Inspiring...
84 year old triathelete:
[At age 54,] a stress test had detected an irregular heartbeat, and the doctor felt that sustained aerobic activity such as running — not Bell's old love, golf — would fix the problem.
Yeah, 'cause golf = NOT exercise. L, you should start running between tees. Or do a lap around the course every time you go OOB. It'll be like a drinking game. Only not.
He began logging 11 to 12 miles before work every day and began building an athletic r–sum– of 158 marathons and ultra runs, including 14 marathons in one year.
Before long, the father of three and grandfather of eight would set his sights on the most exalted "letterman's sweater" in the endurance sports world: A Hawaii Ironman finisher's T-shirt.
Today, he has 17 of them — 32 counting non-Hawaii Ironmans.
In 2003, at 80, he retired from Ironman competitions — but not from triathlon.
"My advice to anyone is simple," Bell says. "Keep moving. I call it the 'lawnmower theory.' If you leave a lawnmower out on the grass and it rains, you better get out and push that thing before it gets rusty.
84 year old marathon runner:
When Davis won the 75-to-79 age group in 6 hours, 3 minutes, even beating the men, the cat was out of the bag. She and her youngest daughter, Colleen Heublein, now 51, began training together in earnest, starting with a climb up Mt. Whitney to celebrate Davis' 80th birthday that August.
Eight months later, after running side-by-side the whole race, Davis dropped Colleen at mile 22 and won the 80-and-older age group at the 2003 marathon in an eye-opening personal record of 5:37:15, again beating all the 75-year-olds, men and women.
Since then, Davis has run five more marathons — three L.A.s and two San Diego Rock 'n' Rolls — and 10 half-marathons. Her time of 5:42:49 in 2005 was recognized as the fastest marathon in history for any 82-year-old in the U.S.
Davis says she can't afford to slow down. "I hear rumors of a woman up north who can run a sub-five marathon — and she's 84 too. She'd clean my clock if she came down here."
"My real secret is cod liver oil," she says. "When I was 12, it cleared up the terrible psoriasis we'd get in the cold New Jersey winters. Ever since, I've taken a couple spoonfuls of the cherry flavor nearly every morning — and haven't had an outbreak since."
...because nothing can hamper a marathon training program like.....psoriasis...? I wonder if that comes in vegetarian?
There are also stories about an 88 year old swimmer and a 94 year old cyclist. But I have to stop, I'm starting to feel like a slacker and have a strange craving to go hang out with the old people in the lap pool. Just to make sure I still got it.
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