Senior Spotlight: Masters of track

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January=20 2010

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Senior Spotlight: = Masters of = track

By Cherry = Sokoloski
North=20 Forty News

"At our age, what we're really competing against is Death."

With that joke, senior athlete Sharon Raham burst out laughing. = When=20 one is in any sort of "senior" competition, it's good to have a = sense of=20 humor.

Bob Fulton, also a senior athlete, is something of a jokester = as well.=20 He noted that senior athletics is "the only thing in the world = where it's=20 better to get older." Senior competition is based on five-year age = groups=20 such as 60 to 64 or 65 to 69. So, those decade birthdays make a = person the=20 youngest competitor in the new age group--a definite = advantage.

However, Raham and Fulton have a lot more going for them than = the=20 ability to laugh at themselves. Both are accomplished in track and field = events. They've=20 competed in countless meets hosted by the National Senior Games = and USA Track & = Field, and = Raham has=20 entered international competitions as well. Fulton will compete in = his=20 first international meet, the World Masters = Indoor=20 Championships, this March.

In the past year, each of these athletes earned impressive = awards in track and field. Raham = is 63,=20 while Fulton turns 70 this month.

Raham, a Wellington resident, won a silver medal in the javelin = throw=20 last October at the World Masters = Games. She and=20 her husband, Gary, traveled to Sydney, Australia, for the elite=20 competition. Raham also competed in Edmonton, Alberta, at the last = World=20 Games in 2005, when she took home the gold in the javelin throw = shortly=20 after undergoing knee surgery. She has also competed in nine = national=20 meets.

Fulton, a former high school and college coach who lives in = north Fort=20 Collins, won the national championship trophy in his age group at = the=20 National Decathlon Championships in Seattle in August.

"You gotta be lucky," he stated modestly, noting that there are = lots of=20 variables to contend with at any meet. He has won three other = national=20 championships and has come in second numerous times.

Raham has been a competitor her entire life, but she didn't = compete in=20 high school sports for a simple reason: in those days there were = no girls'=20 sports in schools. She played on softball and tennis teams in = college and=20 taught physical education for a few years. Throughout her adult = life she=20 has kept fit by playing softball, basketball, volleyball and = tennis on=20 recreational teams.

In 2000, Raham began competing in Senior Olympics, and for the = first=20 few years the competition was the most satisfying part of this new = venture. That changed, however, to an appreciation for everyone = who takes=20 up the gauntlet despite the challenges of aging.

"Everybody who goes has some physical difficulty," said Raham, = "but=20 they show up anyway and keep coming. I tell myself, 'If they can = do it, I=20 can.'"

The athletes also become friends, glad to see each other again = when=20 they go to meets. They root for their fellow athletes even when = they're=20 vying for the same medal.

Raham competes in numerous events. She does all the throwing = events,=20 including weight throw, hammer throw, discus, javelin and shot = put, in=20 addition to the weight pentathlon. She also competes in high jump, = long=20 jump, triple jump, hurdles and the 60- or 100-meter dash. Her best = event=20 is the javelin throw.

During his own high school years, Fulton participated in = football and=20 track as = well as=20 pole vault. He then went on to play fullback at Pittsburg State = University=20 in Kansas. He coached high school football and track for 22 = years and=20 coached track for=20 three years at Colorado State University. In his late 50s, he = began=20 competing in running events, and he started serious decathlon = training at=20 age 63.

Fulton decided to focus on decathlon because he wanted to = compete for a=20 national championship and he thought his chances were best in the = 10-skill=20 event.

"I can do a lot of things pretty well," he noted.

The decathlon includes three running events, hurdles, pole = vault,=20 javelin throw, shot put, discus throw, high jump and long jump. = Like=20 Raham, he has had to learn many new skills to compete in the = multi-skill=20 events. His best events to date have been pole vault and high = jump.

For Fulton, the most satisfying part of senior competition is = "winning,=20 obviously." But, he added, to win a person has to continue to get = better,=20 and that becomes a satisfying goal in itself. He also enjoys = making=20 friends with some of the best athletes in the world.

At the national level, Fulton said, people in their 70s and 80s = are=20 still hurdling and pole vaulting. He met one 95-year-old gentleman = at a=20 Wisconsin meet who ran the 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter races. = "It's=20 pretty amazing," he observed.

On occasional Saturdays during track and field = season, Fulton's=20 wife, Sharon, and their children and grandchildren share the = bleachers=20 with Raham's extended family, all cheering grandpa and grandma on = to their=20 next gold medals. It's a bit of a turnaround from the usual scene = of=20 grandparents watching the grandkids play soccer.

And, with all the training and competition involved in senior=20 athletics, there's another kind of turnaround as well; it involves = pulling=20 a fast one on Father Time.

"When you get older," Fulton stated, "it's important to set a = goal and=20 work toward it. It keeps you = younger.

Do you have a news tip? Do you have questions about a news = story?=20 Please contact our staff by phone (970-221-0213) or e-mail info@northfortynews.com.=20

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=A9 North Forty News 2009

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Page updated=20 12/31/2009

January=20 2010

Senior Spotlight: = Masters of = track

By Cherry = SokoloskiNorth=20 Forty News

By Cherry = Sokoloski
North=20 Forty News