Active seniors have caught my attention this week.
First an explanation.
I have neglected this blog for three weeks. Easy to find excuses, but the truth is other things were more important.
My younger son Bryan arrived from Zimbabwe on 17 October. Because conditions in Zimbabwe are making it impossible to ensure the safety and health of his family, he is attempting to move to Canada. The immigration process is complicated, expensive and frustrating. More so for people who are not fleeing conflicts in a region that provides good publicity for our government as in the case of refugees from Syria.
His only hope of moving him self, his wife and two young daughters to the safety of Canada is to start a new business here with myself and my other son as partners.
The two weeks he spent here flew by in a series of meetings with lawyers, accountants, suppliers, potential customers. A day at a conference and visiting other players in the industry.
I needed a few days to catch my breath after that. Throw in a couple of doctors appointments and another week had flown by.
Back to active seniors.
On Saturday I read about Ed Whitlock, the 85-year-old marathon record breaker. He was interviewed after breaking the record for the 85 to 89 year age group in a standard marathon. He ran the 42.2 km Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 3 hours, 56 minutes.
That is an incredible performance, my best marathon time at age 39 was 3 hours 20 minutes and I finished in the first half or the field.
Ed was a late starter, only running his first marathon at age 46. At age 73 he covered the distance in 2 hours 54 minutes, a time very few 30-year-old runners can achieve. He has broken almost 20 records for the marathon.
You can read the full interview in the National Post.
Another example from the ranks of active seniors is Sally the 97-year-old dog walker from England who walks 10 dogs a day.
Her video on BBC3 has gone viral with over 10 million views in three days.
There are many more examples of active seniors including over 90 year olds riding horses and plus 80 year olds sky diving.
It just goes to show that we don’t have to stop being physically active as we get older.
Not all of us can expect to break records running marathons in our 80s, but being active in our earlier years will help us to stay active physically and mentally.
Exercise builds up physical and mental resilience and endurance. Both of those are vital ingredients in overcoming adversity which we can experience at any age.
What do you do to stay active?
