Roy Sutton's final days say a lot about him.
He was getting ready to compete as a sprinter that week at a Senior Games event. He was scheduled to teach another course of his surveys on classic film during 's Spring semester. And he was training with SOU voice instructor Christine Williams to present his sixth concert.
Roy was a champion of the arts and delighted in bringing culture to his community at Mountain Meadows, but during this archive interview, he focused on the importance 鈥� and the joy 鈥� of lifelong fitness.
Roy, you participate in Masters sports events. What are those?
Well, they're competitive events where you participate in an age grouping that you fit in. And they tend to be every five years. So they may start, depending on the particular event, from age 30 to 34, and 35 to 39, on up to 90 to 94, which is the group I've been participating in, and 95 to 99 and 100 to 104 or beyond.
I understand the first time you tried masters sports yourself in 2022, you immediately had some big wins at the two main annual masters sports events in Oregon. You placed first in the 100-meter race at the Hayward Classic in Eugene. Then, at the Oregon Senior Games in Corvallis, you won both the 50-meter and 100-meter races. What led to you getting involved in those events?
Well, I've participated in physical activity, mainly recreational sports, virtually all my life. And I took up jogging when it became popular in the 1970s. I would jog on weekends, maybe during the week, and on the weekends, I would tend to participate in what are called 10k fun runs.
So it'd be in various parts of the Bay Area where I was living. And it was often hilly or out in parks and such. And I really was not a fast jogger. But where I'd really have fun would be at the very end, especially if it was downhill. I鈥檇 just go out into a full-out sprint. And that was a really fun part of it.
And also, through the years, I played recreational basketball. And when aerobics came along, I participated in what was called high-impact aerobics. And that tended to be every lunchtime of the week. My work was such that I could do that, and then have a sandwich or something on my desk afterwards. So then I found out that because of all the activity, by the time I was hitting the 90s, I still enjoyed sprinting at the end of doing some jogging. And I realized that, 鈥淥h, not only aren't people my age running or at least sprinting, if they are, they're not going nearly as fast as I like to go.鈥� So I investigated the opportunities for Masters events and entered and won those two that you mentioned without much competition. There was only one other person in my age bracket each time. And they were not a challenge.
"Healthiness is a wonderful benefit of being physically active all my life."
If I can get you to brag a little, what are some other medals that you've earned in the last couple of years? Just last weekend, you had a big win, right?
Well, I came in second place in Sacramento. It was a national event put on by USATF. And Sacramento was hot. The temperature at 11 in the morning was 90 degrees. I was concerned that I didn't know how my body would react in that heat in a full-out sprint, so I wasn't going full-out. But I went fast enough to come in second.
What kind of safeguards against the heat did you take, and did you feel okay and healthy after running in the heat?
I drank a lot of water starting from when I woke up in the morning and kept hydrating and added some electrolytes just to make sure. And the hydration need - I realized it the year before in Pittsburgh at the National Senior Games. I participated in that and came in third.
And there were a lot of people in my age bracket. I came in third in the 50-meter race, losing by seven-hundredths of a second to the second-place finisher. I didn't drink enough water, and I got dehydrated.
So you felt it. I've read that one of the biggest causes of daytime fatigue is being under-hydrated. So you don't just compete yourself, you think about how sports can benefit everybody. Tell me about your mission to promote active living.
Well, the one thing I鈥檝e realized since starting these competitions the last few years, which I enjoyed initially, is that it takes a bit of time and preparation and flying to different places and finding motels, and so on, in order to do something that was fun.
But I could just have fun sprinting at the end of jogging here at home. So I sort of gave it some thought and decided maybe by doing well nationally, even getting medals, I might get some publicity out of it. And if I got publicity, publicity might give me the opportunity to talk. And in talking, get the word out about the benefits of exercise and how it鈥檚 a form of physical activity that's essentially done on a regular basis, to achieve either healthiness or skill.
And healthiness is a wonderful benefit of being physically active all my life. I watch all the ads on TV about cures for various ailments, and then I read about how if one is physically active and does enough of that activity on a regular basis, one can avoid so many of the negative aspects of growing older. So, you know, I'm slower than I used to be. But I'm as healthy as I've been.
And that gets into the concept of healthspan. We know the word lifespan, that's the number of literal years that we have in our lives. How would you describe healthspan?
Well, I'll quote something that I found that says, 鈥渉ealthspan is the number of years one maintains a relatively full functionality of life.鈥� And by full functionality, it means complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
"Seventy-five percent of doctors鈥� visits are for preventable diseases, and most of these diseases can be prevented by physical activity. I don鈥檛 have any of these diseases myself, I think because I鈥檓 so active."
In recent years, there are a number of tools being talked about as a way to achieve that. Tell us what the 150 Plus Club is.
Ok! Let me tell you about Daniel Lieberman, who鈥檚 a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University. He wrote a very interesting and informative book entitled, 鈥淓xercise: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding.鈥�
He writes, 鈥淥ur bodies developed to work best with lifelong physical activity, but our minds never evolved to get us moving unless it is necessary, pleasurable, or otherwise rewarding.鈥� So he includes the fact that the World Health Organization recommends a minimum of 150 of physical activity a week.
Right, and I鈥檝e read that can be cumulative, so that can translate as 30 minutes of brisk or moderate exercise five days a week - so just midweek. And you can even break that up, right? You can do three bouts of ten minutes.
Yes. As long as it鈥檚 reasonable activity. And he also says the fact that there鈥檚 this absence of physical activity comes with huge costs. Seventy-five percent of doctors鈥� visits are for preventable diseases, and most of these diseases can be prevented by physical activity. I don鈥檛 have any of these diseases myself, I think because I鈥檓 so active.
There are many people aware of the benefits of doing 150 minutes a week, and you may see some of them jogging, brisk walking, or in exercise classes, so I鈥檓 not alone. I鈥檓 part of a like-minded community of athletes. And these people, humans in general just like to join clubs, either formally or informally.
So I checked with a friend who鈥檚 a nationally active artist, and she said that she would design a logo with my suggested words 鈥�150+ Club鈥� that can be put on caps, t-shirts, etc., to designate members of this informal club. So if we have these words on our caps or shirts, and we encounter someone with similar attire, we can smile at each other and sort of nod because we realize we鈥檙e part of this informal club that鈥檚 doing our best to stay healthy.
Nice. Kind of a fellowship.
Yes, and I鈥檓 going to push ahead with this if I get enough positive responses from your audience for 鈥淢y Better Half.鈥�
"I hope the word gets out, so we get more coverage of the benefits of exercise."
Now you mentioned like-minded people. And I've heard you quote another local fitness person, a local chiropractor and author, John Kalb, who wrote a book. Can you tell us about what you gleaned from that?
Well, he's written a number of books, and one in particular is the title, 鈥淲inning at Aging.鈥� The winning doesn't mean winning races as you get older, but winning with respect to your health, your other activities as you get older, to maintain that. And in one particular part of that book, he talks about the magic pill, and the magic pill is physical activity, in particular, exercise.
So on that note, what does a typical day of exercise or training look like for you?
Well, the days vary somewhat. When I started competing, I really didn't know how to run in an efficient manner. I ran as I always had, and sought out the advice of what one would call a sprint coach.
I found one who was recommended to me. His name is Charlie LePeri. He's in Medford. He had been the sprint coach at St. Mary's High School in Medford for about 20 years, and his students there won a lot of state titles. And he had been a sprinter himself. Realizing that I was in a different age group than he had been coaching before, he just used the principles of racing for me.
He owns and operates a sports and fitness complex in Medford, so I go there three mornings a week for a workout. The workout doesn't involve sprinting, but it's various other things that help me have a strong body and a capable body to avoid injuries and such. The only sprint activity is at the end of each workout. He says, 鈥淥n your mark, get set, go!鈥� and I practice my start and run about maybe 20 yards or so, which is fun.
And on the in-between days, I tend to go to Lithia Park and walk for somewhere around two miles at a brisk pace. So that's great exercise for me. And being in nature is very beneficial; scientific studies show that.
Absolutely. And what you're describing, you can encourage other people to do so also, here in our listening region. In northern California and Oregon, there鈥檚 a lot of really accessible nature where you can just park your car and walk inside and get that 10, 20, or 30 minutes in.
Yes, we're fortunate in southern Oregon to have so much of nature closely available.
Truly, Roy, you have another competition coming up? Tell us what's next for you.
It's the Oregon Senior Games in Corvallis Saturday, August 10. So, as of now, it looks like I'll be running against those in the 80 to 84 age bracket and 85 to 89 age bracket. So I'll have competition, and that'll push me to really try to do my best.
Absolutely. And we can use this as an opportunity to issue a challenge. For anyone who hears this age 80 and up, try the Oregon Senior Games in Corvallis coming up in August.
Yeah, the deadline - for track and field, anyway - hasn't expired yet. And it also has all these other, you know, like 20 different activities.
Well, Roy Sutton of Ashland, thanks for talking with us about your fitness lifestyle and your accomplishments. It was really inspiring.
Well, thank you so much for inviting me. And I hope the word gets out so that we get more coverage of the benefits of physical activity and exercise.
This interview originally aired Aug. 2, 2024.
Roy Sutton's memorial will be held April 26 at 2:30 p.m. at Mountain Meadows and can be .
