BY YVONNE SANCHE
I’m sure as children we all had
dreams and aspirations of being
professional or Olympic athletes.
We’d sit in front of the T.V. during
the summer and watch the Olympic
coverage unfold. Mesmerized by
world records being smashed, we’d
head outside and set up neighbour-
hood sprint races and, of course,
street hockey.
Into our teens we honed skills and
discovered our talents in some
sports and our lack of enthusiasm in
others. Some of us were fortunate
to excel into collegiate level ath-
leticism, gaining scholarships and
accolades while the majority of us
accepted the fact that perhaps, just
perhaps, a career in professional
sports wasn’t in the cards. As we say
in powerlifting, “not today”.
What happens to the rest of us?
Where does the athlete living inside
of us go? Does it wither away or
does it make a second coming, re-
surging with a vengeance? Enter the
master athletes!
When I was in my early 20s, I would
enter road races, and I often saw
the “master” category and igno-
rantly thought that it wasn’t a very
competitive category. Well here
I am, many moons later, a master
competitor, and I was very, very
wrong. Do you know the saying, “40
is the new 20”? Yup, this is exactly
the case in sports today. Allow me
to throw in some data to put it in
perspective. In 2013, the Canadian
Powerlifting Union National Cham-
pionships had 11 master women
and 14 master men competing. The
highest Wilks score among these 11
women was 383.5 and among the
14 men it was 420.04. In 2016, the
number of competitors at the na-
tional level boomed to 60 master
women competitors and 67 mas-
ter men competitors. The highest
Wilks score among these women in
2016 was 404.51 and 447.12 among
the men. These numbers not only
suggest that the sport has gained
popularity but they also suggest
that people over the age of 40 are
getting stronger and increasingly
competitive.I will be the first to admit that ex-
ercising and competing at an old-
er age has some disadvantages.
Recovery, a word misunderstood
in our twenties, is now a staple in
our lives. It takes longer to recov-
er from challenging workouts, and
I’m sure we have been faced with
sports injuries and other health con-
cerns that stopped us in our tracks.
There are many people dealing with
herniated discs, rotator cuff repairs,
carpal tunnel surgery; the laundry
list goes on. When asked, these indi-
viduals unanimously replied that al-
though they may be out of the game
at the moment, they had plans to
come back. They weren’t quitting,
they simply needed to change their
mindset, recover, and train wiser. As
Sylvia Gaucher, a silver medalist at
2016 IPF Worlds Powerlifting Cham-
pionships, stated, “Despite wanting
to train and work hard there are
days that the old body will not co-
operate with my young minded
will.”Despite these challenges, we
still set out goals to accomplish.
Shawne Flaherty is a prime exam-
ple of overcoming challenges. Born
with Noonan Syndrome, a rare life
threatening condition that involves
heart defects, she completed the
Boston Marathon earlier this year
in the sweltering heat with a timeof 6 hours and 22 minutes. Her love
of fitness and zest for life motivates
her to compete, and it shows. She’s
a motivator and you’ll find her
speaking at Running Room events,
sharing her experiences with oth-
ers. She has now completed 30 half
marathons, and at the age of 48, has
no time for stopping anytime soon.
What motivates each of us differs.
Some of us love the competition
and some of us want to keep active
and healthy so that we can meet
the demands of our lives. We are
a sandwich generation, raising chil-
dren and caring for aging parents.
For Gerald Wendt, a member at
Saint City Fitness, he started Crossfit
at 56-years-old to support his son.
Juggling a full time job, caring for
an aging parent, tending to his fam-
ily, and still finding time to workout
have impacted his energy levels at
times. Fortunately with age comes
wisdom, and Gerald attributes sus-
tainable energy levels with proper
nutrition and forming good health
habits. He advises the younger gen-
eration in order to age gracefully,
one must form these habits earlier
in life.We are at an age where we can
impact influence on our children.
Instilling a healthy lifestyle at an
early age is more likely to become
a part of their lives as they age. We
get opportunities to mentor our
spawn, passing on our love of sport
to them, keeping our fingers crossed
that they carry that gene. Children
need coaches and mentors to help
guide them, and we get an oppor-
tunity to become ambassadors of
our sport, passing on some wisdom
to younger athletes, avoiding the
same mistakes we made.We have developed programs
to help youth refine their skills.Co-founder of Farm Strong Athlet-
ics, Evan Taylor, believes it is im-
portant as an older athlete to coach
and mentor upcoming youth. “If you
like kids and you’re a good coach,”
he jokes. Evan has been heading up
the Future Champs program, which
teaches youth proper Olympic lift-
ing technique and hones this skill to
harness strength, speed and power
for their sport. “It’s important to
pass on lessons we have learned as
athletes.”Don’t think for a second that we
have stopped learning. Being a
master athlete has taught us more
than athleticism. It teaches us to ac-
cept our faults and treat ourselves
with grace. Sylvia follows an excel-
lent creed. “Embrace the sport and
work hard, but realize there are ups
and downs and you can’t be at your
peak at all times.” Because of sport,
our social platform is strong and we
are a tight community, leaning on
one another through lower times
and celebrating victories at greater
times. We treat each other with re-
spect, showing empathy, and yet—
allow healthy competition to brew.
In competition we have mastered
the delicate balance of conquer
our individual goals and support
in unity.The next time you are at a race, take
a look around you, look beyond the
bib number. No matter the age, we
have all worked hard to get to that
starting line. Our challenges may
be different, but we come togeth-
er to celebrate our achievements.
As we age, the athlete inside of us
doesn’t wither away, it simply ex-
udes in a different form with a em-
bracing our sport, encouraging our
youth and enjoying life.We Are