The National Senior Olympics are held every two years; the last was in 2023, and the next one is in 2025. During the off year, such as this one, there are State Olympics, during which you can qualify for the Nationals the following year. So far, I ran the 5K in Virginia and the 1M in Delaware. It’s relatively easy to qualify since you’re timed by age group. I am in the 70-74 age group since I will be 70 at the Nationals next July. I came in 6th overall in the 5K but first in my age group. I came in 5th overall in the 1M but 2nd in my age group. Therefore, I qualified for both races at the Nationals. The winning times at the Nationals in 2023 were so far ahead of my times that it will take a lot of work to come close to competing there, but I’ll give it a try.
These Olympics are new for me, and I am simultaneously impressed and horrified by the experience. On the positive side, it’s great to see so many older people able to compete. On the other hand, it’s frightening to see the ravaging of time on our bodies and minds. Some people ask the same questions repeatedly. Others give the same response over and over again. Neither seemed aware it was all said before. We are usually subjected to this on an individual basis. I often catch a small smile coming from someone I am talking to, and I realize I’ve said the same thing over and over several times. They don’t want to embarrass me, so they don’t say anything. The smile is silent, but the subtext screams out loud, “The poor guy is losing it.” That’s sad enough, but this group onslaught of older people together in repetitive conversation was another level. People talking about recovery from heart attacks, near-death experiences, and the unspoken need for companionship to fend off impending loneliness. And all this from the healthiest of our age group! Yikes!! It’s bad enough that death awaits us all, but the fact that we have experienced a slow degradation along the way really sets my existential angst off. Unfortunately, there is no way out.
On a positive note, my hatred of the aging process is born out of a genuine love of life. I look back on my teenage years, college years, youth group, theater, mission work, family, and friends with countless fond memories. It’s just too bad it has to end in such a way. Some poets and philosophers like to aggrandize age, pointing to the benefits of wisdom it brings. I get it, but that’s not me. The gradual disintegration of mind and body is something I would love to avoid, but sadly, cannot.
Breathe deep the gathering gloom
Watch lights fade from every room
Bedsitter people look back and lament
Another day’s useless energy is spent
Impassioned lovers wrestle as one;
Lonely man cries for love and has none
New mother picks up and suckles her son
Senior citizens wish they were young…
