Stay Happy, Stay Active: It’s the Only Way to Stay Young

By Bill Wisneski

At 71, I’m proud of my race time. In fact, I have been the first-place finisher in my age group for the last two years for running the Ascension 5K Run/Walk with the Community First Fox Cities Marathon Presented by Miron Construction. And up until a few years ago, I was on track to qualify for the Boston Marathon. But sometimes life has a funny way of slowing you down to remind you of what’s really important and that is staying active and staying happy.

I firmly believe that if you don’t use it, you will lose it. Between running and watching my young great-grandchildren three days a week, full of dodgeball, tag and bike rides, I enjoy being active as part of my daily life. It’s so easy to sit around, especially after retirement, but I didn’t want to do that.

Throughout my life, I’ve been fairly active, but it’s only in the last 20 years that I’ve been a runner. I had a coworker who kept trying to get me to run a well-known race in Green Bay. I kept telling him I wasn’t a runner, that I couldn’t do it. I had every excuse in the book. But eventually, he wore me down and I agreed to run the 10K with him. He passed away two months before the race, but I ran the 10K for him, in his honor, and from that moment on, I was a runner.

I’ve kept running and went from doing 5Ks and 10Ks to half and full marathons. I was working my way up to a Boston Marathon qualifying time. That was my goal, and I was very close. I probably would have made that time in the next year, but unfortunately, that dream would never come to pass.

I was visiting my brother-in-law in Arizona, helping him paint houses ahead of his retirement. I spent 10 weeks there and came home almost 15 pounds lighter. I just assumed it was the heat that made me lose so much weight so quickly.

But, while I was driving back to Wisconsin, I stopped at a gas station to use the restroom and I noticed some blood afterward. That didn’t seem right, so I went to a nearby hospital to see what was going on. They ran some tests and I was told I had a cancerous tumor in my kidney that was close to rupturing. They were putting me into emergency surgery to remove it. They said there was a chance I might not wake up, so I called my daughter and with tears in my eyes, gave her the news and tried to muster up the courage to go into surgery. Luckily, the surgeons were able to remove the tumor, and I had a complete recovery.

I am cancer-free today, but I will never be able to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I cannot run more than the distance of a half marathon with my kidneys now; I get dehydrated too quickly.

Despite this setback, I got back out there and started running again, even before I got the all-clear from my doctor. I try to do about seven races a year, but this year, while playing with my grandchildren, I dove to prevent the 3-year-old from falling and managed to dislocate my shoulder, partially tore my rotator cuff, broke two ribs and suffered a hairline fracture in my clavicle, but my grandbaby was okay. I’ve spent the last six weeks recovering, but my recovery has been faster than my doctor or therapist could have predicted, so I keep active and keep moving.

I am excited to get back out on a course, and I plan to do my first 5K this year in July. I live in Ashwaubenon, so I typically just do local races in and around Green Bay, but I keep coming back to the Fox Cities Marathon’s event. Honestly, it is my favorite race, and I think some of the other events could learn a thing or two about how this weekend is put together. It is such a great course that includes events for all skill levels. The water station placements and the community support and encouragement along the course are unlike anything I’ve seen at any other racing event.

I am excited to defend my title once again in my age group this year in the 5K. I’ll be the 71-year-old turning heads and proving age is just a number because I’ll be out there enjoying myself and staying active; it is the only way to stay young!