Being older doesn’t mean we can’t still perform amazing physical feats or give up on our dreams – as some of the amazing plucky pensioners in this article show.
All have taken on challenges that individuals have their age would have baulked at. And yet they did them with relish and determination, not to mention enjoyment. Some of them even went on to clinch a Guinness World Records medal:
Centenarian Bill completes half marathon
First up is 102-year old William (Bill) Cooksey. This former English teacher and WW2 RAF pilot recently walked the 13.1-mile Great North Run half marathon course. It took him 5 hrs 41 mins to cross the finishing line in South Shields after setting off from Newcastle with his friend Gavin earlier that day.
Bill’s motivation for his impressive athletic feat was to celebrate 75 years of the NHS and raise money for workers. He practiced by walking seven miles a week in the months leading up to the event.
Peak bagger Chris
Retired doctor Chris Lennox has spent his retirement finishing off his ambition to climb every single summit in Scotland. That’s summits recognised by the Scottish Mountaineering Club – all 1,200 of them. In doing so he managed to raise more than £2,000 for the wilderness protection charity, the John Muir Trust.
The former consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist completed his last summit a few weeks after turning 75. He had already polished off all of the Munros (mountains over 3,000 ft) in his 50s. In his 60s he did all the Donald’s (hills over 2,000 ft) and in his 70s he bagged all the Corbetts (mountains over 2,500 ft).
Despite his achievement he’s not going to suddenly stop hill walking.
“I can pick and choose which ones I fancy now. I am still perfectly fit and I intend to carry on,” he said.
Arctic Marathon Runner Chris
Another Chris, this time of the female persuasion, is celebrating after becoming the oldest woman to complete the Antarctic Ice Marathon in the South Pole.
Grandmother Chris Hobson, 69, broke the Guinness World Record last December. Chris, from Clayton in West Yorkshire completed the marathon in eight hours, 33 minutes and 11 seconds. She was the 11th woman to finish overall, from a total of 57 competitors.
Former head teacher, Chris only started her fitness routine when she retired at 60. She has since completed117 marathons, as well as the South Pole run.
"I hope my achievement will inspire other older women to dream big and achieve what they might have previously thought impossible,” she said.
Chris has run 117 marathons – on seven continents - since she retired at the age of 60.
Powerlifting pensioner Peter
Powerlifting pensioner Peter Mileham, 77, beat men more than half his age when he picked up the gold medal for the Masters 4 category powerlifting event in his home town in Preston last year.
Peter took up weightlifting a couple of years after the death of his wife from cancer in 2017. He also become chair of the Rosemere Cancer Foundation and was keen to raise money for the organisation.
A former Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire, he said: “I certainly didn’t expect to be entering a weightlifting competition at my age but I have received a lot of encouragement from my trainer Tom, who always thought I had a great chance of winning and has certainly put me through my paces.”
Peter managed to raise more than £3,200 for the charity. He was also set to compete in the Power Lifting British Championships.
