Bevan Cook is no runner, but he definitely gets his steps in.
The 80-year-old has recently knocked off his 80th competitive walking event, literally walking away with his 50th medal at the New Zealand Master’s Games, held in Wanganui.
The last haul included three golds, in the 10km and 5km road races, as well as the 5km cross-country walking race.
All of these medals have been won in the last 15 years – the Motueka local only picked up competitive walking as a sport when he was 65, with no special skills and just an ordinary pair of tennis shoes on his feet.
Bevan is a strong advocate of the “use it or lose it” school of thought. “There’s no point in… sitting in a chair and waiting to die,” he says.
The events are hard work, and sometimes he reaches a point of exhaustion, but he laughs that it helps to have a short memory. After all, he says, you never know what your limit is until you’ve gone past it.
He reckons he doesn’t have great speed, but he does have the stamina to surge ahead when others begin to flag.
“Half of it is physical and half psychological,” he explains.
Walking isn’t the only sport that Bevan has in his fitness repertoire. He plays pickleball at the recreation centre, as well as attending their Better Breathers class.
He also does Tai Chi and pilates, on top of a daily aim to walk 5km. Individual events are a better fit than team sports – “I prefer to match my skills against someone else,” he says.
His results may be impressive, but his goals are simple – he hopes to get back to the Masters next year, as always with his wife Anne by his side.
“You take it day by day when you get up to this age,” he says.
He firmly believes that life does not end at 80, and while he is fit, healthy and enjoying the challenges, he intends to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
