Fitness fanatic reaps rewards of daily walks
AN 83-year-old man, who still takes part in half marathons, is one of many older people in the Rochdale community doing regular walks to stay active.
Gordon joined a walking group after making the difficult decision to move his wife of 55 years, who suffers from advanced dementia, into a care home.
Living on his own, the veteran was still exercising regularly and in good health but he was becoming isolated for many parts of the day.
At a recent Veterans in the Community meeting he was invited to take part in the Nature Walks as part of Greater Manchester’s Active Ageing Week
and hasn’t missed one since.
Sara Tomkins, CEO of GreaterSport, the organisers of Active Ageing Week, said being active is about much more than just the physical benefits.
She said: “Activity can reduce your risk of dementia by 30 per cent, improve your mental health and help with social isolation.
“It’s about the friendships that are made by getting out of the house and being active.
“We hope the week will inspire more older people to get moving, whether that’s by introducing a regular walk in the park, taking up a dance class or joining a locally organised session as part of the Active Ageing programme.”
Still able to drive his car, Gordon, of Rochdale, manages to visit his wife every day but has often found himself bored in the mornings and evenings with no company.
Organisers say that by joining the walks, Gordon has not stopped talking and has been able to speak to a lot of new people, outside of his family.
The fitness fanatic has even been walking three miles from Milnrow to the start of the route.
A runner in the past, Gordon completed the Manchester Half Marathon in October 2018 in a time of 3 hours 5 minutes. He aims to complete this year’s race in under three hours and has encouraged his son to join him.
By increasing his walking Gordon’s overall fitness has improved including his blood pressure and cholesterol.
The release of endorphins have also helped reduce stress.
The co-ordinator of the walks has also helped teach him about dementia, how to communicate with his wife and some tricks for using his mobile phone. Four in ten older adults (55+) in Greater Manchester are inactive and councillors are trying to combat this.
Councillor Brenda Warrington, Portfolio Lead of Age-Friendly Greater Manchester, said: “Greater Manchester is the UK’s first region to be recognised as age-friendly by the World Health Organization and part of our age-friendly strategy is to encourage older people to get more physically and socially active.”