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Living to 80 or 90 is one thing. But blowing through those benchmarks at full speed on a bike, in the pool or in running shoes is quite another.
By Roy Wallack, Special to The Times
Accentuating the "active" in active retirement, Americans are rejecting the rocking chair
— flooding gyms and hiking trails and bike paths like never before. Often born-again exercisers who got religion in their 50s and 60s after busy, non-athletic careers and family lives, they surprise themselves by reclaiming dormant childhood skills — or developing athletic talent they never knew they had.
Among the leaders of the pack are four
BILL BELL | AGE 84 | THE TRIATHLETE
In 1975, at age 53, Palos Verdes explosives manufacturer Bill Bell heard the 14 words that changed his life: "I want you to jog 40 minutes a day for three days a week."
A stress test had detected an irregular heartbeat, and the doctor felt that sustained aerobic activity such as running — not
With the doc's nod,
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.
It wasn't that simple. He hadn't bicycled since his paper route days. On his first day of swimming class at El Camino College, the 59-year-old could barely complete six laps. After he flew to Kona and lined up at the Hawaii Ironman start line in February 1982, he struggled during the 2.4-mile swim and suffered a broken chain and flat tire in the middle of the 112-mile bike leg. Ultimately, he missed the 12 1/2-hour bike cutoff and was not allowed to run the marathon.
"But I don't accept the word 'can't,' "
Except for a thyroid condition in 1989 and 1990 that left him too fatigued to race, and one race in which he finished just after the 17-hour time limit,
For many in the triathlon world and millions on TV,
"My legs would not cooperate," he said. He crawled and, summoning his last erg of energy, thrust an outstretched hand onto the finish line and lay there unmoving — 2 minutes and 35 seconds over the 17-hour cut-off. The next year,
Through 2002, when he finished in
"My advice to anyone is simple,"
MARGARET DAVIS | AGE 84 | THE RUNNER
"If not now, when?"
Back in 1989, that became the motto of Margaret Davis and her adventurous new husband, Ed. "Heck, we had to do something to kill time," jokes the now-84-year-old, a retired schoolteacher and former City of
To stay in shape between expeditions,
Even better than hearing her sons-in-law and kids endlessly brag about her running prowess was seeing how it was changing them. "The effect on everyone around me is really what kept me going, gave me an even greater purpose."
That's why
When
Eight months later, after running side-by-side the whole race,
Since then,
She credits her fast times, lifelong health and svelte form — 10 pounds lighter than she was in her 20s — to a sensible training plan, a good diet and good genes. She keeps in shape with 5 miles of running and two days of yoga and Pilates classes per week, adding 2 miles each week after Christmas to prepare for marathon season.
Her "alternative" diet, as she calls it, includes her own granola mix, little sugar and desserts and a two-thirds reduction in her consumption of all meats from earlier years. She hasn't cut back on dairy, however, regularly having cottage cheese, butter and 2% milk.
"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
Apart from a bout of hepatitis in 1950, her only visit to a hospital came two years ago after a half-marathon, when she felt faint and was reluctantly whisked away when race aides called 911.
"I told them I was fine — it was so embarrassing," she says. "There was nothing wrong — maybe a little dehydration. But it was a good way to get $13,000 worth of tests done for $300 [the insurance deductible]."
A positive attitude may be her biggest trump card. Outliving two husbands, she surrounds herself with her "young, vibrant" family, is active socially at the Pasadena Nazarene church and is forever looking forward to new athletic achievements.
Last year, she went skydiving with her grandchildren. This year, she and her daughter plan to complete the three-race Triple Crown Half-Marathon series.
"I'm busy. I don't have time to slow down," she says "And you know what they say: The best defense is a good offense."
RITA SIMONTON | AGE 88 | THESWIMMER
It started in the 1920s, in a little brook under a bridge in
"My dad wouldn't let me beat him in Tiddlywinks," she says.
But she loved that. It helped her develop a passion for athletics and competition that led her to marriage, made her a world champion, and, if all goes as planned, could whisk her past the century mark to a record she hopes will never be broken.
Now Rita Simonton, she wouldn't have predicted any of this back in 1935, when she finished her high school swim team career with little distinction ("I wasn't any good," she says). But she impressed the local Amateur Athletic Union team enough to warrant an invitation, and proved her AAU coaches right by winning the
When poverty wrecked her college plans ("no one was buying jewelry in the Depression," she says), she became a bookkeeper, filling her spare time with hikes on the Appalachian Trail, bike trips with American Youth Hostels, and nighttime swim practices.
In 1940, after a planned vacation to see the Helsinki Olympics was canceled by the
Living in San Pedro in 1962, the radiologist's wife read an article in the Los Angeles Times about an upcoming Masters swim meet near the Coliseum. "I've always been competitive, and I just had to do this," she said. But several weeks of determined practice at a nearby hotel pool wasn't enough.
"I got beat," she said. "But that event rekindled my fire. I was 53. I set a goal of victory at the Senior Olympics."
That would take a while. Despite placing third in the breaststroke in a local
"By 65 or 70, there aren't too many competitors, and I was getting, as I like to say, 'less slower.' I was ready to start winning."
And she did, taking her first national title at 65. Today, she holds the short-course (25-meter pool) freestyle world records in the 85-to-89 age group in the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 meters and the 100-meter individual medley, with more in similar long course (50-meter pool) events. All were set in 2003, when the then-84-year-old was named "Swimmer of the Year" by Swim Magazine and made the cover of Masters Swim in July 2004, as she was winning five gold medals in
Now a Masters Hall of Famer, Simonton combines a rigorous training schedule (swimming 1 1/4 miles a day four times a week with two gym sessions of Pilates and weights) with a "kinda fussy" diet — eight servings of fruit and vegetables a day, mainly bananas, blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes and spinach. She eats no white bread or fried food, only meat that's broiled. She takes 81 milligrams of aspirin a day to help prevent clogging of the arteries. "I don't get enough sleep. I'm trying to get eight hours, but I read too much," she says.
Simonton is so flexible that she can bend over and put her palms flat on the ground, and so healthy that she hasn't had a cold in three years. But life's not perfect. "I have arthritis all over — especially in hands, knees and shoulders." The arthritis has stooped her back somewhat and long ago forced her to give up running and skiing, which she'd begun at age 45 with Jack and found "exhilarating." But since her doctors tell her that a non-impact exercise like swimming may help relieve the problem, she trains harder than ever.
A widow since 1991, Simonton's mantra is "Keep busy, keep learning." She loves bird-watching — locally at the Bolsa Chica wetlands and as far afield as
Her advice on aging boils down to "Don't dread it, revel in it."
"Oh, I look forward to getting older — especially 100," she says. "After all, look at the times." She points to the record book, which shows that a younger woman from
So Simonton has no choice but to keep setting new ones. She especially has her eye on the 50-meter freestyle for the 100-plus age group, set by an Australian woman with a time of 5:10.84.
"Five minutes to go one length of the pool?" Simonton says. "I could do that with one hand! But I've got to get through my 90s first."
RUSSELL ALLEN | AGE 94 | THE CYCLIST
Russell ALLEN has been slowing down for 75 years. But since the
Now 94, Allen rode in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as a 19-year-old, and was a top professional rider until World War II. He regularly did 50- and 60-mile group rides into his early 80s, rode the 2005 L.A. Marathon bike ride on a tandem at an average speed of 22 mph, and is a regular at spinning classes at the Spectrum Club in
How does he account for his remarkably healthy longevity? "Even when I stopped riding for years, I never stopped working out," Allen says.
The middle child of three raised in
A wild decade of professional riding around the world followed. After a season at the Wintergarden track in Hollywood, he headed for the big time: six-day races (two-man tag-team riding nonstop) in New York's Madison Square Garden and the outdoor track in Nutley, N.J., during the summer, then to South America in the winter. He eventually earned $150 a race and $600 to $700 a week, a fortune during the Depression. "It was lot of money considering that you could take a girl to dinner and the movies for a buck," Allen says.
When World War II choked off the flow of top European riders to the
At his wife's urging, he saddled up again after retiring at 62. "Rose still worked, and I had the time," Allen says. "I joined a club and ramped up the miles. In my 80s, we'd ride down the
Now a widower after 59 years of marriage, Allen lives with his eldest daughter and keeps body and mind sharp by feeding his lifelong passions for gambling and exercise. He plays Texas Hold 'Em three or four days a week at the card clubs in
Beyond exercise, Allen credits a good diet, a single evening cocktail and a youthful attitude for his super-fit longevity. "I've never really been sick — just a two-day cold every few years — and a lot of that is because I've eaten well all my life," he says. "My mom used to make salads for the market, and she threw away the frying pan; we always baked or broiled, and had tons of vegetables, pickles, you name it. I kept those habits. Oh, I ate fast food. But as a rule, I took care of myself."
Although Allen's card-playing has constantly exposed the nonsmoker to secondhand smoke, he doesn't seem to have suffered any ill effects — and he figures the gambling has been a big plus in the longevity equation.
"It's important to stay in circulation, to get away from the TV, and, as you get older, to pal around with younger people," he says. "My wife and I always became friends with our children's friends — and stayed close with our kids."
Over the last decade, Allen has lived with all three of his kids — at their invitation — and visits them often. He goes bungee jumping once a year with his youngest daughter, who lives in New Zealand, and spent three weeks in January traveling around the Middle East with one of her friends from college. "The smartest health decision you can make is to educate your kids," he says, noting proudly that all three graduated from UCLA. "They'll return the favor down the road."
UCLA heads back to Final Four at
In an exceptional second half that should help erase memories of his past mediocrity in big games, Afflalo scored 15 of his 24 points and the Bruins held off the top-seeded Jayhawks for a 68-55 victory in the West Regional final Saturday night.
GAME REPORT: UCLA 68, Kansas 55
Afflalo, hiding behind the souvenir hat and T-shirt from the biggest game of his career, tried to be just one of the guys — even though he was clearly the best guy on this night.
"I don't really think about it during the game, but when you're making shots, you're gaining confidence," said Afflalo, who made all six of his shots after halftime. "My teammates showed a lot of confidence in me. If I'm fortunate enough to make shots — just keep shooting, keep playing. That has to be a scorer's mentality."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: NCAA | NCAA tournament | Kansas | Final Four | Bruins | Jayhawks | Afflalo | Regional championship
Darren Collison added 14 points and four big free throws in the final seconds while leading the Bruins' stellar defensive effort — but whenever the Bruins faced offensive trouble, Afflalo seemed to solve it, hitting a big shot or drawing the defense to set up a teammate.
Second-seeded UCLA (30-5) made its halftime lead stand up in an appropriately tense meeting between two schools with rich traditions and a combined 29 Final Four appearances — including an NCAA-record 17th for UCLA next week in Atlanta. The Bruins edged ahead of
The Bruins, who lost to
"We do feel like we've been here before, and we know what to expect," Collison said. "We felt that we didn't finish the job last year, so we're going to enjoy this moment, and then go back and try to finish it."
When Afflalo's teammates surrounded him, the UCLA fans chanted "One more year!" at the smiling junior. He acknowledged the cheers with a wave of both hands, but quickly slipped back into team-speak when he returned to the locker room.
"It really wasn't me individually," Afflalo said. "It was the whole mind-set of our entire team. I was just fortunate enough to make some jump shots tonight."
Brandon Rush scored 18 points for the Jayhawks (33-5), the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated from the tournament. Their 14-game winning streak also was snapped in the school's first NCAA tournament loss in
"I think we beat ourselves, but I have to give credit to their defense," said Rush, among several Jayhawks soon to be considering jumps to the NBA. "We just did some dumb stuff — dumb plays on defense and dumb plays on offense. We just had careless turnovers."
The teams combined for 32 steals and 46 turnovers — yet both thought the game wasn't particularly sloppy. Two strong defensive teams collided, but Afflalo and his teammates also had the strength of experience.
"I'll give them credit, because they caused a lot of problems themselves," Collison said. "We had a lot of mistakes we normally don't make, and you've got to give credit to a good defense — but we battled through it."
UCLA made a 14-4 run to take a 35-31 lead when Josh Shipp hit a three-pointer at the first-half buzzer, and the Bruins took over with an 11-4 run after halftime. Every time
"We had our best defenders on (Afflalo), but he's a good player," said
Though
Afflalo likely felt more pressure than anyone: The Pac-10 player of the year had a dismaying habit of disappearing in big games.
Afflalo struggled in both of the Bruins' Final Four contests last season, scoring a combined 19 points against LSU and
He had no such trouble this time, hitting a series of clutch baskets with a dwindling shot clock in the second half as UCLA nursed a lead: A three-pointer as the shot clock expired with 10 minutes to play, or an acrobatic driving layup with 7½ minutes left. Collison chipped in with another three-pointer to beat the shot clock with
"We made (three) incredibly tough shots," said UCLA coach Ben Howland, the first coach to lead the Bruins to back-to-back Final Fours since John Wooden's nine straight. "Those are backbreakers. (
The New York Times
U.C.L.A. 68,
U.C.L.A. Finds Just the Right Gear to Defeat
By LEE JENKINS
Published:
They may want to scoot over and make some room. The pantheon may be getting a new member.
When U.C.L.A. guard Arron Afflalo arrived at HP Pavilion on Saturday afternoon, he was a first-team all-American and the Pacific-10 Conference player of the year. When he left Saturday night, Afflalo was something more.
It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment that a standout player becomes a college legend, but Afflalo’s moment may have arrived at about
Afflalo and the Bruins are going to the Final Four for the second year in a row after beating
He made deep 3-pointers and contested layups. He hawked the ball and hit the boards. He coached teammates and pumped up fans. And at the end of his defining day, he cut down the first pieces of the net.
Afflalo has been at U.C.L.A. for three years, reached two Final Fours and helped rebuild a storied program. Ben Howland is the first U.C.L.A. coach to make consecutive Final Fours since John Wooden, but he could not have done it without Afflalo.
“He’s just so tough,” Howland said. “You can see he’s all about team. He’s all about winning.”
In the past two decades, few U.C.L.A. players have made a greater impact than Afflalo. He was born at the
After last season, Afflalo considered going to the N.B.A., but he returned to the team for two reasons — he wanted to go down as a U.C.L.A. legend, and he wanted to win a national title.
“This is definitely a step,” Afflalo said. “But those who know me know that I’m not satisfied. We have one more weekend to survive.”
Last year, the Bruins fell to
Typecast as a slow-motion team that depends entirely on defense, U.C.L.A. (30-5) showed
Afflalo made two long jumpers as the shot clock was about to expire. He fed Josh Shipp for a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer. And he cheered when Darren Collison made a leaning 25-footer as the shot clock sounded late in the second half.
“I think those plays were the difference,” Collison said.
Walking off the court at the end of the game, Kansas Coach Bill Self tried to loosen his tie, which is probably feeling pretty tight right now. Self has been to four regional finals — with
“They’ve done it,” Self said. “It’s always easier to do it a second time.”
Unlike many national powers, U.C.L.A. has one unquestioned leader. When timeouts are called, Afflalo waits at center court to greet his teammates. When free throws are taken, he reminds everyone to raise their arms. On the bench, he gives almost as many pep talks as Howland.
Normally calm and cool, Afflalo was emotional Saturday. He had been in a nasty shooting slump, having made only 18 of his last 58 field goals. When he came out for introductions, he was rubbing his palms together, as though he was starting to warm up.
He gave Shipp a chest bump. He gave Collison a lecture. During one break, he crossed paths with
“I was probably the one who was at fault for being a little too excited,” Afflalo said. “Coach actually had to get on me in the first half.”
Within this marquee matchup was an even better individual matchup. Afflalo and
One of Rush’s older brothers, JaRon, played at U.C.L.A. Another brother, Kareem, went to
Rush and the Jayhawks are still waiting for their first national championship since 1988. Afflalo and the Bruins are trying for their first since 1995.
Last week, Afflalo stood in the U.C.L.A. Hall of Fame, pondering his place in team history. Wooden, 96, is the godfather of U.C.L.A. basketball. Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton, both 7-footers, are the giants.
Next to them, Afflalo is still relatively insignificant. But he is clearly part of the club.
The Wall Street Journal
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