60-Something Sprint Star Geoff Walcott - Mastering Youth Ep 5

If you enjoyed this video please like, share and or comment to help it spread.

60-something year young Geoff Walcott found his home on the track at age 43, and turned his love for sport and fitness into a successful career. For this episode in our Mastering Youth series we caught up with him at Bounce Gym (thanks guys) where he PTs, and Wimbledon Athletics Track where he left us for dust!

This is the fifth in our 'Mastering Youth' series which celebrates athletes, movers and fitness heroes who are over 60 years young.

For more info on Geoff please follow his link instagram -   / geoffwalcott  

fizzYcaL is an independent, self-funded labour of love, but if you'd like to help maintain the quality of our work please visit our store - https://www.fizzycal.com/store​
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transcript from the video:

My name is Geoff Wolcott. I am 66 years old. I was born in 1952. I was born in Barbados, so I am part of the Windrush generation. I came over here in 1957.

When I retired, from what I call my "real job" which I spent 39 years doing, I was just a little bit bored at home. I was doing gym stuff and training people anyway. I just thought it was a good thing to get into just for myself.

I started competing when I was, I think I was, 43 and that's only because I took my children to the track. And I used to see these, what I considered these, old guys running around. So I thought, well if they can do it I'll give it a go.

My first international competition was in 2005. It was a world championships in Spain. I entered the 100m, 200m and 400m. And I made the final of all of them and I came 4th in the 400 in my first major competition. Everybody kept coming up to me saying, "that's really disappointing. Coming 4th that's the worst place to finish." And I tell you it's not. It is not and I nearly got onto the podium in my first competition. So that for me was the starting point.

Oh and incidentally going back to achievements, my four by 100m team still hold the world record for the four by 100 relay in the M55 age group. That was in 2008. Yeah, we set that in 2008. It hasn't been broken yet. Look that one up.

You're never too old, but it has to be tempered with this realisation that the body does slow down but it doesn't, it doesn't stop.

I've reached a stage where I can actually train and maintain, but it's not only training it's about: eating well and living well. Your lifestyle has to complement what you're trying to achieve. Because people try and achieve these goals they set for themselves, but yet they don't address the lifestyle. Some people's lifestyle are not conducive to training. You can get away with it when you're young, you can't when you're older.