You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but an old dog could still walk, play, prance and live each day to the fullest.
This is a sentiment carried by 74-year-old athlete Patrick Dreyer, a member of the Spartan Harriers Running Club based in Meadowridge, who wishes to encourage seniors to maintain an active, outgoing thirst for life.
“I just want to motivate and serve as inspiration for people in my age group and retirees in that: ‘There is life after retirement’,” he shared with People’s Post from his living room in Retreat.
Dreyer is set to compete in the African Masters Athletics (Afma) Regional Championships to be held in Pretoria between Wednesday 15 and Saturday 18 November.
Although small in stature reaching a height of 1,5 m, he will be participating in his relevant senior category for long jumping as well as 100 m sprint. “They always like to joke that I’m the kortste (shortest) long jumper . . .,” he joked.
“My specialty is actually race walking for community park runs in which I had to maintain a distance of 5 km under 38 minutes. But then I saw long-jumping which reignited a passion in me.
“Normally, people in my age division are able to leap distances of 4 metres, but I have been able to maintain 3,7 metres which, for me, is like accomplishing the English Channel.”
At his ripe age, he has achieved numerous Western Province Masters colours for Track & Field Championships winning gold and silver medals this year as well as last year.
“I cannot sit still for very long. Being active helps me keep my mind and heart open to all the possibilities out there, to be grasped and taking up any challenge my body could handle.”
He shared that he maintained an athletic lifestyle from the tender age of nine when he played soccer in primary school. When he was in Grade 11, Dreyer was selected as a reserve player for the Western Province rugby team.
He also spends time driving those tough black bullet-balls on the squash court.
“The only time when I was not so active was when I was raising my family with my two children alongside my wife, Sheila, who passed away back in 2015. During that break from sports, I was teaching civil construction at False Bay College at their Westlake Campus. I retired in 2014 after 15 years of teaching.”
Whenever Dreyer is not out and about socialising, keeping fit and active, he is a model for agent Stacey Sands and gets contracted to pose for stock photos purposed for random ad campaigns.
“My friends would call me up and say: ‘I saw your face on a big billboard for this and that product or service’. I’m such a social butterfly, you know. I enjoy being cheerful on these ‘senior family shoots’ and the people I work with have grown fond of me on set, so I get invited for photoshoots quite often.
“I never say ‘no’ to a modelling gig, since the income helps a lot to fund my trip to Pretoria to compete at the Afma Champs.”
He believes that people approaching retirement tend to be “swayed by their retirement packages to go on grand holidays, spending money and have a good time. As much fun and life experience that brings, people sometimes forget that life continues on in good health.”
Bad health, on the other hand, cause retirees to stare themselves blind to their physical weak spots, like a bad knee or trick hip.
“I, myself, have a bag full of comorbidities like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, yet I am still able to achieve physical goals.
“Whatever activity one chooses to do, as long as it is practised consistently, you’ll get the hang of it and increasingly enjoy doing it as your skills do develop – all in good time.”
People ought to practise patience in acquiring new heights of physicality, Dreyer concluded: “Whatever you do manage to achieve, to God be all the glory as He protects us. He is the source of our strength and abilities.”
