In the realm of inspirational athletes, there are two realms that come into play: the achievements and the motivation.

Consider Rita Hanscom, 70, who won the gold medal and set an American record in the pentathlon last month for women in her age group at the USA Track & Field Masters Indoor Championships in Florida. 

That’s the achievement.

Here’s the motivation:

“One of my main goals for all of this is to live a healthy life, and one of the greatest gifts you can give your children is to remain healthy and independent,” says Rita. “I have two grown children, and they’ve got families, and I don’t ever want to be a burden. I don’t want to be dependent on them. 

“So, I think if I have something like sports to keep me active, that’s really what I’m striving for.”

Now, that’s universal motivation, isn’t it? Not everyone wants to enter track and field competitions, after all. But we can all relate to remaining independent, strong, and active. That sort of motivation is what drives people to workout with us here, as well.

We all need regular exercise to maintain strength, agility and endurance, even if we’re not quite sure what a pentathlon is, anyway.

Not slowing down

Rita is still working part-time for the state attorney general, investigating fraud in health care.

She has been competing in Masters events for 15 years and set a world record in the heptathlon in Finland in 2009.

She won five gold medals that year and was selected the Best Masters Female Athlete in the World.

She could probably tell you how many fraudsters she has helped put away, but she has no idea how many national or world championships she has won.

Her track events require speed, agility, strength, balance, and the endurance to do it all in one day.

“It’s not linear, it is a wide assortment of skills, and I’ve just really enjoyed the physical challenge,” Rita said.

Stay active

She’s had two Achilles injuries in recent years and says she’s regained her explosiveness, for the most part.

“I’m probably about 95% now,” she says. “So, in spite of what people say, ‘Oh, you’ll never be back to normal,’ I disagree. I think you can heal yourself. Just kind of give it time.”

Rita says there’s simply no benefit to her being inactive.

“People will take a month off to deal with aches and pains,” she says. “After a big meet once, I decided to take a month off and things still got sore. You know, you still get aches and pains when you’re not doing anything.”

Rita will probably be ranked No. 1 in the pentathlon when the World Masters Athletes meet this month again in Florida.

As impressive as that is, remember her main goals and think about how physical fitness can help you reach them: health and independence.

Cal me today and we’ll help you get there.