At 82, Burnaby sprinter has yet to hit his performance peak
Norm Lesage, ranked sixth in the world among 80- to 84- year- olds, can run 100 metres in 15.6 seconds and figures he can still improve
There is no doubt that a certain cheeky, brash Jamaican is the fastest runner over 100 metres ( and 200 metres for that matter), but an 82- yearold man from Burnaby has designs on becoming the Usain Bolt of the octogenarian set.
Norm Lesage, who is competing this week in the B. C. Seniors Games in Burnaby, has run 100 metres in 15.6 seconds. Not bad for a guy who ran his first race at the age of 68.
A late bloomer, the interesting thing about Lesage is his times keep getting better. In the last few years, he has bettered his personal best three times.
Ranked in the top 10 in the world for the 100- metre sprint in the 80 to 84 age group, it’s questionable whether he will catch up to Japan’s Saburo Ishigami, who clocked in at 15.08 and sits fifth in the world ranking for this age group, or ever catch up to the amazing record set by American Payton Jordan who completed the 100 metres in 14.35 seconds in 1997 at the age of 80.
But because Lesage figures he has yet to reach his peak, he could very well better the world mark after he turns 85.
The fastest ever in the 85- 89 group is Suda Giichi of Japan, who ran the 100 metres in 16.15 seconds in 1998.
An aw- shucks kind of guy with a hearty laugh, Lesage sounded very much like a man who is a little pleasantly surprised at himself as he sat in the stands in Swangard Stadium where he is competing as part of the annual games for the 55- and- over set. He started running more out of boredom than anything. He didn’t like all the walking he had to do to stay in shape so he decided to take up sprinting to get the job done faster.
Success wasn’t instant. He finished dead last in his first competition — the Arizona Senior Olympics.
It took him so long to complete the race, “I was surprised people didn’t get up to leave before I finished.”
With self- deprecating humour, he laughs at how funny he must have looked. He was so green, his running trunks didn’t even fit properly.
He felt them falling off in the last 20 metres.
Far from being discouraged. Lesage dedicated himself to running and eventually became addicted to it.
At an age when mobility usually starts to decline, he keeps getting better. His coach Harold Morioka, of the Tri City Greyhounds track club, has a theory as to why this is happening. Everybody peaks at some point in their life, he told Lesage. That can be when you are older or younger. He told Lesage that he is simply peaking later in life.
Whatever the reason, Lesage is not questioning the results. He has never felt better. His blood pressure is down. So is his heart rate. “I’ve got stamina like you wouldn’t believe.”
He figures the health benefits come from so much blood pumping through his body at once.
“It cleans out your whole system. Everything works better. You are bringing all that goodness in and getting rid of the bad stuff and the more you do it, the easier it gets.”
One of his standard exercises is walking up 46 flights of stairs, with each flight being 16 steps. Every five flights, he stops and stretches.
When he is finished, his whole body is tingling. “Everything is loose, the muscles, the legs, everything.”
He tries to exercise two hours a day, six days a week, mixing it up with sprinting, stair climbing, walking, stretching and squatting. Variety is key.
He admits his body is tight in the morning. “I can hardly straighten up.” To get moving, he does 10 minutes of stretching.
Lesage knows there are still guys out there to beat, himself being one of them. “That’s easy. That gives me a goal.”
Who knows where the peak on the mountain will be? Lesage doesn’t know. He just keeps climbing.