This Friday (May 18) is the deadline to sign up for this year’s Iowa Senior Olympics. Organizer and president Dan Lake says more events have been added, and many are both easy and fun to take part in.
He says the objection he hears most often is that people don’t think they’re athletic enough to take part in the games, but he says, "Neither are the rest of us, so join the club."
The trick is planning enough events that he calls "Safe things to start with," that provide not only a physical challenge but a mental challenge as well. Anybody fifty or older can take part in the Senior Olympics, and many will find familiar ground in some of the new challenges — like Scrabble.
David Hurd, who retired as head of Principal Financial, is a nationally-rated Scrabble player and came to the organizers to suggest the game be added. Lake says it’s grown in number of participants every year. For the second year, Senior Olympics will team with the Animal Rescue League to invite participants and drop-ins alike to a "dog jog."
It’s a three and-a-half mile "Lap Around the Lake," and Senior Olympics participants can walk their dog for free. Anybody else who wants can join in for a ten-dollar fee, and that also gets them a bandanna for their dog. The 20th Annual Iowa Senior Olympics take place June 7 through the 10th in West Des Moines. More news and registration info are online at " IowaSeniorOlympics.com " and the deadline to sign up is May 18.