95-year-old Heather Lee to walk 200 kilometres for charity
You’re only as old as you feel, and great-grandmother Heather Lee is living proof— with the 95 year-old fitness enthusiast taking part in a 200-kilometre walk for charity.
NSW
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Heather Lee is not your everyday pensioner, the 95-year-old has embarked on a record-breaking milestone at an age most people struggle to reach, the oldest person to racewalk a 200km ultra-marathon.
What makes this feat even more incredible is that Heather didn’t pick up the sport until 2011.
“When I was 84 I took up racewalking after joining a local walking group,” she said.
“Then I started going on fun runs like the City to Surf, Bridge Run, Mother's Day Classic, and I was doing pretty well.”
But age is just a number for Heather Lee who will celebrate her 96th birthday next week, telling The Daily Telegraph that her secret to success is maintaining an active lifestyle for as long as possible.
“I’ve always been a person that likes physical activity, I’m still doing it now,” she laughed.
“Things like moving the furniture around, changing the car tyre, moving the wheelbarrow with a load of soil, I love being outdoors and doing that.
“And I think that’s been the secret, you need to keep as active as you possibly can in your middle years and then follow that through to your later years.”
Despite her age and the naysayers, Heather continues to add world records to her collection and hopes to make it one more in her run for premature babies.
“I’ve got ten or eleven world records at the moment, but what I’ve been doing is breaking my own records,” she said.
“I’m going to be leaving this world soon and I want to do something for babies struggling to enter.”
The proud Sydneysider has already racewalked 50 of her 200 km in the ultra-marathon, which she hopes to complete before the month’s end.
Founder of Running for Premature Babies, Sophie Smith, highlighted the importance of fundraising for such a cause.
“Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUS) and Special Care Nurseries (SCNs) around our country rely on fundraising for up to 70% of their equipment,” she said.
Ms Smith had a pregnancy scare of her when she gave birth to her triplets.
“When I went into premature labour, I was shocked when I was told that my triplets might need to be airlifted interstate when my waters broke at 24 weeks because hospitals in Sydney initially didn’t have the equipment to support them,” she said.
“For women in regional and rural parts of the country, the situation can be even worse with families often separated for months on end.”
To help save the lives of premature babies you can join one of the events on the Running for Premature Babies website, distances range from 2km and beyond.
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