The Runner With A Grateful Heart We Geezer Jocks Need To Hear From

By Ray Glier

The story I am telling here is not rich in drama or personal trauma, but it is so valuable to our time because the environment around us will grow more toxic any day now, on both sides of the street.

Maybe this glance at Juaquita Gray's story will sink in to Geezer Jocks and make us feel warmer to one another.

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A defense contractor made an announcement on a Friday in October it was going to cut thousands of jobs. It was another “you are disposal” memo from a corporation.

Juaquita is a manager for that contractor. She saw the news about the job cuts the day after the announcement and reacted with her typical aplomb.

“Things will work out,” she said.

This is how Gray does her Geezer Jock thing. She trains, she runs, she wins, and she loses. And then she moves on and centers herself.

We all need a Juaquita Gray, 59, in our lives, especially next week with the looming coast-to-coast dread over the election. Gray is perpetually sunny and she is not much into worry and post-mortems. Not surprisingly, when she runs the sprints and has a finishing kick on the track, there is no kick of herself afterwards if she does not win.

Some of this is reflexive and comes from an inwoven culture she was blessed with at an early age. And some comes from a fitness routine Geezer Jock has never considered as translating into a 24/7 state of mind.

“Dynamic Mobility Exercises.”

We all know these exercises are designed to increase the range of motion of a joint, but Juaquita seems to put DME to work mentally, too.

“It conditions the body and the mind,” she said.

Geezer Jock is not trying to contrive sayings for refrigerator magnets, or make up meta-physical rigamarole. And I understand exercise can make you feel good.

But Juaquita has this extra dose of some thing.

She has a gentle handling of challenges, which may be why she was a fit for the United States Air Force, the U.S. Department of Defense, and is a fit as a manager for that defense contractor who can grind on employees. I only hear about her poise on the track, but I have to believe it is present in work, too.

First, the dynamic mobility exercises give her the flexibility in joints and muscles to run the 50, 100, 200 and do the long jump and triple jump. The events, in turn, give her unbridled joy because she does them well.

And then you can do the math: exercise+good health=joy.

Gray, who lives in Huntington Beach, Calif., is No. 2 in the U.S. in the triple jump, according to mastersrankings.com (Women 55-59). She is fourth in the U.S. in the 50 (7.76 seconds) and sixth in the 100 (14.62)

That Juaquita is 59 and at the “older” end of the 55-59 cohort and still ranks high nationally is impressive enough. Then there is this. She first learned the technical aspects of the jumps just in 2021 watching You Tube videos.

The Dynamic Mobility Exercises Gray does three days a week that help her be competitive on the track can include walking lunges, jumping jacks, squats, leg swings, arm swings, side lunges, inchworms, dynamic hamstring stretch, and many others.

She lives on the third floor of her building and avoids the elevator. She works on the eighth floor of another building and chooses stairs.

"These dynamic moves also enhance the connection between the brain and muscle functioning," Juaquita said. "I believe it has a positive effect on my fast twitch muscle movement."

The vibrancy of her body carries over to the vibrancy of her mind and this is what needs to get your attention.

Juaquita says research has convinced her that as we age our cell structure and organs stay the same. It is our environment that makes us age.

“I think I cannot get slower and jump less far if I maintain my body,” Gray said.

Sure enough, her best triple jump in 2022 was 8.11 meters. Juaquita’s triple jump at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sweden on August 13, 2024 was 8.40 meters, which was good for 8th in the world.

Eventually, age will slow her down, but not now. 

If she can help mitigate the aging of her body through Dynamic Mobility Exercises (as well as healthy eating) how does she mitigate the impact of the environment?

“Meditation and just thinking positive thoughts,” Juaquita said. “I like to go down to the beach at sunset, or I'll go to the shore and just enjoy the breeze and just be thankful for life.

“I think mindset is part of the environment and how our world is a direct reflection of how we see it. And I see the world as beautiful. Just looking outside right now and seeing the green tree, that’s beautiful to me.”

I asked Juaquita if the competition can disrupt her positive mindset. You know, what happens when she loses?

“I've never really been a big competitor,” Gray said. “I just go out there and do it. Of course, I want to win, that's wonderful, but I don't mind if other people win. The the opportunity to race, especially at this age, is great because not a whole lot of people are out there at our age doing this.”

I saw this easier-said-than-done quote last week:

“One of the best secrets of a happy life is the art of extracting comfort and sweetness from every circumstance.”

This is what Juaquita Gray's story is teaching us this week.

Thank you for reading.

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