By LeRae Haynes
Williams Lake senior athletes did their hometown proud at the Grand Masters 55+ Games in Vernon this month. Competing in golf, track and field, cribbage and floor curling, 21 local seniors participated in the sometimes fiercely competitive events, and 14 of them came home with medals.
Canadian and even world records are set or broken during the games.
Gladys Paulson and Bernie Inscho competed in cribbage, bringing home a gold medal, and Gordon and Helen Mayfield won silver.
In track and field, Pat Harton, Leo Rankin and Joan Foster each brought home gold. Harton won gold in the men’s 75-79 age group in the 800 meters, 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters track competitions and in the 10km road race.
Rankin, in the 65-69 age class, took gold in 1,500 metre and 5,000 meter track competitions, the 5,000 meter power walk and the 10 kilometer road race. He also took gold in the 4 x 400 metre power walk and silver in the men’s 55+ 4 x 400 metre relay, and in the 1,500 metre power walk.
Races were very intense and competitive, and the 1,500 m and 10 km road race were both won by less than a second difference between first and second place.
Ellen Wiege, with teammates Marj Struthers, Greta Bowser and Marlene Davis, brought home a silver medal in floor curling, Floris Martineau took bronze in golfing, Marcia Paquette won silver in golf, and Alex Wasylenko brought home a silver medal in golf.
Joan Foster won gold during the 5,000-metre power walk in the 70 to 75 age category. This was her first experience at the Games. She said she’s definitely going back.
“I joined the carpet bowling team at the Seniors Activity Centre here and loved it. I found out about the Seniors Games, and heard there was a walking event. Well, I love to walk. So, I thought maybe I could do that,” she explained.
“I got talked into it, and now I’m going back. The route in Vernon was phenomenal. They have a brand-new track, the sponge kind. When I do it here, at the high school, I can do it in just under an hour, which isn’t really that great.
“Down there, on that track, I did it in 42 minutes. I was thrilled with that!”
She added that the thrill of the whole thing was completing the event. “I was a little worried about that,” she continued. “There was one women there who was 92 years old, who had been going every year. You had to complete the power walk in an hour. In one hour, she had one lap to go, and they let her complete. It was so wonderful. Everyone was very moved.
“What keeps you going back is the people you meet. You set a personal goal for yourself, and it’s wonderful to achieve it, but that’s not what makes you go back – it’s the people,” she said.
“I’m so looking forward to next year.”
