Think back to the last time you did something for the very first time. Maybe it was a painting class, a new recipe, or a video call with the grandchildren that took three tries to connect. That first step is usually the hardest one.
Alta Pierson took hers on a running track in St. George, Utah. She signed up for six events.
Pierson, a St. George resident, entered the Huntsman World Senior Games this month. It was the first track and field competition of her life. She is 100 years old, and according to a press release cited by St. George News, she turns 101 on October 27.
What Are the Huntsman World Senior Games?
Think of them as a giant, friendly Olympics for athletes 50 and older. This year, the Games ran in St. George from October 5 through October 17.
Kyle Case, the chief executive officer of the Games, told St. George News that more than 12,200 athletes were slated to take part. That broke the registration record once again. The field included athletes from 33 nations, with first-time participants from Ecuador.
Pierson was one of two centenarians in the field. The other was Yuet Yu Ma, a 101-year-old table tennis player from Shanghai, China.
Six Events, One Full Lap
Pierson did not ease in. According to St. George News, she signed up for the 50-meter, 100-meter and 400-meter runs, plus the shot put, the discus and the javelin.
The official results on the Games website show four of those events. She wore bib number 100.
In the 50-meter dash, she finished in 1 minute, 6.61 seconds. KSL.com reported that the run set a Huntsman World Senior Games record.
She threw the javelin 4.03 meters, a little over 13 feet. She put the shot 1.84 meters, just over six feet.
Her longest race was the 400 meters. That is one full lap of a standard track, the race many of us remember dreading in gym class. Pierson finished it in 11 minutes, 12.93 seconds.
In all four of those events, the results list her as the only athlete in her age division.
“We Don’t Have to Stop”
Case also told KSL.com that age is not always a reason to stop doing what you love.
“Society might say age might limit us, but that’s not true,” he said.
“It’s recognizing where you’re at right now and that you don’t have to stop; you can continue to do the things that you do,” Case said.
He added that the idea reaches well beyond the track. “Here we work with sports, but there are a number of things that we can continue to do that we love as we age,” he said.
That is worth sitting with for a moment. Most of us will never throw a javelin.
We garden. We walk the dog. We sing with a community chorus, teach a grandchild to fish, or finally learn to make the family pie crust the right way.
Or, as Case put it, “We don’t have to stop.”
The Smallest Step Comes First
Here is the part worth remembering. Before any of those results were posted, Pierson did one simple thing. She registered.
Everything else followed from that.
So think about the first step you have been putting off. A class at the library, a walking group, a game of pickleball at the community center. Alta Pierson signed up for six events. One is a fine place to start.
