August 30, 2001
Active athletes compete in area Senior Games
Event features triathlon, bike race, shuffleboard and cribbage
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Couch potatoes, time to make fries.
The 22nd Annual Northwest Michigan Senior Games are coming.
Held September 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13, the games feature a range of sedentary and athletically challenging activities - something to appeal to everyone.
With an anticipated 250 seniors competing in dozens of events, ranging from a triathlon and a bike race to card games and shuffleboard - the games provide a chance for seniors to keep their minds sharp and their bodies honed.
"The games provide an opportunity to socialize, renew old acquaintances and to test physical and mental abilities," Dee Newman, coordinator of the Senior Games. "We offer a broad range of events so we don't turn anyone away."
For the athletically inclined seniors, the games will include a 17.5 road bike race or tour, triathlon, tennis, speed walks and runs of one mile and five kilometers plus a variety of swimming events. Horseshoes, pool, table tennis, and throwing softballs, Frisbees and footballs are other events for the more active seniors.
Chess, checkers, cribbage, dominoes are just some of the games available for seniors to keep the mind sharp.
Joe Francis of Honor has been competing in the Senior Games for five years, entering himself into a variety of athletically challenging events. Now 70, he is very physically active and makes sure to bike an hour every day and swim in a lake when possible.
During the games, Francis competes in the golf chipping and putting, basketball and football throwing and a softball toss for accuracy. He also competes for distance in throwing a football and a softball and makes sure to enter the swimming and bowling competitions.
"I really enjoy it and it is just having a lot of fun and the competition isn't cutthroat," said Francis, who is a volunteer event director for the first time this year. "You get to meet a lot of people of all age levels and I really enjoy it."
Francis' determination to stay physically fit is getting more and more common among the senior population. Newman said that each year there is greater demand for athletic events.
"We find more and more people participating in the active events, that they are staying more active and healthy as they age," she said.
Francis has two main motivations for being so active: managing his Type II diabetes and watching some of his friends and acquaintances who had a sedentary lifestyle dying not long after retirement.
A retired athletic director, Francis believes events like the Senior Games are a great way to inspire seniors to stay physically and mentally active.
"Sometimes it is really good for older folks to get out and do things, if they are able," he said. "Games like this are needed because you get people off the couch, get them out there and doing something.
"I just wish we could get all seniors to participate."
The Northwest Michigan Senior Games winds up with an Awards Banquet on Thursday, September 13, at Gordie Howe's Restaurant. There the top scorers in all activities will receive a plaque for their efforts.
You must register to participate in the Northwest Michigan Senior Games. For more information on the Northwest Michigan Senior Games or to request a registration packet, contact the Area Agency on Aging at 947-8920 or visit their office at 1609 Park Drive in Traverse City.