94 and still running
By St. Clair Murraine
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Rosalie Myers occasionally has to search her memory to recall some of her accomplishments. It's not that she forgets, there's just so much that she's done - or is doing.
"I don't keep a diary of my life," said Myers, who took up running as her latest passion. "I'm having too much fun."
If she kept a diary, what a page turner it would be about a fascinating woman with nearly a century of stories.
There would be chapters on:
• Her 29 years teaching nuclear physics at Florida A&M University and nine years teaching entomology at Florida State University.
• Her service in World War II. Myers is a decorated veteran who was the first woman licensed to drive a military tank.
• Her athletic pursuits, which include a stint on the roller-derby circuit and helping her daughter, who used to race Hobie Cat boats.
• Her love of luxury motorcycles.
Myers, who still holds down a full-time job with the U.S. Postal Service, isn't letting up. And she even finds time to tend to her animals, which include horses, peacocks, turkeys, geese and a pig, that she keeps as pets on a 6-acre farm.
Running has become her latest pastime. She doesn't act like the casual runner that she is, though. Just a few weeks before last week's final run of the Thursday night races at Maclay School, Myers ran two 5K races in one day.
"I'm not showing off to anybody," she said. "I'm so thrilled that I can do it and my next day is going to be a good one."
Those who have watched her run have a hard time not cheering her on.
"I'm amazed," said Dave Rogers, one of the organizers for Gulf Winds Track Club, which stages the races in conjunction with the Tallahassee Parks and Recreation Department. Myers, who runs in the 90 to95 age group, is the oldest participant that he's seen in 30 years of working with the event, Rogers said.
"She's just a true inspiration for everyone out here," he said. "It's a pleasure to watch her run. I think above all, this woman is an individual who writes her own rules. She sees no reason why she shouldn't be out here. By her presence, she is not just providing inspiration for others, but an expectation (for what) others (can do)."
Myers didn't have one of her better evenings at the track on the final night of the eight weeks of track meets. She had a scoop of ice cream during a two-hour wait for her event - a bad choice, she said, after completing two laps of her four-lap race.
But she gave it a good shot. Myers jogged and ran, smiling all the way in her red tights and gray T-shirt. Around the track, she got plenty of encouragement from some younger participants who held up small signs that read, "Go Rosalie."
A woman on the infield of the track begged for one more lap.
"Come on. Come on," she pleaded. "Don't slow down. Run all the way."
But as she got closer to the lap marker, Myers began to shake her head as if to say she'd had enough. The clock showed she'd taken more than 7 minutes to complete a half mile.
"That's it," she said, holding her stomach. "It's only a half mile, but I'm glad I did it. At least I'm getting the exercise."
Myers began running at the urging of her daughter, Jacque. Rosalie Myers usually is the only runner in her age group, most times running simultaneously with runners in younger age groups.
A few weeks ago, Myers ran the Watermelon Run 5K. A few hours later, she suited up for the Summer Sizzler 5K race on St. George Island.
She was the last to complete the course at St. George Island, but even when organizers expressed concern about her making it in the summer heat, her daughter wasn't worried. A truck driver even suggested that he'd give Myers a ride off the course.
"I said, 'You obviously don't know my mom,"' Jacque said. "'She'll be crawling on her hands and knees to finish this race.' She will never quit. She was chugging right along."
Myers has been able to stay injury-free most of her life. She had surgery on her right shoulder after suffering an injury working a mail-delivery route.
She stays active without a special diet or supplements. Sandwiches and salads are her favorite meals.
But there are times when she'd cook - a rare occurrence, said Jacque, who lives with her mother.
"If it doesn't come in a box, bag or can with instructions, we'll starve," Jacque said. Too little time to do all the things they're involved in, she said.
Myers has always been busy with extracurricular activities, even when she had to raise Jacque and her older brother. She also was married twice. Both of her husbands died of war wounds, she said.
Before joining the military, she traveled around the country as a player on a German roller-derby team that was based on the East Coast. That lasted until promoters couldn't pay the athletes, she said.
Myers served in World War II with the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps from 1942-46. She can't disclose details of her responsibilities during the war because she's sworn to military secrecy, she said.
Myers, a New Jersey native of German and Ukraine parents, settled in Tallahassee 42 years ago. She earned a master's degree from FAMU and began teaching at FAMU and later at FSU.
She rode a motorcycle to work, and she had the same bike until it burned in 2000 in her driveway. She recently bought a silver BMW 1200 LTE equipped with an air-conditioned side car and a trailer. She travels with two stuffed animals she calls "Rosie" and "Ronnie." A GPS also is part of the added features, with a computerized female voice that lets her know when she's going off course.
"I wanted a male sexy voice," she said with a girlish giggle, "but you have to take what comes."
She's just glad to have a motorcycle. It's her passion despite the high price. She wouldn't say exactly how much it cost, but more than her old motorcycle that cost $38,000.
She bought the first motorcycle by saving up her spare change for four years (1999-2003) in a drawer under her bed. When it was time to buy, she was just $500 short of the purchase price.
"I don't smoke. I don't drink or go to the movies," she said, explaining how she managed to save for the bike. "No vacation, either."
But now she has time for trips and more. Much more - running, biking, sailing, traveling - and anything else she finds time to do.
"I just feel that my time has to be used," she said. "I'm not going to wear out. By darn, I'm going to live to be 100."
Topic: Interesting reading....94 year old lady rider... (Read 2453 times)