Meet four senior Long Islanders who keep up with demanding sports

Age is no obstacle for older Long Islanders pursuing physically demanding sports like surfing, running, mountain biking and even triathlons.

Regular exercise is just the starting line for these dedicated sportswomen and men, who work with coaches, spouses and longtime buddies to keep fit and ready for action.

They stay in the game by sweating, training and regularly testing their endurance while recognizing and respecting their limits in sports often dominated by younger athletes.

Want to learn more about how they do it?

Here are four Long Island super seniors who say that with the proper mindset and commitment, there’s no such thing as aging out of your favorite sport.

Jacqueline Lemon-Denton, 70

Freeport

Sport: Triathlon (swim/bike/run)

Years: 10

Career: A former executive assistant with Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (HIP), now part of Emblem Health. Since age 61, she has been a flight attendant for Endeavor Air, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.

How she got into it: Lemon-Denton said attending a workshop for women of color seeking to participate in triathlons “piqued my interest” in the sport. She joined Black Girls RUN!, a nationwide club that encourages Black women to lead a healthy lifestyle, and entered her first triathlon at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow. At that event, she said, “We swam inside the Nassau County Aquatic Center, and we biked and ran outside” on the park grounds. Lemon-Denton has continued as an active member of Long Island’s triathlon community. She’s planning to enter Ironman 70.3 events (a 1.2 mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run) at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh in September and in Wilmington, North Carolina, in October.

How competing in triathlons benefits her mind, body and soul: The demanding sport has made Lemon-Denton more conscious of her health. She said triathlons “help tremendously in maintaining a good level of health in regard to nutrition and strength.”

What’s the biggest challenge at her age?: Lemon-Denton said she’s “trying to incorporate an effective training schedule” while working a full-time job. She looks forward to retiring to devote more time to training and traveling for triathlons.

A word of advice: “Seek a triathlon team or group that welcomes and embraces seniors,” she said. Also helpful: a coach that “sees my capability and gives me a training schedule to be able to cross that finish line injury-free,” she said. To achieve their goals, she said senior triathletes should be mindful that they need “to put in the work” required to train and compete while recognizing their limitations.

Bert Jablon, 98

Syosset 

Sport: Running

Years: 48

Career: A retired hospital administrator at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow who also served as a consultant for the New York State Public Health Association in Albany.

How he got into it: Jablon was 50 when a bad case of tennis elbow convinced him it was time to put down his racket and lace up a pair of running shoes. While recuperating from the injury, he kept active by taking four-block jogs around his Syosset neighborhood. He eventually increased his mileage and commitment to the sport by joining the Eisenhower Park-based Long Island Road Runners Club (LIRRC). Jablon said that after 10 years with LIRRC, he was invited to join the Plainview-based Greater Long Island Running Club, which promotes the sport “among a diverse membership regardless of age, experience or running ability,” according to its website.

How running benefits his mind, body and soul: Jablon said a daily run or walk has long been a part of his afternoon fitness routine. “It keeps me fit while I’m retired and hopefully extends my life a little longer,” he said.

What’s the biggest challenge at his age?: Elevation changes and hot weather slow him down. Running uphill is challenging, but “it’s important because it builds up stamina,” Jablon said. Weather played a part in ending his running program when he fell during a 5-kilometer event on a hot and humid August day at Eisenhower Park. “I realized my body was not up to it,” Jablon said of running. Currently, he said, “I’m just doing a brief walk every day.”

A word of advice: “Eat healthy, avoid smoking and too much alcohol and get a decent night’s sleep before you go out and run,” he said.

Merci Wladyka, 73

Westbury

Sport: Mountain biking

Years: 18

Career: Wladyka was a part-time caregiver and companion.

How she got into it: Wladyka grew up in the Philippines, where she got around on an old-fashioned bike without brakes. “You pedaled backward to stop,” she explained. In the United States, she joined the Mineola Bicycle Club, where she met her husband, Mark. “We started dating and riding together,” and eventually bought mountain bikes from Mark’s brother’s bike shop (Rocky Point Cycle), she said. Now Wladyka has “lots of bikes,” including lightweight carbon road models and a pedal-assist e-bike. She rides fat-tire bicycles on sand and on snow. And she pedals the hilly mountain biking trails at Stillwell Woods Park in Woodbury and Cathedral Pines County Park in Middle Island. But, she observes, “On Long Island it’s called mountain biking, but there are no mountains here.” She said she and Mark will seek more challenging terrain on a January trip to the Philippines, where in the past they’ve biked the base of 8,081-foot Mount Mayon.

How biking benefits her mind, body and soul: Wladyka said the sport offers quality time with her husband. “I don’t need to spend a lot on other hobbies like shopping, I just go biking with my husband,” she said. Together they can enjoy outdoor recreation, even in winter. “When you are on the trail and it snows, you feel like you are in heaven, everything is pristine,” she said. Thanks to fresh air and exercise, she said, “At night I have peace of mind and don’t have problems sleeping.”

What’s the biggest challenge at her age?: “I’m starting to have arthritis,” Wladyka said. But because bicycling is a low-impact sport, she said it helps with joint pain. “It [arthritis] gets worse if I stop riding.”

A word of advice: Wladyka said seniors should wear safety gear including bicycle helmets, stay hydrated and “just continue riding. It doesn’t matter how old you are.” Don’t hesitate to ride with younger people, said Wladyka, who regularly joins a group of 20-somethings who affectionately call her Grandma. “I treat them like my children,” she said, cooking chicken lo mein noodle soup for their post-ride tailgate parties. But she doesn’t try to match their youthful stamina, saying, “If I can’t do it, I walk with my bike.”

Michael Vitti, 68

Glen Head

Sport: Surfing

Years: 50

Career: Vitti owned landscape construction and carpentry companies, and had a side gig as a vegan baker. He retired at 61.

How he got into it: Growing up in Plainview, Vitti swam with classmates in the pool at Plainview-Old Bethpage High School — now known as Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School. He also ran an auto repair shop in his family’s garage. When a high school friend asked to pay for a car repair with an old surfboard and surfing lessons, Vitti resisted. He said he hated the beach after nearly drowning while attempting to swim in Boy Scout camp. “But my friend was very persistent,” Vitti recalled, taking him and their boards for a lesson at Jones Beach West End 2. “After the first wave I caught, I was hooked,” Vitti said. He has since caught bigger waves at Ditch Plains in Montauk, Gilgo in Babylon and other Long Island beaches and traveled to surfing meccas in Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean and along both the East and West coasts of the United States. It’s a family watersport, with Vitti taking his five children on an annual summer surf outing to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

How surfing benefits his mind, body and soul: Vitti said surfing offers “a great workout” that maintains body mass index (BMI) “right where it should be” and has his doctor declaring him one of his healthiest patients. He said the wind and waves leave him with a positive attitude. “You just feel exhilarated after you finish surfing even if you didn’t catch that many waves,” he said.

What’s the biggest challenge at his age?: Educating less experienced surfers who “don’t know or don’t care” about the rules of surfing, Vitti said. He and other senior surfers “are super friendly to the beginners” while also informing them about “good etiquette.”

A word of advice: Vitti said beginners should dedicate a lot of time training for what he called “a difficult sport to learn.” He said that during Long Island’s “flat spells when there are no waves,” cross-training with pushups and pullups helps build the necessary musculature. His cross-training includes mountain biking, which he said strengthens leg muscles “so you can do more powerful turns when you are surfing.” He added, “If your legs are too weak, you wipe out.”