On this THPL journey we have lots of time to think. Time to ponder big questions. And one question I have “pondered” is that of age. Are we really the age the calendar tells us or are we the age our mind tells us. My latest thinking is that after we reach “30” we are mostly the age that our mind tells us we are. We can keep improving, getting better, feeling better and living better. There are so many proof points of this, if not in our own lives, then in the lives of others who show us every day that indeed we can do more than we think we can, even at the ripe old age of 70.

And this past weekend at the oldest of the ultra-marathons, the Western States, Gunhild Swanson, 70 years old, became the oldest finisher in this iconic ultra. Her time of 29 hours 59 minutes, 54 seconds got her under the finish line with six seconds to spare. She gritted out the tough course and left enough “gas” in her system to get her sprinting to the finish line to make it in under the 30 hour cutoff time. She sets the bar for all of us to mimic. The “I will finish” drive got her to remarkable and I am sure that this event will not be the last time we hear about Gunhild,

Loving life, with no regard for age