86-year-old world record race walker Heather Lee believes in staying active
Announcement posted by The Gold Company 20 Feb 2013
World champion race walker 86-year-old Heather Lee spent last year taking out world records for her age group and is determined not to rest on her laurels in 2013.
“I’m training as hard as I ever have been; just because I won the world records doesn’t mean that I don’t need to stay on top of my game!” Heather quipped.
After the Pan Pacific Masters Games held on the Gold Coast last November which culminated in three gold medals and three new records in the 3km, 5km, and 10km race walk events, Heather – who only began competitive race-walking a year ago – believes that staying active is the most important thing at her age, and as a result trains at 5 am every day.
“Since my husband died, I found walking was therapy for me. A brisk walk increases the heart rate and circulates the blood, working wonders and making me feel good about myself!”
Her recent training has seen 86-year-old Heather shave several minutes off her already-world record times. She is hopeful that 2013 will give her another opportunity to prove her mettle, as her next chance to continue her meteoric rise will be in March at the 41st AMA National Track and Field Championships in Canberra.
The events listed for next March are the 1,500 metre, 5,000 metre and 10,000 metre walks. Since Heather already holds the world records for the 3,000m and the 5,000m and the Australian record in the 10,000m event, her immediate training goal will be to beat these records to become the indisputable race walking champion in her age group worldwide.
Of her sporting triumphs, Heather says “The journey has been life changing with so many new experiences and rewards, I definitely left the ‘best till last’ and that journey is still continuing.”
To support Heather and see her journey to race walking stardom, watch her webseries on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbcNHAxZyAcSjC2UZid9Lfw.