Crockery man named fitness ambassador for bridge run

Fri, Aug 21, 2009    to del.icio.us

Exercise means more than just an accelerated heart rate to Wally Harris.

Working out has become part of the 77-year-old Crockery Township man's lifestyle — combining a healthy social circle with a dose of longevity.

Harris now has another reward for his years of sweat and toil. He was recently named one of the 10 fitness ambassadors who will run across the Mackinac Bridge on Labor Day with Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

"I'm just hoping to make it," Harris said modestly of the five-mile trek across the third largest suspension bridge in the world.

He is one of the 400 runners chosen through a lottery system. They will be followed by a parade of as many as 50,000 walkers.

Harris works out nearly every day. He runs, lifts weights, takes a fitness class, bikes and regularly walks 18 holes of golf. He also competes in 5-kilometer road races, nearly always winning his age group.

But Harris says he couldn't do it alone. Around 25 years ago, he joined the Body Basics class at the Tri-Cities YMCA after some unexpected motivation from a co-worker at Fruitport Community Schools, where Harris was a guidance counselor.

"I was sitting in the teachers' lounge and a teacher said, 'My God, your belly is hanging over your belt,'" Harris said.

The Body Basics class helped Harris ditch his gut and gain a new set of friends.

The group keeps exercise interesting with activities like their costume-clad runs through the cemetery on Halloween. They also collect cans while running and walking outside, and use the money to both give to local charities and go out for breakfast as a group.

"It's really inspiring for me because everyone in the class is working toward being active for their entire life," said Barb Peacock, who has been instructing the class for 23 years.

The class isn't for the faint of heart, either, Peacock said. They exercise outdoors no matter the weather all through the winter.

"It doesn't matter if it's rain or snow or below zero — we bundle up and go out," she said. "You know they're sore, they hurt — but you never hear about it, they never complain."

The tough part about befriending your fitness class, perhaps, is everyone knows when someone is missing.

And if someone misses a couple classes in a row, they're likely to get a phone call from Harris or his wife, Phyllis.

"The secret to a long, on-going exercise regime is having other people to do it with," Wally Harris said.

The Harrises even exercise on vacations. They've take bicycle tours in New Zealand, Ireland, England and Canada, Harris said.

All this exercise made Harris a shoo-in for the fitness ambassadorship, according to Gretchen Mensing, spokeswoman for the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness.

"How could you not think it is inspiring?" she said. "What a great role model — he is the perfect example about how physical activity can keep you young and healthy."

The Harrises will head up north for a dinner the night before the run, and then Phyllis will try to pick out her husband among the hordes of bridge crossers.

"I think it's great," she said. "I'm going to be there looking for him with my camera amidst the masses."