SUQUAMISH — Others younger than her had dropped out, but Betty Peck approached the 16th lap mark and was just starting to break a sweat.
Years ago, she might have tackled the Chief Seattle Days 5K. Judging by her performance here, she would have left other runners in the dust. But when you’re a month from you’re 90th birthday, the Elders Dash is as good a place as any to show off the benefits of regular exercise.
Plus, the applause was louder and the prizes better. The 5K runners got ribbons. Peck got the Top Banana Award — a certificate and a stuffed toy banana — for her 17 laps.
The Elders Dash was an event of Chief Seattle Days, the annual celebration of Suquamish culture. The 101st celebration took place Aug. 18-21. The Chief Seattle Days crowds were lighter than in previous years; the same weekend, Tulalip hosted the Battle of Nations Stick Game Tournament, with slahal competition for a $30,000 payout, and Muckleshoot hosted its Skopabsh Powwow.
But from beginning to end, Chief Seattle Days was what it has always been: Honor-ing the famous 19th century leader of the Suquamish people. Traditional dances and songs. Honoring others.
But the weekend’s activities — baseball, canoe races, golf, and running races — also reinforced teachings about the importance of having fun, doing your best, and being healthy in body, mind and spirit.
The Elders Dash was an example of that. Humor abounded. As the runners queued up outside for the 5K, elders — those 55 and older — queued up inside the House of Awakened Culture to see how many laps they could do in 20 minutes. “This is where the action is,” Richard Luedtke quipped.
Community Health Nurse Barbara Hoffman cheered participants as they made each lap. “If you go once or twice, that’s OK. If you go 50, we’ll applaud you,” she said. (She estimated 22 laps equaled a mile.)
Luedtke, a floor supervisor at Clearwater Casino, participated in the 55-65 age group. His fitness regimen includes golf twice a week at White Horse. But he came extra prepared for the dash; he wore a medicine bag with Tylenol in it. He did 17 laps, one of the top in his age group.
Luedtke’s wife, Lillian, managed five laps but was pleased. She has emphysema, but she said her participation in an exercise program — she uses an exercise bike and a treadmill — is helping to keep her emphysema at bay. “It’s never too late to exercise,” she said. “It’s never too late, and I’m going to be 70.”
Peck used to walk two miles a day, which she credits to her current level of fitness. She has to use a walker now — a sporty, black and red, three-wheeled model called a “traveler” — but that hasn’t slowed her down. She still exercises regularly, walks on a treadmill, and rides a stationary bike.
She obviously was having fun at the dash, but she seemed to have a competitive streak, as if she had her eye on being the event’s top banana from the start. “Competitive? Oh, yeah,” she said.
Peck walked with Marilyn Wandrey, of the 71-is-the-new-51 crowd. Wandrey stays in shape by exercising three times per week. “When you exercise, you burn off calories and get those endorphins going and you feel real good,” she said.
Outside, Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman outlined the 5K course. A woman said, “If we get lost, we’ll just follow you,” to which Forsman responded, “If you want to finish in 30 minutes, then follow me.”
Forsman did better than he predicted, finishing in 28 minutes 48 seconds, good enough for eighth place. (Roy Osterhaus of Bremerton was the top finisher in 24:47.)
If humor was evident in the baseball tournament, it was tempered by competition Saturday night as midnight neared. The team First Haida emerged from the loser’s bracket to make it to the championship game vs. Rez Riders of Suquamish. First Haida was leading 11-0 until the fifth inning, when the bats started singing. Rez Riders tied the game and the score seesawed over the next four innings. Rez Riders pulled off a 24-21 win to take the championship.
Speaking of having fun, doing your best and being healthy: one athlete played baseball Friday and Saturday, then met this correspondent on Sunday to relay the results. Then he was off, heading up the street.
There was a horseshoe tournament starting.
