Get Your Running Shoes On—It's Not Too Late to Get Fit!

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After winning the Florida Senior Games in Track and Field last December and setting two new state records in her division—and then going on to win blue ribbons at national competitions—Madelaine Cazel is finally living the dream she had as a young schoolgirl.

Her 93-foot, two-inch javelin throw beat the previous women’s state record for her age category by 23 feet. At age 70, and feeling as good and energetic as ever, Cazel claims her secret to staying fit and healthy is exercising daily and always being active.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” Cazel says. “So, you always try to stay healthy.”

AARP members throughout the Sunshine State can follow Cazel’s example through the Florida Senior Games, an athletic competition created especially for people 50+. Qualifying events are being held at various locations around the state in the early summer and again in early fall. For more information, please go to: http://www.flasports.com/page_seniorgames.shtml.

Cazel, who lives in the Villages, an Orlando-area retirement community with a state-of-the-art track, tennis courts, golf courses, softball fields, pools and completely equipped fitness centers, works out by running three times a week and lifting weights at the gym. On the other two days of the week, she devotes her time to practicing for her track and throwing events. How does she spend her free time on the weekends? Playing golf with her husband.

“I love to be active,” Cazel says. “The active lifestyle keeps you young at heart.”

Cazel credits the retirement community with making it easy for its residents to remain active by supplying the equipment needed for having a healthy lifestyle.

“The Villages supports the activities you love to do,” Cazel says. “People here look 10 years younger.”

When she is not competing in the Senior Games, Cazel travels with a softball team made up of 60-year-olds. She says that although her teammates are 10 years her junior, she is just as healthy and fit as the rest of them.

The statewide Senior Games take place in Cape Coral December 6-14, 2008. Local qualifying events begin in September. For more information on the Florida Senior Games, visit http://www.flasports.com/page_seniorgames.shtml.