Sign Up Now For August Competition
Inland Northwest senior athletes, active elders, and anyone else 50-plus who enjoys the social opportunity afforded by friendly competition must act now.
The first deadline to register for the 1999 Washington State Senior Games in Spokane is just two days away. A registration fee of $12 includes one event, a games T-shirt, a medal or ribbon, and an events program.
Entrants who sign up after July 15 must pay an additional $10 late charge. Registrations will not be accepted after July 30.
The games will be held Aug. 12 through 15. Included are 22 categories of competition, ranging in physical demand from track and field, 5K and 10K runs, tennis, racquetball, golf and table tennis to billiards, card games, cribbage, bridge and other board games.
Spokane Falls Community College will be the site for most events. Swimming, track and field, tap and ballroom dancing, darts, pool, three-on-three basketball, and badminton matches will be held at SCC Aug. 14.
Meantime, a new event, Senior Try-It Week, has been added with no charge. It offers a week of free fun, lessons and social contact for 50-somethings and older adults who hanker to try a new activity or reconnect with a sport of their youth. Highlight of the week will be Senior Softball at Franklin Park July 29, which will start with stretching and warm-up exercises, choosing sides, and a pep rally. Then it’s play ball. Friends, relatives and neighbors are invited to come and cheer.
For the August Senior Games, registration materials are available at 24 Hour Fitness locations in Spokane and Post Falls and at HealthSouth in Washington and Idaho.
Senior fitness doesn’t have to be boring, advises Del Webb Corp., the nation’s largest builder of active adult communities.
Many mature adults are “pushing the envelope,” says the developer of the ubiquitous Sun Cities. Last year, Florida Sun Cities resident Sam Gadless ran and finished the New York Marathon at the age of 91.
Leo Weil of Sun City Palm Desert biked 600 miles in 11 days at the age of 66.
John House of the Phoenix Sun City Grand regularly bikes 40 miles a day at the age of 73.
Jim Baker of Sun City Roseville in California hikes 30 miles twice a week at the age of 70.
Unfortunately, a Del Webb survey shows fewer than three of 10 mature adults engage in regular physical activity. This stands in sharp contrast to eight of 10 baby boomers who exercise regularly.
Caution: “Cardio-kickboxing” exercises may be hazardous to your health, especially for more mature beginners.
Novices are apt to discover that the martial arts can fight back, sometimes injuring joints, aerobics experts warn.
“You can get in over your head,” counsels Richard Cotton, chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise, which certifies exercise trainers. “Twisting, kicking and dynamic stretching are considered higher-risk moves.”
Pacific Northwest seniors in search of that perfect Millennium New Year party need look no further, announces Ya’lla Tours USA of Portland. At the heart of four all-inclusive deluxe “Millennium” tours of the ancient world - Istanbul, Fez, Cairo and Nazareth - Ya’lla is creating “once-in-a-lifetime moments that will be indelibly etched into the memory of where you were on New Year’s Eve 1999.”