One Fort Collins resident has 100 reasons to celebrate.
Lynn "Mac" Wilkins McMillan hit the century mark Thursday.
"I don't drink. I've never smoked. I'm just glad to be in as good health as I am," McMillan said during an interview from his son's home in north Windsor. "I would be miserable if I were in the shape that others are in at this age."
McMillan was born June 11, 1909, in Paducah, Texas.
He now lives at Rigden Farm Senior Retirement, where he celebrated his birthday.
Friends and family will host an open house celebration June 28 to mark McMillan's birthday.
Karen McMillan of Windsor, Mac's daughter-in-law, has been gathering old photos and asking family and friends to express their feelings through a homemade video.
The video will be played during the open house.
Karen also has written letters to Willie Nelson, the White House, former President Bill Clinton, the Army and television personality Willard Scott announcing Mac's 100th birthday.
McMillan was surprised to receive a card from a gentleman in the Army and is still waiting to receive one from the White House.
Until then, he is pleased to share his life experiences during the past 100 years with the community.
McMillan was raised on a farm with five sisters and two brothers.
He attended the University of Texas where he studied math and psychology.
Upon graduation, Mc-Millan worked in accounting and bookkeeping until he was drafted into the Army in spring 1941.
"I liked it," he said. "You would never know what was going to happen. I think we were all pretty anxious to get out though."
McMillan had various assignments during World War II. He traveled to Virginia, New York, the Philippines and Japan.
"Our last assignment was in Japan," he said. "There was an invasion scheduled but then the war ended."
After 20 years of service, McMillan retired.
He also served in the National Guard for six years.
He married Elizabeth, his wife of 60 years, on Oct. 12, 1941. They had one son, Charles McMillan of Windsor.
McMillan has one grandson, one granddaughter and four great-grandsons.
After retiring in 1969, he spent time traveling. McMillan has visited Hawaii twice, Canada, California, the Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Disney World.
"I liked Hawaii better than any other place," he said. "It was something different."
The next trip McMillan has scheduled is for September.
"If I get approved to travel to see the (WWII) Veterans Memorial in Washington," he said, "I will."
When not traveling, McMillan focuses his time on activities at the senior retirement home.
"I've been taking Spanish lessons; I love to play Bingo and the Wii," he said. "I used to bowl a lot, so when I play the Wii I still have a tendency to curve the bowling ball."
McMillan also has his own cell phone and loves crossword puzzles.
"I'm a crossword addict," he said. "The first thing I do in the morning is the crossword puzzle in the newspaper. It's very educational and gives you a lot of words."
The retirement home has also appointed McMillan as the gardener.
"I've set out tomatoes for them and peppers," he said.
McMillian's mother lived to be 95 years old.
With plenty of activities to occupy his time, McMillan has remained a healthy 100-year-old.
"Right now, when I go to the doctor, they can't find anything wrong with me," he said. "You've got to take care of yourself healthwise."
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090612/NEWS01/906120315/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02/100-year-old-man-attributes-longevity-to-healthy-lifestyle
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Long-distance longevity
Franklin — For five years, one of the few breaks Frank Ruebl got was getting out of the house to go for a run.
Every morning he'd lift his wife out of bed and get her dressed.
He did the cooking. He bathed her. He cleaned the house. He was the one who looked after the dog.
"When she was ready for her nap, I knew she would be all right," Ruebl said.
"She kept pushing me, 'Go run, Frank.' "
Ruebl is 90 years old, whippet-thin, and looks at least a decade younger.
On Saturday, he plans to run Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn. Officials say he's the oldest runner to ever enter the popular marathon on the north shore of Lake Superior.
He's hoping for a better outcome than last year, in June 2008, when he was hobbled by knee pain and slowed by the heat and humidity. He quit midway through the race.
"I wanted to go all the way," he said. "But I couldn't."
His biggest problem wasn't physical - it was emotional. His wife, Ora, died on March 29, 2008.
To make matters worse, his dog, a 14-year-old black Labrador, died seven months after he lost his wife.
Ruebl is struggling with his losses and says it's been harder than he thought it would be. To cope, he takes a prescription for anxiety.
"I got my legs. I can run. That helps a lot. People tell me to get over it. Some people can. But I can't."
James Clemence has been Ruebl's physician since 1971.
"This was extreme devotion," he said. "She was an invalid, and he took care of her as well as anyone could have.
"It's much different than when somebody loses someone early in their life."
More elderly runners
The ranks of elderly runners have swelled over the last three decades, nurtured by advances in medicine, improved training techniques and changing perceptions about aging and physical activity.
Still, marathon runners in their 90s are extremely rare, according to Running USA.
The incessant pounding, the stress on the cardiovascular system and, of course, the pain eventually weed out even healthy older people, said Ryan Lamppa, media director for the organization, which tracks running trends.
Aside from cold weather, Ruebl said, he dwells little on the uncomfortable aspects of running. He is attracted to the solitude and the challenge each spring of ramping up the mileage after spending the winter on his well-worn exercise bike.
"It makes me feel better," he said. "I feel I need to get the workout in, or I don't feel right."
It's a common refrain from serious athletes in their middle years and beyond.
Exercise is a scratch that needs to be itched, almost every day. Training and competition satisfy a need to be challenged. And many are attracted to the camaraderie of it all.
Companionship isn't an attraction for Ruebl. "I'm a loner," he said.
But when he heads to Duluth, he will be joined by a small army of relatives. One of his grandsons will be running with him.
How much is enough?
Only three in 10 adults between ages 25 and 64 get enough leisure-time physical activity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After people reach age 65, activity levels drop even further.
How much exercise is enough?
The CDC says 30 minutes, five days a week - it can be anything from yardwork to running the 100-meter dash.
Ruebl mows his own lawn at his home in Franklin and has picked up odd jobs as a carpenter in retirement. He didn't stop working full time as a carpenter until his early 80s, when his wife needed him.
He views the work and the mental discipline of carpentry as keystones to his longevity.
Ruebl ran his first marathon when he was 59 - a double loop that started at Mayfair Mall. He's run Grandma's, Lakefront, Paavo Nurmi in Hurley, and Boston. He qualified for Boston in his early 60s by running Grandma's in 3 hours and 23 minutes - a 7:44 pace.
Ruebl describes himself as a "feel" runner, meaning he doesn't follow a strict regimen, but adjusts his training to his relative fitness.
He is also not an equipment junkie. He recently bought a new pair of shoes for the season. But until then he wore his beat-up ASICS like badges of fortitude.
"I can feel every pebble in the road," he complained before getting the new shoes.
Yet Ruebl isn't oblivious to training techniques and the running world.
He reads running magazines, and this spring, he read "Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's Greatest Marathon," by John Brant.
"It's something deep with him," said Clemence, his physician. "He has a runner's mentality, and he gets so much joy from it."
To augment the running and stationary cycling, the 5-foot-6, 130-pound Ruebl lifts 10-pound weights - dozens of times - and walks up and down his basement steps until he's tired.
He also bought a new puppy, another black lab, and named her Smokey. Same as the old dog.
"We don't always quite appreciate how phenomenal it is, what my dad is doing, because he's always been this way," said Kathy Schraufnagel, one of his daughters whom he talks to most days.
Improving with age
Ruebl is part of a subculture that seeks to improve within the context of age.
Barb Klippel, 76, of Hayward is planning on completing her 20th American Birkebeiner in February 2010 after surviving non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at 51 and an accident in 2005 that broke her skull when she fell down a flight of steps.
Since then, she trains with friends in the hills outside town and practices getting off the snow in her skis to help improve her balance.
Greg Osterman, 54, of Cincinnati started running marathons and lifting weights after a heart transplant and cancer at the age of 37.
He'd never been a runner. But after the surgery, he began walking back from the grocery store with jugs of milk to build up his strength. He desperately wanted to get back to work as a plumber and support his family.
One day during his recovery, he broke into a trot. He could feel his heart beating.
"It gave me a sense of well-being," he said, shortly after knocking off a half marathon at age 50. "This thing is really pumping, and I feel really good. I just want to keep it going."
Increasing life expectancy
In a long-term study dating to the early 1980s at a southern California retirement center, researchers at the University of California, Irvine found that exercise, brain engagement, moderate amounts of caffeine and alcohol and being slightly overweight were factors that increased life expectancy.
After he runs on his favorite route, Whitnall Park, Ruebl occasionally will drink a beer in the parking lot.
"If there is a little sunshine, that's a pretty nice day," he said.
With a few weeks to go before Grandma's Marathon, he fell behind in his training. The cold spring sapped his enthusiasm for outdoor training, and he substituted some of his running with biking indoors.
His longest run has been 8 miles, and he needs to run close to 20 miles before the race.
Over time, his pace has slowed to a fast walk.
But he's still a runner.
Two weeks before race day, the rain had sent golfers into the Whitnall clubhouse.
"I got to keep going," he said. "I've got to get some longer runs in."
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/48010402.html
Every morning he'd lift his wife out of bed and get her dressed.
He did the cooking. He bathed her. He cleaned the house. He was the one who looked after the dog.
"When she was ready for her nap, I knew she would be all right," Ruebl said.
"She kept pushing me, 'Go run, Frank.' "
Ruebl is 90 years old, whippet-thin, and looks at least a decade younger.
On Saturday, he plans to run Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn. Officials say he's the oldest runner to ever enter the popular marathon on the north shore of Lake Superior.
He's hoping for a better outcome than last year, in June 2008, when he was hobbled by knee pain and slowed by the heat and humidity. He quit midway through the race.
"I wanted to go all the way," he said. "But I couldn't."
His biggest problem wasn't physical - it was emotional. His wife, Ora, died on March 29, 2008.
To make matters worse, his dog, a 14-year-old black Labrador, died seven months after he lost his wife.
Ruebl is struggling with his losses and says it's been harder than he thought it would be. To cope, he takes a prescription for anxiety.
"I got my legs. I can run. That helps a lot. People tell me to get over it. Some people can. But I can't."
James Clemence has been Ruebl's physician since 1971.
"This was extreme devotion," he said. "She was an invalid, and he took care of her as well as anyone could have.
"It's much different than when somebody loses someone early in their life."
More elderly runners
The ranks of elderly runners have swelled over the last three decades, nurtured by advances in medicine, improved training techniques and changing perceptions about aging and physical activity.
Still, marathon runners in their 90s are extremely rare, according to Running USA.
The incessant pounding, the stress on the cardiovascular system and, of course, the pain eventually weed out even healthy older people, said Ryan Lamppa, media director for the organization, which tracks running trends.
Aside from cold weather, Ruebl said, he dwells little on the uncomfortable aspects of running. He is attracted to the solitude and the challenge each spring of ramping up the mileage after spending the winter on his well-worn exercise bike.
"It makes me feel better," he said. "I feel I need to get the workout in, or I don't feel right."
It's a common refrain from serious athletes in their middle years and beyond.
Exercise is a scratch that needs to be itched, almost every day. Training and competition satisfy a need to be challenged. And many are attracted to the camaraderie of it all.
Companionship isn't an attraction for Ruebl. "I'm a loner," he said.
But when he heads to Duluth, he will be joined by a small army of relatives. One of his grandsons will be running with him.
How much is enough?
Only three in 10 adults between ages 25 and 64 get enough leisure-time physical activity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After people reach age 65, activity levels drop even further.
How much exercise is enough?
The CDC says 30 minutes, five days a week - it can be anything from yardwork to running the 100-meter dash.
Ruebl mows his own lawn at his home in Franklin and has picked up odd jobs as a carpenter in retirement. He didn't stop working full time as a carpenter until his early 80s, when his wife needed him.
He views the work and the mental discipline of carpentry as keystones to his longevity.
Ruebl ran his first marathon when he was 59 - a double loop that started at Mayfair Mall. He's run Grandma's, Lakefront, Paavo Nurmi in Hurley, and Boston. He qualified for Boston in his early 60s by running Grandma's in 3 hours and 23 minutes - a 7:44 pace.
Ruebl describes himself as a "feel" runner, meaning he doesn't follow a strict regimen, but adjusts his training to his relative fitness.
He is also not an equipment junkie. He recently bought a new pair of shoes for the season. But until then he wore his beat-up ASICS like badges of fortitude.
"I can feel every pebble in the road," he complained before getting the new shoes.
Yet Ruebl isn't oblivious to training techniques and the running world.
He reads running magazines, and this spring, he read "Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's Greatest Marathon," by John Brant.
"It's something deep with him," said Clemence, his physician. "He has a runner's mentality, and he gets so much joy from it."
To augment the running and stationary cycling, the 5-foot-6, 130-pound Ruebl lifts 10-pound weights - dozens of times - and walks up and down his basement steps until he's tired.
He also bought a new puppy, another black lab, and named her Smokey. Same as the old dog.
"We don't always quite appreciate how phenomenal it is, what my dad is doing, because he's always been this way," said Kathy Schraufnagel, one of his daughters whom he talks to most days.
Improving with age
Ruebl is part of a subculture that seeks to improve within the context of age.
Barb Klippel, 76, of Hayward is planning on completing her 20th American Birkebeiner in February 2010 after surviving non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at 51 and an accident in 2005 that broke her skull when she fell down a flight of steps.
Since then, she trains with friends in the hills outside town and practices getting off the snow in her skis to help improve her balance.
Greg Osterman, 54, of Cincinnati started running marathons and lifting weights after a heart transplant and cancer at the age of 37.
He'd never been a runner. But after the surgery, he began walking back from the grocery store with jugs of milk to build up his strength. He desperately wanted to get back to work as a plumber and support his family.
One day during his recovery, he broke into a trot. He could feel his heart beating.
"It gave me a sense of well-being," he said, shortly after knocking off a half marathon at age 50. "This thing is really pumping, and I feel really good. I just want to keep it going."
Increasing life expectancy
In a long-term study dating to the early 1980s at a southern California retirement center, researchers at the University of California, Irvine found that exercise, brain engagement, moderate amounts of caffeine and alcohol and being slightly overweight were factors that increased life expectancy.
After he runs on his favorite route, Whitnall Park, Ruebl occasionally will drink a beer in the parking lot.
"If there is a little sunshine, that's a pretty nice day," he said.
With a few weeks to go before Grandma's Marathon, he fell behind in his training. The cold spring sapped his enthusiasm for outdoor training, and he substituted some of his running with biking indoors.
His longest run has been 8 miles, and he needs to run close to 20 miles before the race.
Over time, his pace has slowed to a fast walk.
But he's still a runner.
Two weeks before race day, the rain had sent golfers into the Whitnall clubhouse.
"I got to keep going," he said. "I've got to get some longer runs in."
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/48010402.html
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