Joyce Jones, 91, Seattle, Washington

Joyce Jones has compiled an admirable athletic record by winning more than her share of championships in three racket sports over seven decades. She can’t even guess how many medals and tournaments she has won in badminton, tennis and pickleball, because her focus has been more on the pursuit of excellence and gaining rewarding social connections among her peers.

In our view, some of her best accomplishments with Senior Games have been off the court. In 1998, Washington state had no qualifying games for the National Senior Games, so Joyce and her late husband Don (also an athlete) stepped up to organize, grow and manage qualifying events for 15 years. Don also grew up with Joel Prichard, known as “the father of pickleball” so the couple picked up the passion from the source. While serving as Washington’s State Coordinator with NSGA, Joyce repeatedly petitioned to have pickleball added to National Senior Games. Her persistence paid off when it became a medal sport in 2013, and has since been regarded as one of pickleball’s major championships.

In the following conversation we had with Joyce, we discovered there is one big regret in her athletic career. While it was not a huge disappointment at the time, Joyce laments having to miss the 1991 National Senior Games in Syracuse for medical reasons. She has competed in every other National Senior Games since the beginning, and she is proud to have won at least one Gold Medal, and sometimes as many as 6, in each one. In 2019 Joyce continued to dominate her age group and scored Gold twice in both pickleball and tennis. But she still talks about “the one that got away.”

There would be other challenges over the years – surgeries on her right foot, both knees (including 3 arthroscopic and two replacements), a frozen left shoulder, two rotator cuff procedures on her right shoulder, a hernia, a broken wrist, broken elbow and broken upper arm in a fall, and cataract replacements, among other smaller surgeries. After missing Syracuse, most of the time she has been able to schedule, to have time to heal and return to the courts.

Joyce Jones represents the Personal Best outlook in many ways – both in her determination to get around challenges to keep herself active for decades, and in the selfless efforts volunteering to help guide and inspire others by creating athletic opportunities in her state and in the National Senior Games. All pickleball players owe a debt of gratitude to Joyce and Don for the opportunities they opened, and we can all draw inspiration from her story to pursue our own Personal Best. 

Joyce, it’s great that you have managed to go to all but one of the National Senior Games since they started in 1987. You must have been disappointed about that.

Well, I missed The Games in Syracuse in 1991 when I had my first knee replacement surgery. But I didn’t think much about it at the time, because it was just the third one, and I had no idea that I was going to make all the rest of them, and spoil my perfect attendance record by missing Syracuse. Now it really breaks my heart that I ruined my perfect attendance record.

We hear a lot of athletes talk about scheduling procedures off-season to try to avoid having to withdraw. You’ve probably had other bumps along the way yourself.

I was playing in the International Badminton Championships in San Diego in 1978 when I slipped and fell at a restaurant. I tore the rotator cuff so badly my doctor said it was the worst he’d ever seen. He wasn’t sure he would be able to repair it. I’m glad it healed. But it’s true that I’ve had to work around several surgeries to be able to make all of my favorite tournaments.

You play three sports and have medaled and won championships in all of them. Which is your favorite?

I played badminton growing up. It was just an after-school sport, but I thought I was pretty hot stuff because I could beat all the boys in high school. I met my future husband Don, roller skating, and when I found out he played badminton, I challenged him to a match. He beat me 15-0! I found out that I wasn’t such hot stuff after all! After that, I challenged him in tennis, pickleball, table tennis, racquetball and bowling, and lost them all. I decided that I would have to marry him. We were married just 2 months short of 70 years.

Everyone asks me what my favorite sport is, and it is hard to say because I love all of them. As I said, I played badminton in high school and started playing tennis when I was 46 and my husband was 50. We bought a Tennis Club with a couple of our friends. Neither one of us had ever held a tennis racket in our hands before, but we decided if we were going to own a tennis Club, then we should probably learn how to play it.

Pickleball came third. Don grew up playing badminton with Joel Prichard, who invented Pickleball here in Washington, and he is the one who taught us how to play. I was about 55 at that time. If you can play one racket sport, then you can pretty much play all of them. It just progressed, and I love them all.

Wow! Nothing like learning a sport from the guy who invented it!

Pickleball is so wonderful. I have many friends who turned to pickleball from tennis due to bad knees, and some badminton friends who did the same from aching shoulders. It is the fastest growing sport in the country now because almost anyone can just go out and enjoy it right off the bat. Badminton and tennis take about a month or two to be able to get a good enough rally going to enjoy it.

Pickleball tournaments are now offering younger age groups. I have a picture that was taken from the 2015 Arizona State Pickleball Championships, with a 10-year-old as the youngest player entered, and 85-year-old me being the oldest.

Sounds like you continued playing together through your entire marriage.

We did, we were both very healthy and active. He passed away three years ago but I keep going. All of my children (two boys and two girls) are active in sports, and I have been trying to get them to enter the Nationals with me. So far, I haven’t succeeded because they aren’t diehard competitors like I am.

I just enjoy competing and doing all of the tournaments I have played in over the years. I enjoy playing the game, and I meet new friends year after year, and I enjoy seeing the friends I’ve made over past years. It is really a lot of fun. If you are not enjoying yourself then there is no reason to do it. I have enjoyed myself my whole life doing what I do.

You and Don also have a place in Senior Games history yourselves, stepping up to help organize Games in your state.

There were no qualifying games in Washington State for the National Senior Games at the time, and every other state had them. Don and I decided that the state really needed to have a qualification tournament, so we didn’t have to travel to other States to qualify, so we started it in 1998 and ran it for 15 years.

I was State Coordinator for three years and I tried really hard to get the NSGA Board to include pickleball in the National Senior Games, but they felt there weren’t enough States playing it. I contacted all the other 49 States to see which ones offered pickleball in their games. I took the results to the annual meeting, and tried again, but they still wouldn’t accept it. But in 2011, we persuaded them to let us put on a demonstration, and then finally, the year after that, pickleball was entered as a sport in the National Senior Games.

More history! Thanks for your passion to drive that move to bring pickleball to National Senior Games. You and Don must have been organizers even before this time.

Don and I ran a junior badminton club for 20 years because our kids all started playing badminton when they could walk. We started the group because their friends wanted to play with them too and it just evolved.

We also put on a tennis tournament at our club for about 15 years. There was no one putting out any local tennis news, and I enjoy writing, so I decided I would start a Newsletter so players would get the information on what was going on with all the tennis players in the Pacific Northwest.

Everything we did, we enjoyed doing.

You have won more than your share of medals in every sport you’ve played in Senior Games, and you’ve reached the top in other pickleball majors too. You must have a pile of them!   

I don’t really keep track of my wins. The medals I get don’t mean that much to me. I keep some of the ones that mean the most to me, but I have given hundreds away. When we were moving about 20 years ago, I had two apple boxes full of medals, and a pickleball friend of mine was running junior tournaments and asked me if I had any generic ones. I found about 85 generic medals to give to him for the junior program.

Something strange happened when I did that. At the bottom of one of the boxes, there was a smaller box, and inside there were 4 paper thin sheets of gold and two paper thin sheets of silver. Printed on the little box said 1978 Senior International Badminton Championships San Diego California. I showed them to my son, and he took them to a jeweler. I got $400 for those real pieces of Gold and Silver Awards that they presented 43 years ago!

Where would you be if you were not active with your sports? 

I am 91. I would probably not be around anymore. I could never even dream about not being active.

Out of my parents and siblings, I am the only one that has been active all my life and helped myself by watching what I eat.

I expect to die on the court! [Laugh] I did have four mini strokes while playing tennis a few months ago and I fell and fractured my hand. I just started playing pickleball again in mid-July. If I hadn’t been active, then I might not have survived those strokes as well as I did. I owe everything to my healthy lifestyle and playing all my sports.

You mentioned in another place that you had taken up Yoga. Has that helped?

I did it for a while, but I have always had some trouble standing too long in one place. Another volunteer job I did was umpiring badminton, tennis and pickleball. I would ask them to bring me a chair, and then I’d be happy to help. Everyone asks, ‘How can you play all of your sports and not be able to stand?’ I can’t explain it. While standing, you aren’t moving your muscles or really doing anything so I can’t stand that long. With sports, you are active and moving around all the time so it must just keep you loose. A pickleball friend asked me to take tap dance lessons with her when we were 70, but that only lasted a few months because my knees didn’t like it!

Everyone has to find their own mix of activities.

I play pickleball three to four times a week, and a tennis match once a week now. I have limited my badminton because of a stiff neck that won’t let me look up. In badminton, if you can’t look up, you’re dead in the water! My competitive juices still force this old body to try for every shot, even if there’s no chance I can possibly make it. [Laugh]

What can you tell others about the benefits of an active lifestyle as you age?

I think people pretty much know the benefits. You live a longer life. You meet people, and you enjoy life. It is very invigorating.

The most important advice is to have fun whatever it is you do. I’m a competitor, and I love trying to win tournaments. But if you don’t enjoy playing and being with friends, what’s the use?

Ray Tingstrom, 78, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Mick Tingstrom, 54, Woodbridge, Virginia

“It’s like a family” is a phrase commonly heard among Senior Games athletes to describe their feeling of connection with others pursuing the same goals to live active and healthy lives. There are real family ties when a son or daughter decides to follow in their parents’ sporting footsteps after they turn 50, with each enjoying competition with others in their age groups.

While two generations of athletes is becoming more common, it is unusual for a parent and child to compete in the same event, as in the National Senior Games in 2019 when 77-year old Ray Tingstrom doubled up with his son Mick to play Shuffleboard, which required the patriarch to compete in the 50 to 54 age division. Despite ‘playing down’ more than 20 years his age, Ray and Mick won a Silver medal.

We thought this was an inspiring intergenerational story, but as we interviewed Ray and Mick we discovered that Ray has also been recruiting other older family members to join them as competitors for the 2022 National Senior Games presented by Humana in Greater Fort Lauderdale. To date he says he has two other sons eligible to play in Senior Games, and both his and Micks’ wives are getting involved and that he expects more Tingstroms will be lacing up to play.

As Ray Tingstrom shared his history it became clear that he has always placed importance on fitness and imbued that into his family by coaching his four sons and being an example playing numerous sports as an adult. The Vietnam War veteran continued to serve in the Army Reserves and National Guard for many years, often working with Special Forces, and his experiences had a physical impact on his body. This did not stop him from his athletic pursuits, despite numerous joint replacements over the years.

Mick also followed a pathway through military service and now works for the Department of Homeland Security in Virginia-another example of his father’s influence. In the following dual interview, the Tingstroms talk about their sport-filled family history, their competition experience and how they view the challenges and benefits of active participation in Senior Games…and life.

Ray Tingstrom clearly possesses the Personal Best mental attitude to push past obstacles and to inspire others through his personal example and offering enthusiasm, love and encouragement to others. And clearly, it has rubbed off on the rest of his family members, who are also enjoying their best health by staying active for life.

Ray, it’s great that you got your son interested in the National Senior Games experience. What got you interested in joining Senior Games?

Ray: About three years ago one of my veteran friends asked if I wanted to join him to play pickleball and badminton in the 2018 National Veterans Golden Age Games. I had never heard of pickleball before, but I said ‘Sure, let’s give it a try.’ I entered eight different events in which I won seven medals and placed 4th in pickleball.

I researched more and found that every state had games going on. I wanted to get my swimming technique down and asked Mick if he could give me some pointers. Then it came to me that Mick had turned 50 years old. I told him that he could participate right alongside me at the National Senior Games. From there we went on to the Huntsman Games in Utah and then to Nationals.

Mick:
I had never heard of it. I also didn’t know that my dad could even swim! I don’t recall ever seeing him swim in all the years that my brothers and I did it. He told me about this whole world of Senior Games and I was just awestruck that it existed. What an honor and fun would it be to do a father/son new activity and start new season of life together.

What were your expectations, Mick?

Mick: I went in with no expectations because I hadn’t swum competitively in about 38 years. My dad always taught us to do your best and always give 100% and that is what we do. I trained seven days a week for several months to get ready. I was pleasantly surprised afterwards that I had done well as a young 50-year-old.

It’s become more common in recent years to see the children of Senior Games athletes competing, but they compete in their own age division. What caught our attention was that in order to play shuffleboard together with your son, you had to “play down” from the 75-79 to the 50-54 group. That’s tough to do in any sport.

Ray: That was interesting. Neither Mick nor myself had ever played shuffleboard before. I started looking for other sports to compete in and have fun to fill our time when we went to Senior Games, and shuffleboard sounded good. In our family, we feel we are well rounded enough to pick up any activity and be able to adjust by using our experience and knowledge of physics if you will. Watch other people to see what they are doing, right and wrong. Listen to other people about it and learn as we go. That is what we did and it was actually fun.

Must have been fun for others to watch a 77-year-old mixing it up with 50 plus guys. And you won a Silver medal! It’s not as easy as it looks, was it harder than you first thought?

Ray: Actually, you pretty much said it right there. If you go into any sport like shuffleboard that’s not heavily athletic, you have expectations of ‘Yeah I can do this – all I have to do is push the puck down the lane.’

Mick: We were very fortunate to get great instruction in advance of our competition from some world class, nationally ranked shuffleboard players who were running it for the Huntsman Games. The people involved in this community love the sport, but they also love the people. They were very generous and very giving of the time to help show us the strategy involved. How did we know those people dad?

Ray: Our whole family is very social and we are not intimidated by the world. I just made friends with these guys and they volunteered their time and gave us tips that helped us to at least get started in the sport.

Mick: I also did do a lot of studying and watching video separate from my dad. There’s a lot of strategy, but execution is the real challenge. Shuffleboard is not all that easy and you can tell the difference with the experienced players.

Have other family members seen you having fun and now want to join in Senior Games?

Ray: Yes, absolutely. Last December was the first opportunity my wife Ellie had. There was a lot of pushing her to join in sports over the years, and she has been satisfied to watch all of her five boys (counting me) participate. She hasn’t been active in them except for being a spectator, but she is an excellent walker. Finally last December, I convinced her, and Mick convinced his wife Julie to do the power walk. Lo and behold, she is an excellent power walker. I think she has a little bit of a bug in her now.

Mick:
My kids were always in awe of how fast their grandparents are. They can’t keep up with them! [Laugh]

You might not think my mom is a fierce competitor, but she is. She established the Florida games record for the 1500 power walk in a time of 11:14. That time not only won gold there, but it would also have won gold at the 2019 National Senior Games by 30 seconds.

Dad had high hopes going into Albuquerque for the power walk. He was doing great and had a blazing fast time. Right before the finish line, both feet were off the ground when he was leaning forward and putting everything he could put into it. That got him disqualified instead of a silver medal.

He didn’t even know that he had been DQ’d. He was very gracious though, and Dad recognized the beauty of that day. The family was there and it shows you the love and legacy that my father has passed on to his children and grandchildren.

Well, add Power Walk and two more members to the Tingstrom family Senior Games list. You might as well recruit the rest of your family to jump in Ray.

Ray:
As a family, we had a great deal of fun whether it was when the kids were still at home or when they went to college or when they finally went away. Every time we got together, I always set up a basketball game for the five Tingstrom boys.

There are other family members who are interested in joining the senior sports now. I taught Mick how to play pickleball, then I taught his daughters and son, and then I taught one of my other sons. I think we are going to have a lot of family members at the next national event.

You are an impressive role model, so you must have an active history as an athlete yourself.

Ray:
I was raised on a ranch in northern Arizona. We were at the ranch more than we were in the town, so I wasn’t able to participate in any sports until I got into high school. That’s where I rode in the National High School Rodeo in my state, riding bulls and bareback bronc’s and horse racing. My junior and senior years I finally got enough ambition to participate in football and basketball which I have been playing ever since. In college I did mostly intramural sports because I wasn’t experienced enough, and since I was small I didn’t play on any varsity teams.

I served in the Artillery in Vietnam, and when I came back I went back to college and joined the Army Reserves and later the National Guard. I spent 19 years with Special Forces on and off active duty. I will tell you it had a major effect on my body and my lower joints have all been replaced now. But I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

As I got a little older and had children, I wanted all of them to be able to play in sports, so I started coaching all four boys for the next 20 years. I also played in city recreational leagues in the same sports- baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming, volleyball, and football. Mick went on to be a Master swimmer. I wanted them all the grow up and be athletic, and to learn all of the good things that come out of athletic participation.

Mick:
My dad exposed us to a number of different sports and back in those days, you could play all of them in high school. I swam year-round and that was good, but at the age of 12 I stopped so I could pursue football, basketball, volleyball, and soccer. I played soccer for four years in high school, and although I was probably good enough to swim in college, I just continued playing all the different sports that were out there. I probably majored more in intramural sports than in academia. [Laugh]

Later after his retirement, my parents started going on cruise vacations. While most people go to relax, they seek out all of the activities and competitions on board. No matter where their cabin was located on the ship, they did not use the elevator the whole time on the ship. That is the type of people they are.

What has been your career, Mick?

Mick: Another father inspiration. I was always impressed by him and his uniform and the stories he told us. I didn’t know what I wanted to do so I decided to join the Army. I went in with no expectations for how far it would go, but when I graduated from college I earned a commission in the Army and stayed in for 27 years.

It figures Ray was an indirect recruiter. Did the military help keep you in shape?

Mick:
I kept an athletic lifestyle by requirement. When I got out, I was just thankful I didn’t have to get up and work out in the mornings anymore. I changed careers to work for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and currently with Homeland Security. I didn’t really do a lot of sports or working out, but I have found time to coach my kids like Dad did.

Now, since I have had this experience with Senior Games, I find myself sharing my senior games experience with the soldiers I work with, especially those who are getting ready to retire. I am explaining it is ‘a new season’ that possibly exists after the Army.

What do you tell them are the benefits for you?

Mick: Two things. One, it’s the people, and two, it’s the thrill of victory. When I grew up with my brothers, I quickly learned that if you snooze, you lose at everything. Everything about our lives was competitive and it was fun and made us better. What matters is giving 100%, and how you play the game.

Ray, you mentioned you’ve overcome many injuries in the service and playing sports. But you said it’s worth it and you’re still going strong.

Ray:
Everyone that I know complains that they have pains, half of them talk about having to get knees replaced and I laugh because they don’t know what I have been through. [Laugh]

In 2001, I decided to do my first hip surgery and my doctor said, ‘You need to stop playing basketball and take up less violent sports like walking or swimming.’ I kept on playing basketball and football. In 2004, I had to get my second hip replacement and that doctor said ‘You need to stop playing’ but I kept playing. In 2007, after a volleyball injury to my rotator cuff, my doctor said ‘You need to stop playing.’ I kept playing. In 2013, both of my knees needed to be replaced and I chose to have bilateral knee surgery instead of doing one at a time. I had the surgery at 71 years old. I recovered and I am still medaling in NSG sports events.

I’m not stopping. It is something that I enjoy doing. I can live day to day without having to use a cane, crutches, or a wheelchair. Yes, I hurt at night, but it is all worth it for me because I am doing something that I love and can still do. Just because you get old doesn’t mean you stop living.

Mick: Injuries are a part of life and the human body is vulnerable and prone to injury. I injured my right knee pretty significantly in a skiing accident earlier this year and I am looking at a 9-month recovery. The recovery would be much more difficult if I didn’t have a goal or something to inspire me to put in the physical therapy and to get my brain and heart committed to something bigger and better. Having sports and Senior Games is the carrot for someone -no matter their age or physical condition- to aspire to become better, healthy, fit, and competitive again. That is something that I am excited for.

I have a torn meniscus, and my surgeon said there was no need to repair it being 50 years old. I told them that I have games to play, and I need to get back out on the court and in the pool. I am being treated by a surgeon and physical therapist as if I am in my 20s. Just like my dad, I’ll be this way when I am 60 and when I am 70. Life is a lot more fun when you have that kind of thinking.

Vince  Obsitnik, 83, Peachtree City, Georgia

People become role models to those around them when they join the Senior Games Movement. In a way, all senior athletes are ambassadors for active, healthy aging. But there’s only one athlete we know who has actually officially served our country as an ambassador – runner Vince Obsitnik, who represented the U.S. to the Slovak Republic between 2007 and 2009 and holds the unique distinction as probably the only U.S. Ambassador to run a marathon in country while serving. 

Born in 1938 in Moravany, Slovakia, Vince immigrated with his parents that same year prior to the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany. His father worked as a coal miner in Pennsylvania, after which the family moved to New Jersey. The family kept their language and traditions alive, and he always felt a connection with his land of birth. He received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and then served five years as an officer serving on destroyers and submarines.

Vince then had a long career in corporate executive positions with IBM, Unisys and Litton, at times managing as many as 3,000 employees in areas of marketing, sales, manufacturing, engineering and program management on an international scope. His knowledge and passion for his heritage led to appointments by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad in 2001, and then with special delegations to the Austrian State Treaty Anniversary and the 65th Anniversary of the Tragedy in Babyn Yar in Ukraine. While serving on the Commission Vince brought international attention to the plight of the 17th and 18th century Greek Catholic wooden churches of Slovakia. Two of the most endangered churches have been restored.

Throughout a busy life, Vince has maintained his fitness with tennis, squash, and occasional running before taking an interest in marathons in his mid-50s. He’s proud to have finished the 100^th Boston Marathon, but as you will read in the following interview, a high point will always be running as an Ambassador with his bodyguards trotting alongside in the 2008 Peace Marathon in Kosice, Slovakia, the oldest marathon in Europe and the third oldest in the world.   

In true ambassador style, Vince approached NSGA to share his story as a message of encouragement to others not to let obstacles and fear prevent you from staying in the game. He has encountered a steady series of health issues as a senior athlete and has worked through each one to continue to his next race goal. One of those goals was to run the Road Races in the National Senior Games, which he accomplished in 2019. However, at the time, he knew he would need surgery to replace a mitral heart valve six weeks later. After his first experience of fitness, fun and fellowship, Vince now plans to compete in The Games regularly.

Vince Obsitnik’s ongoing Personal Best journey has positively impacted lives in many ways, and not the least being his four sons and twelve grandchildren, most of whom have followed his example by practicing active lifestyles. That’s what ambassadors do!

Senior Games athletes are all ambassadors for healthy aging, but this is the first time I can formally say “Thank you for participating, Mr. Ambassador.”

Thank you, it was an honor to serve the United States, especially in the country where I was born.  It was also a great honor to participate in the National Senior Games and see the number and quality of the active senior competitors!!

We’ll get to that in a bit, but the reason for this feature is that you wrote to NSGA with a desire to share an important message for others. Please explain.

My story is that you can continue with running and sports even though you face health issues. I am currently 83 years old and started marathoning in 1994. Since then, I have run thirty-four races including seven marathons but have had to overcome health issues along the way. My message is “solve the health issue and then commit to get back to running because it is possible and you can do it!”

In May 2000, I had open heart surgery to have a mitral valve repaired. Prior to the surgery, I asked my surgeon if I would be able to run marathons again.  He said “Go for it!” I did and ran the Columbus Marathon in 2001.  In 2004, I had a ruptured disk and then ran the Flying Pig Marathon in 2006.  May 2007, I had heart ablation therapy to correct atrial fibrillation, and then ran the Kosice, Slovakia Marathon in 2008.  And in 2012, I had hip resurfacing surgery and ran the Naples Half Marathon in 2014, followed by the Sarasota Half, Galloway Half and Tomoka Half marathons in 2017 and 2018.

The Slovak race was a special race we will talk more about. And you had a really close call right before the 2019 National Senior Games, too?

Yes. I qualified for the 2019 National Senior Games in the Georgia and Louisiana state Senior Games in 2018. Then, in March of 2019, I was told by my cardiologists that I needed to have my mitral valve replaced. I replied I was scheduled for the National Senior Games in June and can I keep running?  They advised it was OK to run but to stop if I ran out of breath. So, , knowing that I was going to have open heart surgery in August I ran the 5K at The Games on June 21^st  followed by the 10K on June 23^rd.   It all went well and I’m back to running after my successful heart surgery. I’ve had all my heart procedures done at the Cleveland Clinic where they have great surgeons.

It’s typical for athletes to face injuries and physical challenges, and some come from their competitive efforts. Obviously, you have seen that the rewards are worth those efforts when you overcome them.

We all find as life goes on that we have different health issues to go through, manage, and hopefully solve. Perhaps my story may embolden seniors to keep active even if they have health problems.

You speak like an ambassador, which makes sense since your distinguished career includes two years serving as US Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, your country of origin. The really cool part of your time in Slovakia was that you actually ran a marathon there. That must be your greatest race experience!

Well, it was certainly a great experience to be able to do that, and it is up there with the Boston Marathon. I did run Boston for the 100^th anniversary under four hours and it was just a fabulous experience because it was Boston. Running the Kosice Peace Marathon, for me, was on a par with finishing the Boston Marathon.

The marathon in Kosice is called the Peace Marathon and it’s the oldest marathon in Europe. Not counting the legend of the first Greek marathoner, that is. [Laugh] People come from all over to run it including the elites. The fact that I was the ambassador and a runner, I just said to myself, ‘I have to run it while I am there.’

The funniest part is that when I told my bodyguards that I was going to do it, I said ‘You guys are going to have to train and race with me because you always have to be with me no matter what.”  They had never run long distance before.  They weren’t American, they were Slovaks provided by the Slovak government. So they trained with me for the many months it took me to get ready. They stayed with me to the finish.  There was, however, a funny ending to the story.  The local government, concerned that the US Ambassador might not make it, had an ambulance follow me for about the last three miles.  It’s in the background of our finishing picture!

Did your bodyguards resign their post after that?

[Laugh] No. For them that was a great experience. It just made it more interesting than the normal type of security work they do.  So, they were very enthused with doing that. Those two guys became my sons over the time I was there. I speak the language as well so I was able to speak with them in Slovak as well as English.

Vince, an ambassador running a marathon in his country of birth has to be some kind of record!

I don’t know that any other person has ever run a marathon as a sitting US Ambassador before. Most people who become ambassadors are along in years, mostly in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. Obviously at the later ages, there aren’t a lot of people running, especially running marathons.  My guess is I’m the first one to do it as a sitting US Ambassador.

You now ran the 5K and 10K with us. How was your experience?

I was pretty impressed by the enthusiasm and emotions from all the people who came there to participate.  It was nice, like being part of a team. We met some nice people and shared stories with them.

There was one funny thing that happened at the race. At the end of the 10K, there was the local television station doing interviews of people in the area. The reporter came over to me asked me how it went and I said, ‘Good. No problems.’ Because there was smoke residue from some wildfires in the state, I was asked, ‘Did the smoke bother you?’  I replied, ‘No I didn’t notice anything, but on the other hand, since I ran at a slower pace, maybe it was the smoke!” The interview showed on TV.

What did you think of the fitness level of your competition?

I know I’m not the fastest person in the world, and my score was modest, middle of the pack roughly. It was incredible at the award ceremony when they called out the finishing times and paces of the top eight guys, especially the top three. I was totally impressed by the level of athletic fitness in our age group, and I felt proud to see people that age running so fast.  It certainly issued a challenge for me to get better.

You have been fortunate to see the world at a high level in military, business and government service. You have competed in iconic events. It’s great that you now regard the National Senior Games as a great experience.

I agree with you, it was a very great event. We met some nice people there, wonderful runners.  I definitely want to come to Fort Lauderdale, and I plan to participate every two years as long as I qualify.

The fact that you have a body strong enough to endure health challenges suggests you have always been active.

When I was a kid, I delivered newspapers on an old bike that someone gave to me. Every day I pedaled with 100 newspapers in a bag on the front of my bike. I have been thinking about that lately because riding that bike everyday was great exercise.  I believe that experience strengthened my legs.

In high school I was on the soccer team, and then I attended the Naval Academy where you are involved in a sport all throughout the year.  When I left the academy, I was playing squash. I didn’t play collegiate squash for the academy, but I did learn the sport there.  I played about 30 years and competed in tournaments before I started distance running.  Squash is certainly great for keeping up your aerobic fitness.

Up until age 56, I thought that running was boring, just running step by step and then you are done. But once you set a goal and you start working out your training program, then it becomes a real project and a challenge. It’s exciting. Running became exciting and interesting for me because of the challenge of racing times and distances. Finally, you become challenged with racing against other people.

I then got excited about running a marathon and wondered if I could really do it. Before, I ran on and off recreationally. Once I focused on running a marathon, it taught me what it was to train for it and it also got me excited. The Marine Corps marathon was my first and I hit my first and only wall there.  I got the long-distance running bug in ’94 and just kept on going.

What does your family think about your activity? Has it had a positive impact on them?

Yeah, of course. We have four sons and all of them are very fit.  Three of the four have all run marathons!  I don’t know that it was my example totally, but certainly it was a part. They all played sports and all four played squash at their colleges. My oldest played at Penn on the varsity, son number 4 played at Princeton on Varsity, and the other two went to the Naval Academy and played squash there. They have all stayed physically fit and active since then. My oldest gets up at 4:30 in the morning and rides his bike for an hour in his basement. I recently had a text from my granddaughter, a college freshman. It said “Grandpa, I just ran 7 miles!” It made me real proud!  On top of that, she did negative splits which have always been difficult for me.

You are being modest. They all picked up your sport and two went to your college!

I taught them when they were young and started playing with them. At a certain point, when I felt that they were doing well, and they needed better training than I could give them, we joined a squash club and the pros picked them up and started training them in a youth program. They had lessons a couple times a week and we would drive around the country to play in squash tournaments, some National. Because of that they did well. I guess the conclusion here is that parents should engage actively with their children in sports.

Speaking of my family, running the New York Marathon on November 7, 1999 was my most unusual running experience. I ran it with two of my sons. However, I didn’t tell them beforehand that I was already scheduled the following year for open heart surgery to repair my mitral valve. I didn’t want to affect their race and have them stay close to me or worry about me. We all finished fine, and I told them about it afterwards. However, during the race I, for sure, was thinking quite a bit about the condition of my heart. But it went well.

So what are your goals now? Any more marathons?

I’ve run seven marathons but hope to run at least three more for ten. I also want my story to embolden seniors to keep active even if they have health problems. We all find as life goes on that we have different health issues to go through, manage, and hopefully solve. No matter what comes up, people need to address it and work to resolve it and keeping running.

Just keep moving on!