Report @ Challenge Aging 5k - Celebrating Strength & Successful Aging

Enjoy reviewing last Sunday's 7th Annual Challenge Aging 5k - Celebrating Strength & Successful Aging at Como Lake by visiting the event page to find:
1. race results
2. online slideshow with theme songs
3. beautifully inspiring 4 minute video
4. free Liveality Online Memory Book

http://www.charitieschallenge.org/html/challenge_aging.html

Be inspired by how very well some of advancing age are negotiating the challenges of aging, even very advanced ages and despite a variety of chronic diseases added challenges, because of their RxExercise (exercise as medicine), running, walking, and enthusiastic CC events volunteering.

A leading cause of usual aging (as contrasted by successful aging) is disengagement, social withdrawal and isolation. With advancing age, I know the temptation to withdraw, disengage, and go it alone. I daily tell myself: "Get up and get out and about with other happily active people".

So, here’s a big congratulations to those of you who will not concede to usual aging decline and disappointments.

And, an even bigger congratulations to each of you who I see actively engaged in encouraging our family & friends of advancing ages by your walking or running alongside, volunteering with smiles, always happy to come together to build one another up to be successfully strong throughout life.

Special acknowledgements from the Challenge Aging 5k:

1. Bib numbers were assigned to the pre-registered in reverse order of age.

2. So, at nearly age 89, Mary Pat Flynn, showed off bib # 1, the oldest 5k finisher of any CC event (>100 events to date).

3. Gloria Jansen set an all-time MN F65-69 5k age group record 23:36

4. Lance Elliott, nearly age 43, running for only 4 years won overall in 16:08

5. Daniel Gerber, age 23, set for himself a huge 35 second 5k PR by chasing Lance.

6. www.Liveality.com friends created the first CC event online memory book that each participant may personalize with select photos, a visual reminder of the memories made at CC events to review with family & friends.

7. My friend Josh 'Dartos' Gerber, proprietor of www.WayzataResults.com, continues to produce accurate and fast-reported race results, and Sunday set up for the first time an announcers mat that allows our announcers, Jeanne DeMartino, George Liss and Andy Liss to announce more names than ever.

8. Faithful regular CCREW volunteers and RxExercise Ambassadors like Don Soule, Meredith Soule, Dawn Hart, Ken Wendling and others were joined by new CCREW volunteers like Kyle Clark & Sara Rapp. Thanks you all for producing CC events with the utmost in hospitality. You make CC events special!

9. So many individuals whose remarkable stories I know about and who continue to play in my memory, inspiring me to keep on keepin' on with always-special CC events.

10. The 8th Annual Challenge Aging 5k next year will see each of us one year older, stronger, and smarter. To "Successful Aging"!