{"id":1860,"date":"2020-02-07T23:49:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T04:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1860"},"modified":"2020-02-07T23:51:16","modified_gmt":"2020-02-08T04:51:16","slug":"woman-proves-age-is-not-a-barrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=1860","title":{"rendered":"Woman proves age is not a barrier"},"content":{"rendered":"

While many people in their 90s face a daily struggle to even get around, Betty Jean McHugh shows that doesn\u2019t have to be the case.<\/p>\n

The 90-year-old resident of North Vancouver has been running competitively for almost four decades, breaking records across the world.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s always had an athletic side, but the former pediatric nurse didn\u2019t begin seriously running until an age when most people are just starting to take advantage of their seniors discount.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>McHugh says she was 55 at the time, and it was a \u201clong time ago,\u201d McHugh says.<\/p>\n

What started as a mere hobby and way to keep fit soon turned into something bigger, and McHugh began to notice she was quite skilled at it.<\/p>\n

Into her 60s, she began extending the length of her runs, and at the age of 75, she began to prepare for her first marathon.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the girls says to me \u2018I\u2019m going to run a marathon,\u2019 so we started training,\u201d McHugh says.<\/p>\n

While she admits she thought the idea of a senior running a marathon was outlandish at first, she\u2019s never looked back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought ‘This is kind of crazy, this would never happen,\u201d she says. \u201cBut with the proper training, I got my whole family involved.<\/p>\n

But before she was known as the \u201cFlying Granny,\u201d McHugh was a young woman who grew up in small-town Ontario.<\/p>\n

She was raised on a farm, which meant she ate locally grown food every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was eating organic food long before anybody knew about organic food,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

McHugh recalls attending a \u2018county school\u2019 where one teacher taught all the grades.<\/p>\n

During her youth, she played sports such as hockey, baseball, and tennis, but was never much of a runner.<\/p>\n

After her graduation from high school, McHugh headed to Toronto, where she trained to become a pediatric nurse at the Hospital for Sick Children, now known as SickKids.<\/p>\n

As to why she specifically wanted to work with children, McHugh noted she was \u201camazed at how rapidly they recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, her tenure in Toronto didn\u2019t last very long, as she explains she \u201cwanted to see the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>McHugh and a friend eventually headed to Vancouver, and she\u2019s never returned to Ontario.<\/p>\n

While she loves the geography of the city, she also met the man she would marry there.<\/p>\n

She was working at a Vancouver hospital and came across a man named Bob McHugh, who was recovering from having his appendix removed.<\/p>\n

McHugh notes at that time, all patients would receive a daily back rub during their stay, and \u201cthat\u2019s how you learned about your patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it was clear this patient was just as interested in learning about his nurse.<\/p>\n

During their conversation, McHugh shared with him her love for skiing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs he was leaving the hospital, he asked me if I\u2019d like to go skiing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

With a laugh, she recalls she was \u201cnot too kind\u201d to Bob but did agree to go skiing with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t immediately connect,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

McHugh says she wasn\u2019t necessarily looking to settle down, as she \u201chad a plan to maybe go down to California.\u201d<\/p>\n

She had already tried her hand in a serious relationship as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI dated this young man \u2013 he was an absolutely lovely young man, but he wasn\u2019t right for me,\u201d she recalls. \u201cEverything I wanted him to do, he\u2019d do it for me, and I was always right.\u201d<\/p>\n

While such an obliging partner may sound attractive, it wasn\u2019t what she was looking for, and she called things off.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty sad, he was pretty upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

To her, Bob was the \u201creal man\u201d for her, but marriage to him meant the end of her career as a nurse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t want me to work. We started a family,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Not wanting to call herself a \u201cstay-at-home\u201d mother, McHugh instead refers to herself as a \u201cbeach mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had this Oldsmobile station wagon I\u2019d drive all the kids around in it. It was the beach mobile,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Before she seriously began running, McHugh\u2019s four children were encouraged by their mother to be active, although never pushed to excel in sports.<\/p>\n

Despite this, her daughter Jennifer became a successful swimmer, representing Canada in the 1972 Olympics.<\/p>\n

As her children entered into adulthood and began their own families, McHugh became more involved in running.<\/p>\n

It became an outlet for her to clear her mind as Bob battled against dementia.<\/p>\n

McHugh notes her husband was very supportive of her running, and never \u201cresented\u201d her time away from home.<\/p>\n

She believes she was a \u201cbit ahead of the times,\u201d because she bucked the trend of many senior women who \u201cjust do what their husbands do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to do the things you want to do while you can, and not just be dependant on your husband at the time,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As McHugh began to run more extensively, she started to spread her wings internationally, receiving an invite to Rome by a race co-ordinator.<\/p>\n

Since then she\u2019s travelled to London, New York, and other worldwide destinations, breaking records for runners over the age of 80 along the way.<\/p>\n

McHugh admits while she loves running, the locations it has taken here are just as impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe running is sort of second… most of my marathons have been destinations ones,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In late 2018, she set another record for the fastest marathon time by a runner over 90 years old in Hawaii.<\/p>\n

These accomplishments have led to her gain media notoriety and even a Facebook fan page.<\/p>\n

McHugh says she almost takes the renown of her situation for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t expressive about it. But a lot of people say they saw me in a magazine or on television because it\u2019s my way of life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

While she has been able to stay in amazing shape for someone her age, McHugh faced a setback last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a little stroke that put me back enough that I wasn\u2019t able to run anymore for a while,\u201d she says, adding she also suffered a broken hip.<\/p>\n

McHugh noted before the stroke happened, she had experienced some symptoms but \u201cwas in denial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was having dinner, and I noticed my left arm and right arm weren\u2019t working,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

Eventually, she began to recover, although she didn\u2019t run at first, only walking each day.<\/p>\n

Despite this, she doesn\u2019t anticipate to slow down anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cAge is just another number. If your body feels like you can do it, do it,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople just sit in a chair- they think they are old. Pretty soon, you just become a vegetable.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she encourages other seniors to be active, she doesn\u2019t recommend anyone to try to just begin at her level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you just jump into it, you might feel pretty bad, and you are prone to injury,\u201d she explains.
\nShe says anyone trying to be active in their later years \u201chas to know their body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been out for about an hour-and-a-half [today],\u201d she says. \u201cI could tell the last two miles I was beginning to tire, so I slowed down and began to walk for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

All in all, her message is for no one to ever let age define them.<\/p>\n

\u201cTreat every day as if it was the last. Set reasonable goals \u2013 that\u2019s one important thing \u2013 if you have a goal, you are going to get out and try.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While many people in their 90s face a daily struggle to even get around, Betty Jean McHugh shows that doesn\u2019t have to be the case. 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