Ralph on track for a record
RALPH Schubert has a simple secret to longevity – “you’ve just got to keep going”.
And at 89, the Sydneysider is practising what he preaches at this weekend’s Great Barrier Reef Masters Games.
The retiree runner is the oldest of about 2100 athletes competing in 21 sports around Cairns for the fourth running of the games and he has been to all of them.
This year, he is taking on every distance between 200m and 5000m at the Barlow Park track over two days, but concedes he’s a bit more of a tortoise these days, than a hare.
“If you’re going out to watch the 5000m you’ve got to be prepared to sit there for a long time,” he said.
“I think it’s good to be the oldest competitor and 10 years from here I’ll be 99 and I’ll set that record too.”
Screaming the loudest on the sideline will be wife of 65 years Lillian.
The 88-year-old claims her culinary skills have been one of the things that have kept her husband running over the years. He had a cancer cut from the back of his leg last year which has slowed him down a bit, but that has since healed.
“I (used to) get up early and went for a jog. Now, Lillian reckons I go for a shuffle,” he said.
The pair loves the Far North and they have travelled around the area during each visit for the games. The event grows in popularity with registration numbers up about 40 per cent compared to 2017.
Three-quarters of those competing are visitors – either domestic or international.
The four-day games is expected to tip more than $1 million into the city’s economic coffers.