By the time you wake up this morning to your first cup
of coffee, odds are Richard and Louise Guy will already have climbed the 802 stairs to
the top of the Calgary Tower.
And, if they feel like it, they just might do it one or two more times.
But don't expect any repeat of 2001, the first year they jolined fellow athletic
Calgarians in the Climb and Run for Wilderness, an annual fundraiser for the
Alberta Wilderness Association.
That year, the couple made the climb seven times.
"It's not like we're still in our 80s," says Louise, who'll turn 91 next month.
"Back then, we could still get to the top of a few mountain peaks."
Still, it's pretty incredible to imagine the tip-top shape this pair, married
69 years, must be in to accomplish such a feat, in what is commonly referred to as
one's twilight years.
But if you want some magic bullet to the fountain of youth, you're not going to
get it from Louise or Richard, who at 92 will be the oldest participant at this event,
held in conjunction with Earth Day celebrations throughout the city. Richard will be
honoured this year as the AWA introduces the Richard Guy Award, for Most Climbs by a
Senior Male.
"You just keep moving, keep your mind and your body working all the time," says
Richard, who as a professor of mathematics at the University of Calgary for more
than four decades still goes into his office every day, walking from the bus stop
to the university and making sure to walk up the four flights of stairs rather
than take the elevator. "I don't trust elevators," he says with a laugh. "They could
break down and then you'd be stuck in there all day."
Then there's Louise, who by the time we meet Friday afternoon has already taken in a
yoga class, part of her regular weekly regimen of exercise that also includes
walking everywhere she can—"it's better for the environment"—and taking
aquasize classes at her local pool. "And I do my own housework," she says proudly,
"because it's such good exercise. My biggest vice is the occasional indulgence of
chocolate."
Another thing they both say keeps them vital in old age is community involvement.
That's what spurred Louise to sign up to climb the tower eight years ago. A wife of
one of Richard's colleagues asked Louise to sponser her in her climb. Her
curiosity piqued, Louise showed up on the day of the climb, her husband in tow, and
decided to try it for herself.
"I'd gotten a new heart valve two years earlier, and I wanted to try it out," says
Louise, who also survived breast cancer a few years ago. "I convinced Richard to
try it with me, I convinced him it would be fun."
Taking on new athletic challenges as a team has been a mainstay of their relationship
ever since they met in England in the late 1930s. "Richard took me on a walking
holiday to the Lake District," says Louise, who says she and her husband also share
a love of dancing. "After that, I knew I wanted to marry him."
They moved to Calgary in 1965 after Richard was offered a job in the university's
mathematics department. What really brought him here, though, were the Rockies.
Honourary members of the Alpine Club, the pair have scaled numerous peaks in the
nearby mountain ranges; today, they still cross-country ski and hike, albeit, says
Richard, who eight years ago had a pacemaker installed in his chest, "a lot slower
than we used to."
When I ask them if they have any more secrets to vitality they can share with Herald
readers, the math whiz, who's written numerous books and lectured on such topics
as "Fun from Mathematics and Mathematics from Fun," quips: "Always put your socks
on standing;" and, "never retire – working around young people every day keeps
me feeling young, even if they stopped paying me years ago."
And what about that other mystery of life, staying happily married for decades? "Oh,
that's because we don't have any imagination," Louise, a grandmother of five and
great-grandmother of two, says with a dismissive wave of her hand. To which her
husband matches her in wit: "For the first twenty years of our marriage, people just
didn't get divorced. Then, we just got used to each other."
As they laugh together, it's clear that another key secret to their success, both
in longevity of life and love, can be found in a shared mischievous sense of
humour.
"I've always held that life should be fun," says Louise, summing up their shared
philosophy.
"You can't stop growing old, but you can choose to be young inside."
It gets easier for the kids every year. Sam and Alex,
accompanied by our neighbour Kyra McRitchie, scampered up the 802 steps of the
Calgary Tower with abundant ease on Saturday. Kyra, 10, light as a bird, fairly flew
up the concrete stairwell – it took her no more than 10 minutes. Sam overcame
his penchant of vividly imagining his entire eight-year-old body somehow slipping
between the metal steps and careening to earth; he came on strong in the final 30
flights to finish right behind Kyra. Six-year-old Alex, who only two years ago
required liberal helpings of cajoling and persuasion on a 15-step repeating
frequency—not to mention that same year being the little fella who emptied
his bladder into a water bottle on a landing halfway up the crowded
tower—showed great determination and arrived only seconds later (I should add
that he didn't even need to use the washroom at the top).
My wife Patti, whose physical readiness for the climb had been the subject of some
speculation, vanquished her doubters by logging a very solid ascent (and filing not
a single complaint of sore muscles the following day). Her attention now turns to
preparing for the Mother's Day Road Race, where she intends to enter the 10 km. As
I have learned (and forgotten) many times over, she is not one you want to
underestimate!
My own ascent was uneventful – I "pulled up the rear," as it were, leaving a
trail of sweat in the process. So the trend is set: the boys, whom I carried up the
tower by chestpack only a few short years ago, will continue to get faster, and I,
well I will continue to get "steadier."
Notable mention goes to my nephew Andrew Overend, who as a strapping 20-year-old
late entry, completed 18 ascents in a row (well, I know he stopped briefly at the
face painter for addition of cat whiskers).
A huge THANK-YOU goes out to all of you, our sponsors. Between Alex, Sam, Patti and
myself we managed to attract $4,000-plus in pledges for Alberta wilderness on
Saturday -- apparently topping the charts in that regard! Patti put on a late
surge in pledges, and that got us over the $4k mark.
I have attached a sampling of the visual highlights of our day.
Your faithful reporter,
Bill
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