Senior Games this ye And I did eventually get into a counseling position for the last ten years of my career. Part of that was working with career tech education program helping get kids scholarships. I believed in that because in our district there was a very diverse population and a lot of students were not cut out of a four year university. But they could be trained for a trade skill and support their families.

 

You’ve done some tough work. You certainly have persevered in every way, personally and professionally. I loved my work. I never turned a kid away. Many had very serious issues, some would cut themselves to make it hurt outside because it hurt so bad inside with what they had been through. Some were so overweight. They would want to talk with me and sometimes I would tell them “Get your tennis shoes on” and take them out on the track on my lunch hour. I’d take one or two at a time to walk and let them get everything out. I frequently had to call protective service beca use of information they would share about abuse. I’ve had to place abused mothers and children in shelters too.

There were guns and drugs in the school. I’ve had students come up and say they were going to kill me if they didn’t get a grade. You know what I’d say to them? I’d get right in their face and say “Thanks for letting me know so I can fill out a police report so they will know who to come get. You’re getting the exact grade you deserve. I’m willing to help you pass this class, I’ll get up early and let you take another test, but I’m NOT going to be threatened.” You can’t be a coward in that situation.

 

Hard to believe what heroes we have in our most challenging schools. No wonder you’re not afraid of fielding kill shots on the racquetball court!

Well, there were times I thought I’d end up dead. But those kids know when you mean business or not, and I guess I just had that resilient character and believed I’m going to do this because it’s the right thing to do and I’m going to stand up f or truth and honesty.

And I’ll tell you. After I retired I went through an emotional crisis for the first year. I cried because I missed those kids. And you wouldn’t believe how many people I run into that thank me, and I live almost 40 miles away from Warren where I taught. Some call me by my maiden name from before I got married. They tell me things like “You gave me hope,” “You inspired me,” or “I became successful because of you.” That was my mission. They don’t have to be a product of their parents or the place they live.

 

 

You certainly have a gift to be an inspiration to others – in sports and in life.

You know, you lead by example. You have to do it, walk the talk. I’m not afraid to tell people If you want to reach that goal, you just have to go through the process and do the hard work.

I now teach cycling and mat pilates classes at the YMCA, and people still come up to me, young and old. I can relate to them all. They say “I just need whatever you have, tell me what makes it happen.” (Laughs) The first thing I ask them is, “Are you willing to pay a price to reach your goal?”

I’d like to mention that I created my own 8 step program. I call it “The Journey to Healing Through Faith and Hope.” I’m very spiritual. You have to know there is a superior Being that is in control. Each step emphasizes a word starting with P, and the first one is to “Pray for His Direction and Guidance.” The second step is to “Make a Plan.” Next is “Passionate Work Ethic.” Fourth is “Perfect Practice.” Fifth is “Positive Christian Relationships.” You know, if it wasn’t for those friends at the Y, I might not have gone back to racquetball after those injuries. One lady told me, “The longer you stay away, the harder it is to come back.” Just that one statement pulled me back up.

That leads to the sixth step: “Push Past Pain.” Seventh is interesting because you are talking to me about Personal Best. This step I call “Perform at your Personal Best.” You know what that means. And the final step is “Pursue Your Dream.”

 

That’s a lot of “P’s”

(Laughs) But it helps people remember. There is a price to be paid for increased strength, movement and energy. There are no excuses. It’s a total commitment of body, mind and soul.

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A Different Kind of Fish Story – Alexandra Stafford, 54, Metairie, Louisiana

NSGA’s Personal Best initiative seeks to inspire an attitude for lifelong health and fitness in everyone by presenting profiles of Senior Games athletes who are successful examples of healthy, active aging. Having a sensible approach to nutrition is one aspect of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, so we decided to have a recipe contest with senior athletes in Louisiana, one of the culinary centers of the world.

We partnered with the Louisiana Senior Olympic Games to ask athletes there to submit great tasting alternatives to the traditional recipes of the region that are not always as health-conscious. The best recipe and athlete story would be selected for a Personal Best athlete profile.

We are grateful to nationally recognized healthy culinary expert Holly Clegg, a Louisiana chef and author of the award-winning and best-selling Trim & Terrific cookbook series, for her assistance and expertise with the recipe selection.

E. Alexandra Stafford of Metairie, a New Orleans suburb, offered up the best recipe and profile. Her background and personal food style is not typical for the area. “Alexandra’s Fabulous Fish in Foil” is deceptively simple but is tasty and healthful with a French inspiration and a little nod to Louisiana’s spicy reputation. Alexandra, a part-time producer of documentaries for the local PBS TV station, has lived in Metairie for 22 years, but was an American child raised in France. She still carries the influence in her accent and with the French provincial approach in her cooking.

Competitive sports has only recently entered her world. Crossing the age line of 50 prompted Alexandra to take her exercise routine to a higher level to stay in shape. Badminton caught her fancy for its aerobic workout and for the social interaction it afforded. When she heard about senior games last year, Alexandra joined two others from her club and entered the Louisiana Senior Olympic Games. She was surprised to do well enough to qualify for the 2015

National Senior Games Presented by Humana. We welcome Alexandra to the Senior Games Movement and invite you to try her recipe in your home.

What follows is the recipe and a conversation about it, her food perspective and commitment to step up her activity level. You can also find the recipe plus three Holly Clegg “trim and terrific” Louisiana style recipes on the Recipes page in the Health and Wellness Nutrition section of NSGA.com.

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Alexandra’s Fabulous Fish in Foil

By Alexandra Stafford

My family loves this dish as it seals in all the flavors and is very light in calories. One can successfully use salmon or other flesh fish as well.

Recently, I have read articles and seen documentaries about the devastation we are creating in our fish supply, so I am trying to support local, line-caught fish in favor of farmed fish. I hope you like this easy to do and elegant recipe and join me in my ocean friendly health kick!

Ingredients:

4 – Filets of Gulf drum or your preferred fish (salmon is lovely too)

1 – 12 ounce jar pickled okra (I use Trappey’s)

1 – Large Vidalia onion, chopped or cut in long strips

3 – Lemons, 2 sliced in rounds, 1 cut in wedges

Tony Chachere’s Creole Lite seasoning to taste

Olive oil, optional

Aluminum Foil

 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Pull one sheet of aluminum foil for each filet, enough to cover and wrap individually
3. Lay fish on foil sheets. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, onions, lemon and half of a pickled okra, sliced lengthwise. Drizzle with olive oil just to moisten. Seal fish in foil and place on baking pan.
4. Bake 20-25 minutes on middle rack until flaky with fork. Unwrap and drizzle with more fresh squeezed lemon, place on plate and savor with your favorite sides!

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Congratulations Alexandra! Yours was actually the simplest of the recipes submitted, but it was definitely the healthiest.

Thank you! It is simple, yet also elegant. The French actually eat very simply at home and I have continued that tradition. Of course, I don’t stop myself from enjoying our wonderful local Louisiana cuisine, but at home, I love to cook healthy, low calorie and simple-to-do dishes.

My family loves this dish as it seals in all the flavors and is very light in calories. It is a healthy recipe and it’s good either hot or cold. Because my children are picky and actually eat and love this dish, I thought I should give it up to the world!

Fish is also good for me. It has lots of Omega-3 which is great for achy joints! But recently, I have read articles and seen documentaries about the devastation we are creating in our fish supply, so I am trying to support local, line-caught fish. I try to stay away from farmed fish.

 

The technique that makes this more flavorful than expected is that you wrap the fish in foil. With your background growing up in France, was your inspiration to make it like a version of “en Papillote”?

Yes, you got it! I much prefer to use foil because I’m always afraid of burning the paper. (Laughs) I love aluminum. It’s clean and easy, and sometimes I have extra fish and I leave it cooked and sealed up in the foil to keep in the juices. Then it’s always moist and delicious cold the next day.

 

You’ve been in Louisiana for over 20 years now. Do you still always cook in French style?

Yes, mostly French. I grill, sauté and sometimes use the broiler. One thing I love that’s not really French is to mix blue cheese in hamburger meat and grill burgers. It’s the only kind of burger I make now! One herb that I use in my burgers and in a lot of my cooking is thyme. It’s uber used in France and I’ve become very accustomed to its taste.

 

So you don’t cook New Orleans style?

Not much as it’s everywhere here. There’s an old corner restaurant nearby that’s very popular. I go there for red beans and rice with sausage on Mondays. They also make a great seafood gumbo which I get without the rice. I don’t need the carbohydrates.

When I met my husband, he had actually started a company offering frozen Louisiana dishes on QVC and elsewhere. Things like gumbo, alligator sauce piquante, shrimp Creole and crab and crawfish cakes. I like the cuisine but I just personally don’t overdo it. Hurricane Katrina drowned the factory in 2005 and that was the end of it.

 

Was there a time you weren’t as conscious about cooking and eating healthy?

I have always followed a very French provincial diet. Unfortunately, I just learned that I have high cholesterol. It’s genetic because I exercise as well as eat healthy. I now use olive oil and don’t use a lot of butter anymore. And I use lots of herbs. But I have to admit that I do have a bit of a sweet tooth, especially for pralines. I’m in heaven with anything crunchy and sweet. But I don’t think that has as much to do with the cholesterol—or at least I am telling myself that!

 

Tell us about your sporting life and fitness.

I’ve only been playing badminton for two years. An older friend of mine introduced me to it. When I was younger and lived in New York I played squash and took aerobic classes. I gave tennis a go before taking up badminton and I liked it, but not only was it dependent on the weather but I found it was difficult to find partners to play with at my beginner’s level. With badminton you always play doubles and our local club always plays at specific times. Members play with you when they need a partner and even the good ones have played with me! It’s a very aerobic sport. I did get a little eager a couple of weeks ago and slightly sprained my ankle so you have to be careful. But there’s a man in our group, Ted Cotton, who’s in his ’70s who has had knee and hip operations and he plays really well. He also always takes time to correct my game and give me tips on getting better. He’s amazing!

 

Congrats for qualifying for the National Senior Games. Was this your first year to compete?

Yes. I did not know it existed. This young lady-well, I thought she was young-came into the badminton club one night and asked “Can I come play? I want to do the Senior Olympics.” I thought she was kidding but it was true, there is such a thing and they have badminton competition. So I immediately wanted to do it too. My friend Charlotte Estopinal and I then wanted to get the others in our group interested. Most of them are Asian and they are kind of shy at first. Charlotte, Ted and I became the guinea pigs for the Louisiana games and now all the others want to compete next year!

So now I know I can challenge myself at the Louisiana Senior Olympics and maybe nationwide, although I know at this point I’m sure to be beaten at that level! (Laughs)

 

So you are a “newbie” to your sport. Have you done others in the past?

I love to horseback ride. I did it a lot in France and also here in America. I’ve actually been somewhat un-sportive and have to make myself exercise…you may not want to write that down! (Laughs) But now I have been going to the gym regularly for maybe a year. I’m taking it much more seriously. I find the gym classes are very helpful. I enjoy the companionship. It’s a very positive, proactive environment that keeps me going.

I’m also secretly trying to jog which I’ve honestly never liked. I “wog,” which is a mixture of jogging and walking to help catch your breath. When I can, I will just jog, period. I’m going to get better at this and then surprise my husband who runs three miles every day. I’ll say “Hey honey, can I come with you? I’d like to get some fresh air.” and then shock him when I jog past him!

 

Sounds like the light bulb went on at a point. Was it crossing the 50 threshold that made you more aware of the need to get more active?

Yes, actually. All of a sudden, my bones ached and cracked in the morning. I was all stiff and felt like everything was breaking down. I just knew that my waist would expand and my arms would get flappy and all that, so I became resolved to do fun sports that would keep me healthy.

Also, my mother is 86 and never exercised much in her life. She does not have much muscle mass left. I have someone come and exercise her at her home and it’s made me more aware of what I need to do. If you want live longer, if you want to be healthy, if you want to do fun activities, then exercise has to be a part of it.

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Cycling Away From Cancer – Michael Adsit, 65, Milford, Pennsylvania

Statistics tell us that one of two American men and one of three American women will personally encounter cancer. The good news is that with research and medical advancements, a diagnosis doesn’t always carry the “automatic death sentence” connotation it once had. There are more than 12 million survivors who are learning to live beyond cancer, and many are seniors. For them, the experience presents challenges for how to move forward, pursue better health and maintain a higher quality of life. Mike Adsit is one of them, and he’s here to tell you those challenges are opportunities to remake your life.

Prior to 2001, Mike was too engaged with a high-stress career and family duties to pay much attention to his fitness and health. Intellectually, the father of three and grandfather of four was always committed to improve life for society, but admits he did not make the personal connection. He grew up on a large family farm and advanced his ambition after attending college to become Illinois Gov. Dan Walker’s director of energy at the age of 27, helping that state launch some of the first energy conservation programs in the 1970s. As a result, he moved into the solar energy field as a marketing services executive with an architectural firm in Pittsburgh, then with a larger company in New York City for two years before starting his own successful green construction company in Milford, Pennsylvania. Life was good, and then at 51 the diagnosis came that would change his world: Mike had Stage 3, non- Hodgkin lymphoma.

While recovering from his first rounds of chemotherapy, Mike flipped the TV channel onto the 2001 Tour de France cycling classic and became inspired by Lance Armstrong’s story of overcoming cancer. Once treatments were completed, Mike took up the mountain bike that had been collecting dust in his basement and started exercising. He then signed up for coaching to raise his fitness level, improved his nutrition, and soon found himself feeling the adrenaline rush of competition.

Despite needing ongoing treatment after a relapse in 2003, Mike persisted with his newfound cycling passion and discovered Senior Games two years later, where he was further inspired to be competing with athletes of his own age and outlook. The road did not get easier, with cancer looming as a constant companion. The small cell lymphoma morphed into a more dangerous large cell form in 2012, but a stem cell replacement treatment kicked the disease to the curb. His doctors gave him a positive prognosis and released him from further treatment in 2013. Though still not back to full strength, Mike refused to stay away from the 2013 national games in Cleveland and considered simply finishing his time trial as a great victory.

Now, with cancer hopefully in his rear view mirror, Mike Adsit’s priority is to achieve a balance in his life. He still burns to stay fit and to race his way to the medal stand at 2015 National Senior Games presented by Humana in Minnesota, but he finds equal fulfillment with new ventures, his personal relationships and continuing to help mentor other lymphoma and stem cell survivors. That sounds like the perfect Personal Best attitude to have.

Looking at you today Mike, it’s hard to imagine a time you when were unhealthy and not racing on a bike.

The genesis of my cycling and competition came as a result of my cancer diagnosis in 2001. I had been running a busy construction company with 15 employees and it is a high stress business. At the time I weighed 285 pounds, had high cholesterol and did no exercise. I was an unhealthy husband, father and individual. A classic case for a heart attack or more.

 

Were you ever active or athletic?

I played some football in high school. And when I was working in Manhattan for two years I rode a bike to get around and commute. I tell you, cycling in New York City is a contact sport, especially in the 1980s when there were no bike lanes at all. It was an exciting way to live, but you took your life into your own hands with the cabbies trying to drive you off the road. (Laughs) After getting hit by a cab in 1983, I quit biking, and exercising, for 18 years.

 

So you were overstressed, overweight and sedentary. What happened next?

In early 2001, I thought I was passing a kidney stone. Instead, my docs told me my lymph nodes were very enlarged and the diagnosis turned out to be non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It was at Stage 3. It was in my abdomen, up in my neck, and down in my groin. It was an extreme wake up call.

Within a week, I started six rounds of chemotherapy. One day of intravenous chemo treatment, then six days of high doses of steroids to shrink the tumors. Then after two weeks, another treatment cycle. I managed to work a couple of hours a day, but spent a lot of time at home resting because I simply didn’t have the strength. You know, when you get cancer you go through this panic thing, wondering how you got it. And I learned that there are environmental and genetic factors. But a lot of cancers, especially blood cancers, are triggered by lifestyle- you know, high cholesterol, high sugar diets, no exercise and so on. That got me motivated me to do something.

So, during some recovery time I was watching the Tour de France, which I had never seen in my life, and they were talking about this guy Lance Armstrong, who I didn’t know from the Man in the Moon. They told about his cancer diagnosis, that he had a ten percent chance to live, and how he came back from his deathbed to win the Tour de France. I thought, “Wow, what an amazing story. You know, I need to change the paradigm of how I’m living my life.” I did an Internet search and read his first book.

 

So you changed your lifestyle, and cycling became your fitness regimen?

Yes. The next spring after my first lymphoma treatments, I thought about getting back in condition with running, which I had only really done once in my life, and I didn’t find it satisfying. But I owned a mountain bike, which I had never ridden and sat in the basement of my office. So I started riding. At first, I couldn’t go a half a mile without getting off and walking it. (Laughs) But that’s how it got started.

 

So Lance Armstrong was an inspiration to change. Was he the catalyst to move you from riding a bike for exercise to becoming a competitive cyclist?

It was a process. During that next year after the first treatments, I followed the 2002 Tour de France on TV and this commentator, Chris Carmichael, talked about how he coached Lance and described his structured program that is based on a program that the East Germans developed for Olympic training. It’s really the fundamental for how cyclists train today, where you basically alternate high intensity or overstressed workouts with sessions of recovery rather than just riding 100 miles on the bike. Anyway, Chris had developed an online coaching and training concept where you become a student of his CTS service and they assign you a coach who maintains an online and phone coaching program. So I signed up. I was assigned to Kelli Emmet, a young professional mountain bike racer. She’s still my coach today.

At that same time, Lance and Bristol Myers had sponsored and organized Tour of Hope, a charity project with a team of cancer-related people cycling on a route from Los Angeles to Washington, DC to raise awareness for cancer survivorship and to raise money for the Livestrong Foundation. So I set my training goal to ride the last 50 miles of this Tour. I did it with the help of the coaching.

 

When did you start racing and being in Senior Games?

As an A-type personality, I like to have a structured environment and goals to achieve. And, I didn’t want to disappoint my coach. Kelli was quite a driver. She kept amping the level up, and I kept amping up my training to respond. So the next year she asked, “Why don’t you try racing?” I had never really thought about it for myself. There was a time trial going on near me, so I entered it. There were three men in my 55+ age group, and I won the time trial in my first try. I was hooked! (Laughs)

In 2003, the lymphoma relapsed and came back again. My oncology team started me on a somewhat experimental treatment using a monoclonal antibody. Today Rituxian is now a standard treatment for lymphoma. It suppressed the disease again, and the docs had me come back every three months for the next eight years to keep the cancer in remission. But I wasn’t going to let it prevent me from pursuing competitive cycling.

In 2005 the National Senior Games were coming to Pittsburgh, and I heard about it, living in Pennsylvania. By then I was doing races regularly, so I thought, that sounded really cool and a lot of fun. But, I found out you had to qualify the year before. So, I set competing in the 2007 National Senior Games as one of my goals. In 2006 I competed in the Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Hampshire and Connecticut state games. I qualified in every one of them. So I met my goal and competed at the National Senior Games in Louisville in 2007.

 

How was the National Senior Games experience?

Amazing, I have to tell you. I was awestruck, and not just by the Olympic atmosphere and the cycling competition, which was significant because there were over 70 guys in my age group at the time. I had been doing a lot of races where most of the racers were like 25 to 35, maybe 40 years old with another two or three older guys sprinkled in the mix.

But when I got to Louisville I was just dumbstruck. There were like 12,000 athletes there, and the whole city was filled with really fit people of my age and older. It was amazing that there were all of these people doing all these sports, and they’re all dedicated to fitness and competition. At the same time, the tenor was different. There are certain athletes in Senior Games who have that kill-or-be-killed mindset like you find in most competitions. But for the most part, there’s this appreciation for everyone else there who also worked their way up, are keeping fit and are still competing. I mean, to watch an 85 year old cyclist race just blows me away.

This competition attitude at state games is the same way. I really like racing with other people my age. It’s a nice atmosphere. Everybody’s competitive, but at the same time people shake hands and are happy for each other.

 

So the National Senior Games became a regular goal for you?

Yes, but I had to pass on the 2009 games in Palo Alto. At that time my construction business was down and I really couldn’t pull the finances to make the trip to California. But I made it to Houston in 2011. I was in my best shape and finished 7th i n the time trials. At that time, my goal was to go to Cleveland and be on the medal podium in 2013. I had developed the skill and I was training hard.

But after I qualified in 2012, the lymphoma came back again. It had actually changed from the small cell into a much more aggressive large cell type. My docs at Hackensack University Medical recommended an autologous stem cell transplant. So, I went into very heavy chemotherapy treatments. I had to have five extensive, in-hospital chemotherapy sessions. After the third treatment they harvested my stem cells and saved them. The next two chemo sessions drove my white blood cell count down to zero, after which they transplanted the saved stem cells back into my body. There is like a 70 to 80 percent remission rate from this procedure. After nine days in isolation to allow for my immune system to rebuild, I was discharged on Thanksgiving. It was rough. They kept me in the hospital for four days during each chemo treatment. I lost all my hair and felt weak, but each time, within three days of finishing treatment, I would get on the bike. I couldn’t train, but at least I could ride and walk. Honestly, the level of my past training got me through the treatments with flying colors because I was so strong and my system was so balanced in terms of nutrition and fitness.

I really knew that I likely would not be in very competitive shape for Cleveland. My docs said I couldn’t start outside training until March of 2013 because after the transplant, there’s another 3 or 4 months that your immune system is compromised. So my goal was to recover well enough just to be there. If nothing else, I would consider that a victory. Kelli and I decided it was best to skip the road races and concentrate on the time trials. My race results, in Cleveland were OK. Not as good as 2011, but it didn’t really matter to me.

 

How’s your health now? Are you still facing treatments?

I’m actually in complete remission now, hopefully. It’s quite eerie, after 11 years of being intimately connected to cancer on a three month basis with treatments. After the stem cell transplant, the oncologist told me, “You really don’t need to come see us anymore.” It was joyful and unnerving at the same time.

 

Kind of felt like leaving home again, eh?

It was absolutely like that. You can feel like you’re attached to the healthcare system by an umbilical cord. You talk to most cancer survivors, and they will say there’s not a day that goes by that you don’t think about it, even after 20 years. But I truly believe in my heart now that I’ve been cured and I’m moving down that road.

You know, this whole experience has been cathartic. Pre stem cell, I was pretty much driven by this need to be a top level athlete. Post stem cell, I’m looking for more balance in my life. You know, 30 years ago I started my own real estate and construction company in Milford, Pennsylvania. Currently, I’m actually turning the business over to one of my employees and semi-retiring up to Michigan.

 

You’re from Illinois and have been in Pennsylvania for over 30 years. Where does Michigan come in?

(Laughs) Well, it comes in because I wanted to be closer to my 89-year old parents, and because of a really cool lady there, and, a lot ties back into my cycling life. I was married for 24 years but was divorced some years ago. I mentioned my coach Kelli Emmett I’ve had since 2002. Well, a few years ago Kelli was coaching a cycling camp in Arizona and I met her mother Mary there. We got to know each other, riding together, and one thing led to another over a period of three years. Mary owns an apple orchard and cider mill outside of Ann Arbor. She’s in the process of converting the farm into an organic operation, so I’m putting on my farming hat and helping her out.

We have a wonderful relationship that I’m committed to, and what we’re doing on the farm is exciting with growing healthy trees and producing nutritious food. In that context, I’m almost entering another career. I continue to have the desire to be a competitive athlete and I’m in that process of working out that balance. I cannot think of a greater thing than to be like those guys in their 90s I saw cycling in Cleveland.

I’ve used this cancer experience to re-quantify things. It’s actually turned out to be one of the better things that’s happened to me. No matter whether it’s a minor or major cancer, there’s no way that it doesn’t become a cathartic process in a person’s life. It changes how you look at life, and, I believe, things become a lot more precious. You can either duck under the covers, or you can stand out and say “I’m a cancer survivor, I’m alive and I need to do things differently.” I tell every survivor I speak with to look at how you’re living; reset your priorities; you can be healthier and happier.

 

You talk to other cancer survivors? Is that informally or as a volunteer?

Both. I’ve done a lot of racing and do other events raising money for Livestrong. I often wear a Livestrong cycling uniform in competition. A lot of people know I’m a survivor, and they come up to me at events and races and mention a friend or family member dealing with cancer. Frequently they ask if I would give them a call. I’m happy to do it. I know what it’s like to go through it and to be a survivor, so I know how giving a pat on the back can be very helpful.

I’m also involved with another organization, Immerman Angels. that is based in Chicago. They connect me, one on one, with other lymphoma or stem cell survivors who might need some encouragement. I don’t give medical advice, it’s more like mental support and cancer survival coaching. I do these calls all the time and it’s very rewarding.

 

What do you tell others who haven’t had your experience?

In high school and college most of us are active, and then we get into this grind of family, career and everything else. We think we’re going to be fit forever and then all of the sudden, we’re 45 and there’s heart problems or other issues. The generation before me had this knee jerk reaction to go to the doctor and get a pill for whatever ails you. People are realizing now that the medical system is not going to always deliver the miracles.

So I tell people that good health, good nutrition and active fitness is entirely up to you. I wish I had learned that earlier.

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The Power of Love – John C. Taylor, 94, Atlanta, Georgia

It’s not just anyone who can say they have done a triathlon in the National Senior Games at the age of 90 or older. In fact, no one but John C. Taylor can make that claim, which was accomplished in 2011 in Houston. Even more remarkable is that John didn’t begin running until he was 60 years old as part of an ongoing process of reinventing himself in midlife.

Born to parents who were teachers (and a father who was also a basketball coach and preacher), John pursued education and the ministry and is credited with 19 years of teaching and 45 years of pastoring at 11 churches in four states. He also worked as a newspaper editor, public information officer and journalism professor. He can call four colleges his alma mater, including the University of Alabama, where he earned a masters degree, and Southern Illinois University, where he held his final teaching position and, after his retirement, earned his PhD in health education. That was at age 75.

The 2011 triathlon would turn out to be his last so far, owing to spine problems that have prevented him from further competitive running. However, John has not given up riding his bike or taking laps in the pool, and at the 2013 National Senior Games presented by Humana in Cleveland he cycled and swam his way to four medals. Last year, he qualified for The Games in 2015 at both the Georgia Golden Olympics and the Florida State Senior Games. Despite a recent heart valve repair procedure, he expects to be cleared to train again and then make the drive to Minnesota in July with his constant companion Sally, who was recommended to John by his first wife before her passing in 1998. (If that doesn’t get you to read the following interview, nothing will!)

Possessing an inquiring, caring and competitive nature, John has refined a well rounded lifestyle based on what he has learned, and devotes time to preaching what he practices at senior centers and churches in the Atlanta area. He emphasizes having a positive, loving attitude and being physically, socially, spiritually and mentally active to reduce stress, maintain balance and enjoy longevity. It’s a Personal Best attitude that works for John C. Taylor, and he believes it can work for you, too.

 

You have a life of achievements as a teacher, a preacher and a journalist. And it seems like you have done just as much after 50 as before.

I’m busier now than when I retired 27 years ago. I try to have an active life.

 

Completing a triathlon at age 90 is mind boggling. Have you been a lifelong athlete?

No. When I was young I didn’t make any of my school teams, but my dad was a basketball coach for some time. I sat on the bench with him often, so competition got in my blood. In college I played some intramural basketball, soccer and track. In my 30s I slowly jogged three days a week. That was about it.

I started doing 5Ks and 10Ks at the age of 60. In 1981, I did my first triathlon, and then every year I would usually do two or three of them. I did nine triathlons in one year in my 80s, but I whittled that down.

 

We missed seeing you in the triathlon in 2013.

I can’t do them anymore, the running is too hard on me. My back is in bad shape, the cartilage is all gone on the bottom five vertebrae and they haven’t found any remedy for it. Advil does just enough to keep it from being overbearing. I still hold out hope I will do more.

 

You haven’t given up though. You qualified for swimming and cycling, so will you be doing both at The Games in Minnesota?

I’m hoping to make it. I recently had a non-invasive surgery to repair a blocked heart valve where they run a little wire in the vein from the thigh up into the heart and install an expansion in the valve. I really do feel a lot better. They told me I have the arteries of a 20 year old, all clean and not much cholesterol. The specialist at Emory Hospital told me that I can probably start getting on my bike and swimming again soon. He’s fascinated with my aging and asked how is it that I got to be this old. I told him “I guess it’s because I was born so long ago.” (Laughs)

Even if it turns out I’m not in shape to compete we may just drive up there to see people and have a vacation. We have this motor home Sprinter van that Sally and I love to travel in. It’s got everything but a washer and dryer.

 

Do you have a history of heart or other major health problems?

No, I did have a melanoma removed from the side of my nose but no other physical problems. I’ve been over the handlebar of my bicycle three times though. One time a dog got his tail caught in the front wheel. I skidded 12 feet with my face on a gravel road and tore my face up.

 

Did you ever expect you would be doing these things in your 90s?

No, but I always expected to live to be 105. My dad lived to be 102 and two of his uncles crossed 100 and his mother lived to be 95. But you know, genes are only about 17 or 18 percent of the influence on your longevity. Your lifestyle after 50 accounts for over 80 percent. There’s been a lot of research on that.

 

A positive attitude goes a long way, and you seem to have that going for you too.

You know, I was on Dr. Oz before the 2011 games in Houston. They wanted somebody who would talk a lot so I guess I’m known for that. They flew Sally and me up to New York for the show. While we were up there we got to see Ringo Starr who was performing across the road.

Well, Dr. Oz asked what my secret was. I pointed out at Sally and told him, “The secret is love. I love God, I love this country, I love people, and I love myself. And I love that woman sitting in the front row there.” The cameras zoomed in on Sally and Dr. Oz laughed and said “Hey guys, the show’s up here!” They actually cut that part out of the show.

I’ve learned loving is a positive attitude towards life. In my 50s, I found myself becoming more critical and negative when I was practicing journalism. You’re supposed to stand in surveillance of society, to watch and report society. Doing that tends to generally make you a little critical. Then, I came across Norman Vincent Peale’s book The Power of Positive Thinking and signed up to get his mailings. After that, I turned my negativism into positivism.

 

Weren’t you also pastoring during that period of your life too?

You know, I went through three periods in the ministry. The first was preaching the Gospel, “We have the truth and we want to get it out to you.” Then it was denominationalism. Then I began to realize there’s a lot of independent truth in the Baptist doctrines, that you yourself have your own choice, decision and will. That’s when I turned away from denominationalism to just focusing on people and helping them with their problems. That’s when I became a people pastor.

One of my favorite sayings is “Relationships are more important than conduct.” You think about that. Conduct is keeping the rules of the church and the Bible as you see them, but I came to realize relationships are more important than anything else.

 

So you found a truly positive outlook in your 50s, and then got a fitness plan in your 60s?

That was the next big crossroads, when I started running and then doing triathlons.

 

Speaking of relationships, people say your first wife actually helped you find your current mate. That’s rather unusual!

My first wife Nancy died in 1998. In the months before that happened, she recommended several women we knew, but I didn’t think any of them would work out for various reasons. Then she said, “What about Sally who jogs by here all the time? She’s probably the only one in Atlanta who can keep up with you.” Well, about eleven months after Nancy passed I met Sally and we’ve been together, doing everything together, ever since. (Laughs)

Sally’s 78 and keeps fit. She’s a former trapeze artist for the Florida State Circus. She doesn’t compete but she cycles on the spinner five days a week.

 

It turned out to be the right match. You’re a fortunate man.

Oh yeah, we’re madly in love. At meets people admire us. In fact, I lined up at one cycling race in Florida and the starter said “Taylor! You’re disqualified. You use performance enhancing drugs.” I screamed out “I do not!” and he said “Oh yes you do. Everyone saw Sally hug and kiss you just now!”

Then there was this quarter Iron Man race in St. Petersburg. Sally came out and hugged and kissed me before I crossed the archway. Somebody said I better get over that finish line and record my time. I picked up Sally and carried her over the line and the crowd went bonkers. Well, this 20 year old from Brazil that won the race and a $20,000 prize came up to me laughing and said, “You got a bigger hand than I did!”

We get so many comments everywhere, things like “It’s so good to see two older people so much in love.” She is terrific encouragement and helps me fight aging depression.

 

So having a balanced lifestyle is the secret to longevity?

It’s lifestyle. Nutrition, exercise, stress management, spiritual and social relationships and being mentally active. I got a PhD at 75 so I wouldn’t go downhill as rapidly as my peers. Since I retired I’ve been reading three to four hours per day. It’s helped me greatly. Physical activity is so important too. You know, raising your heartbeat pushes oxygen into every part of your body. That’s why exercise with aerobics in it is so valuable.

After I got my doctorate in health education I started lecturing at senior centers and churches around Atlanta about lifestyle. I always tell people I didn’t start this until I was 60 years old. I didn’t even jog until then. Everyone can do something.

 

How do you approach the fitness part of your lifestyle balance?

I used to get this quarterly magazine from the Penn State College of Sports Medicine. They were far ahead of the medical profession in my view on studying the health of athletes 30 and up. I learned things about how not to dehydrate, and also how to get my heartbeat up. They insist not to do the same aerobics exercise every day. When you’re younger let your heart rest one day per week; when you are in your 60s and 70s, rest two days; and then rest three days when you’re in your 80s and 90s.

But this college said the basic cue is getting your heartbeat up to three-fourths of maximum at least three days a week for 45 minutes to an hour. And don’t just get going fast, and keep going for the whole time and then stop suddenly. Build up gradually for five minutes, and then intermittently rest for one to two minutes to let the heartbeat go back to normal, then go back up again. They have learned this helps build your heart for old age.

I’ve found very few doctors who know that. Of all the doctors and nurses I’ve been to they never mention aerobics. That is so healthy for the heart, and so healthy for the brain too. When you get your heartbeat up you are pumping oxygen into your head, your heart, every organ, into the bones, into the muscles, into the skin and your cells. Oxygen is life giving.

 

Your example is an inspiration to others. Do people tell you that?

Yes. I do think I can be an inspiration to Baby Boomers because I didn’t start running and on to doing triathlons until I was 60.

I like to tell the story about a woman who was 50 years old when I met her. She was out watching a triathlon in Claremont, Florida, and was amazed to see me doing it at my age. She was really concerned about her weight and health. She talked with me and Sally and got inspired. She told me, “I’m going to be able to do this when you come back next year.” And she did a triathlon with me the next year. She now even does at least two of those Ironman events per year, which is a nearly 3 mile-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon run. That’s really something.

Incidentally, in 1932 my family moved to Claremont and we lived on the shore of Lake Minneola for a few years. The USA Triathlon organization has their headquarters in Claremont now, and they use that lake for competitions and training. It was interesting to go back and complete a triathlon there many years later.

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Of Mentors, Mountains and Marathons – Della Works, 80, Casper, Wyoming

At each phase of her life, Della Works hasn’t begun to imagine what the next turn would bring. As a farm girl in Wisconsin, she never saw a mountain while growing up, yet she would find herself avidly hiking and climbing them after she married a man who loved the outdoors. You wouldn’t have convinced her at age 48 that she would start running 10Ks the next year despite a heart condition. Nor that she would start competing in Senior Games a few years later, and then start running marathons at 59. That decision would take her around the country and (so far) to marathons on four continents, including ones at the Great Wall of China, the 100th Anniversary Olympic Marathon in Athens, Greece and frigid Antarctica. (Really?)

Yet, here she is, feeling much younger than the age on her driver’s license and enjoying life in her simple mountain view home just outside Casper, Wyoming. She’s competed in the Wyoming Senior Olympics for the past 25 years, and the 2015 National Senior Games Presented by Humana will be her 12th national games. Twice she’s had the honor of carrying her state flag in the Celebration of Athletes. Della has become an icon and inspiration in her home state, whether serving on her state senior games board, joining in as many as a dozen local charity runs per year, ski racing, being named Parade Marshal for Casper’s 2013 rodeo and fair, or just tooling around town in sub- freezing winter weather with her convertible top down. (Really?)

The mother of five considers it a gift to be healthy and still in competitive shape, and is flattered that people consider her a mentor and an inspiration. But from Della’s perspective, all of her achievements came as a result of being guided by others. Her son prodded her to start running- and became a spiritual guide after his tragic death in a plane crash at age 26. A senior athlete acquaintance pushed her to try a half marathon and showed her how much more she was capable of doing. Her late husband instilled a love of the mountains and used quiet persuasion to goad her on to greater accomplishments.

For Della, it’s not the medals, nor reaching the peaks, nor crossing the finish line after 26 miles. Her reward and inspiration comes from the people she meets and does these incredible things with. She says they are her mentors and challenge her to be better and to keep moving. We think it goes both ways, and that Della Works definitely has found her lifelong Personal Best attitude. Really.

 

Glad to finally catch up with you Della. All we had was this one number to reach you.

I don’t have an email account or a computer. I can go to the library to look at the Internet. I don’t even have a cell phone. When I travel and go places I just like not having any interruptions. My kids worry and think I should have one. But if I get a flat tire I’ll start to fix it and a good looking man will stop to help me. So why do I need a cell phone? (Laughs)

 

Well, people in the West are usually very independent and self-reliant.

Actually, I never saw a mountain growing up. I was raised on a farm between Pippen and Stockholm in Wisconsin. It’s about 60 miles from Minneapolis where the National Senior Games will be this year.

My father went into a mental hospital when I was six and Mother raised the five of us. We didn’t have a car. But the farm lif e was good and the neighbors were kind and helped take care of us. We went to visit Dad on the bus. Later, as an adult, I was told I could take him out. My mother had never traveled, so I was blessed to be able to take both of them to visit grandkids in Vermont and New Hampshire. We drove through 16 states and Washington DC. He was 89 at the time and died the next year.

 

Did you play any sports as a kid?

I did tumbling and played basketball and volleyball when I was in high school and some volleyball in college. It was all intramural, no real girls’ teams that went places to play. Then I had five children to raise. We didn’t have much money but we went camping and hiking a lot. Both my husband Larry and I were savers. He always said in order to make money you have to save it. I’ve always been a penny pincher.

 

So how did you become a “mountain lady?”

Larry was a geologist and a big outdoor person. So he loved to go hunting and fishing and backpacking in the mountains. He got work up in Alaska and Montana which is where I climbed my first mountain in Bozeman. He loved the mountains and he taught me to love the mountains. I have climbed 22 of the 58 “14ers” as they call them in Colorado. The highest one in Wyoming is just over 13,000 feet. I do it for cross training and I enjoy it by doing it with friends. I also cross country ski and race in the winter games up here. I think the love of the mountains and the outdoors and being raised a farm girl is what has kept me healthy.

I’m blessed that I can still ski and run and do these things. I just did the local “Headlight 5K” ski event, that’s where you ski down the mountain on a groomed trail three miles at night with a light fixed on your helmet. My light kept getting dimmer and dimmer but I did finish ahead of three others! (Chuckles)

You can’t vegetate, you have to participate. I really learned that when I started competing in Wyoming Senior Olympics in 1987.

 

How were you inspired to begin running and competing in the middle of your life?

My son Robert liked to run and got me started at age 49. He came home from college and signed me up for an eight mile race held by the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo in Casper. I was slow and had a heart problem. I said “Are you kidding? I can’t go eight miles!” He replied that I used to take them out for long hiking trips. I answered, “I did that so you kids would sleep in the afternoon!” Anyway, they said I could walk or run and that I’d be the oldest person in it. Well, I wore my cowboy hat and went out and finished it. I enjoyed seeing all the healthy people out there and just got addicted to it.

I’ve never gotten a medal in the National Senior Games, and I’m not there expecting to get glory and medals. They do give out ribbons up to 8th place and I’ve gotten some of those, but never a medal.

 

You’ve dominated your age groups and won many medals in Wyoming though. Is it frustrating to miss the medal stand at the National Senior Games?

Oh no. In my heart I want to run and compete, but I keep going because of the people in these games. It’s a wonderful community of people, and we all love the camaraderie. There’s this one woman my age from Kentucky-Maureen Tarpey-who does the 5K and 10K. She always comes in last but she just loves meeting the people. And I do too. There’s another one, Eleanor Pendergraft from Tennessee, who got MS [multiple sclerosis] when she was 40 and was told she would never walk again. Well, she started swimming and exercising and coming to senior games. She’s still out there running. To be up out of her wheelchair is unreal. Those are the people I like to meet. People that keep trying and doing really help guide and motivate me.

Like me, none of them have won a national medal. What I hope to do this year is to get those two and another athlete to join us to do the 400 relay. Last time they had an 85-89 age women’s team but not in the 80-84, so that’s something I want to do. Hey, we might win a medal!

 

OK, let’s talk about your endurance running. How did you become a marathoner?

A mentor talked me into doing it. I was in Arizona for at a meeting with Native Americans as a national board member of Church Women United. I had a free Saturday and the Arizona Senior Olympics was going on nearby so I entered their games. This woman about my age-I think I was 56-befriended me and said she had done more than 50 marathons and that I ought to do it. I said “No Way!” I was happy doing the senior track and the road races. But she kept after me, and it took three years, but she convinced me to come do a half marathon with her. Well, I actually came in ahead of her. (Laughs) It takes someone to mentor you, to say that “You can do this.”

I started running marathons in 1994. The first one was in Lincoln, Nebraska. 12 of us went together from Casper in a motor home. I got a plaque because I was the oldest one running at 59 and won my age group. I was so excited and was hugging everybody. I even met a man from Alaska there who remembered the plane crash that took my son.

I ran with Robert before he got killed at age 26 in a plane crash in Alaska. But he left us this gift of running that got me going with competing in track and field and road race as well as the marathons. And it became contagious. My daughters have done marathons and now I’ve got grandchildren running in them too. All of my grandchildren are active in some kind of sports. Whenever we run together we do it in Robert’s honor for his great gift that keeps us healthy. In fact, last summer three of my children and my granddaughter went up for the Alaska Marathon to see that beautiful country and to share happy thoughts about him. He mentored all of us.

My life is so blessed by people that I just…get tears. (Pauses) You just keep on going. They say I’m inspiring but it’s the people I meet that inspire my soul. They help keep me motivated.

 

You’ve run marathons everywhere it seems, even along the Great Wall in China. Which has been your favorite?

Maybe the Antarctica Marathon. I can’t really say it was my favorite marathon because they are all different and enjoyable.

 

Antarctica? Really?

(Laughs) Well, my husband was reading about it in the Wall Street Journal and started laughing. He said “One day you’re going to do this.” Well, here’s that mentor again. I said I wasn’t going all the way to Antarctica without him and that was it. A couple years after he died I got some information about it. Every two years they allow a limited number of people to go down there on a Russian research ship for a marathon. I was 69 when I went there.

It’s so pristine and beautiful. It’s the only continent that hasn’t had a war. There’s only one church, this Russian Orthodox church that was where we started and finished. I was the oldest one there at 69. Everybody else spent $500 on their outfits. I got a hooded windbreaker at church thrift shop for $2. I had purple Ralph Lauren tights that I wore for skiing. (Chuckles)

But they’ve all been special. I even ran in one commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first Olympic marathon in Greece. They invited a runner from each U.S. state and asked me to represent Wyoming. I first said no because my husband didn’t want to go with me. He didn’t like waiting around for me to come to the finish line. (Laughs) Well, they paid for my flight, lodging and my entry so I went to Athens. To run into that Olympic stadium with the people cheering…it was unbelievable.

 

Clearly, you are not afraid of taking on challenges and just keep moving on.

I have a favorite expression that I heard astronaut Neal Armstrong say as a guest speaker at the 1991 National Senior Games. He said “It doesn’t matter how your finish, or if you even finish. The main thing is getting to the starting line!”  People always ask when I’m going to quit and I never could say when. I’m turning 80 but at the Senior Games you just move up to the 80 to 84 group. Most people don’t like to tell their age but it doesn’t bother me at all. I just feel so good and so thankful. You never know what tomorrow will bring.

You know, you just don’t give up. I’ve had a heart condition and some breathing problems since the ’70s so I don’t talk with others while I’m running. And I broke my ankle in 1999, the same year that my husband died. I got 15 screws in my ankle and people said ‘Oh Della you’ll never be able to run again.’ It was rough and I did take a lot of time off from running the next three years.

Then in Houston at the 2011 national games my knee buckled and I fell down with a hamstring pull in my first track event. Another of my favorite sayings is “Pain can last a moment or a day, but memories last forever.” I got up and hobbled in terrific pain and the people cheered me to finish. With icing and Ibuprofen I hobbled all the way through the week to start and finish my track events and 5k and 10k road races. Everybody called me “Hopalong Cassidy.” (Laugh)

I just finished my 32nd marathon at 79. (Pause) 32 in 16 years, that’s not bad. I did four last year in fact. I don’t actual ly run that much in the marathons anymore, I jog and power walk up the hills. But I do it.

I have been very blessed. And it’s wonderful to see my kids and grandkids are all active. So it passes from one generation to the next. You know, somebody has to be your mentor.

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