One look at his showing in the

National Senior Games will tell

you that Wally Runia’s passion to

compete hasn’t diminished with age.

BALATON – Wally Runia isn’t your typical 87-year-old.

One might jokingly think it has to do with the fact that he’s only celebrated 21 actual birthdays, having been born on Leap Day in 1928, but in reality, the Balaton native’s longevity is likely due to his active lifestyle.

Recently, Runia won a gold medal in the horseshoe competition at the 2015 National Senior Games presented by Humana. The event – held in Minnesota this year – drew nearly 12,000 athletes ages 50 and up from every state in the country and some from Canada as well.

“It was my first time competing at the National Senior Games, although I’d qualified a few times before,” Runia said. “I wanted to go and see how they operated. It was fun to go.”

The National Senior Games Association is a nonprofit member of the United States Olympic Committee dedicated to promoting health and wellness for adults 50 and over through education, fitness and sport. The effort offers proof that everyone can improve the quality of their lives at any age by staying active.

“It beats sitting home,” Runia said.

Senior athletes can compete in the 21 different sports available, including archery, badminton, basketball, bowling, cycling, disc golf, golf, horseshoes, judo, pickleball, race walk, racquetball, road race, shuffleboard, softball, swimming, table tennis, track and field, triathlon and volleyball.

“It was really neat to be at the Minneapolis Convention Center, where they had a lot of the competition at,” said Brad Runia, Wally Runia’s youngest son who, along with daughter, Marilyn Rawlins, and wife, Evelyn, accompanied him at the Games. “Seeing these teams of people in their 80s playing volleyball was really cool to see.”

Minnesota recorded the highest gold medal count, with 188, followed by California (149), Florida (129), Texas (113) and Ohio (110). Minnesota also had the highest silver medal count (121). While it was all business during the preliminary and final competition, Wally Runia found time for a few practical jokes.

“(Before the competitions even started) they had all these medals on a desk, so I picked up the gold one, put it around my neck and walked out,” he said. “My wife about fainted. Another guy laughed. He knew I was joking around. I went out in the hallway like I was heading out, but then I came back with it. Brad laughed, and the guard at the door was shaking her head.”

Two days later, Runia officially received his gold medal in horseshoes. He also earned a bronze medal in the hammer throw for the 85-89 age range. Those prizes are now among the countless trophies, plaques, medals, ribbons and patches that are proudly displayed on shelves and along the wall in his basement.

“It’s what I call the wall of Wally,” Brad Runia said.

Along with horseshoe and hammer awards, there were also accolades from bowling, shuffleboard and discus, among other activities.

“I’m running out of room,” Runia said.

While Runia was proud of his achievements, he was quick to praise other outstanding athletes, including a female hammer throw champion.

“It was worth it, just to watch her and get some pointers from her,” he said. “This ‘ol gal, she’s a winner. It’s about a 6-foot circle, and she spins when she throws. And she could get that over 100 feet. She wanted me to hold my arms out straighter and use my body for that last half of a turn. I think that would help me out, so I’ll have to practice that.”

Brad’s wife, Jill Runia, said she’s impressed with her father-in-law’s effort and ability. Referring to the 101-year-old hammer throw competitor, she also believes the potential exists for him to continue well into the future.

“Most 101-year-olds don’t even walk, let along throw a hammer over their head,” she said. “I’d probably knock myself out or give myself a concussion. Wally’s definitely stronger than I am, and I think I’m pretty strong, so it’s pretty cool.”

Brad Runia, who is 42, also gives props to his 87-year-old dad. About a week before nationals, the pair was practicing the hammer throw and had an unusual mishap.

“He made a homemade hammer throw and it was just too much fun to not practice myself,” Brad Runia said. “I threw it up, but it went too far to the left and it got caught on the top power line and wrapped itself around a couple of times. Then, the weight dropped it down and it hit the bottom line, so it shorted it out. There was a big spark and the power went out. You don’t see Wally speechless very often, but I turned around and he was just standing there with his jaw dropped.”

While the off-target throw knocked out the power in the whole area, Wally Runia jokes that he hasn’t gotten a bill yet. Weeks later, Brad still shakes his head and laughs about the experience.

“It was hilarious, just looking at his face,” Brad said. “My dad was speechless for about 10 seconds and then he said, ‘now what do we do?’ Then, he called the power company and explained it, which was also funny. I was long gone when they came out, but my dad ended up throwing it a couple of times for them so they could see what it was.”

Wally Runia considers himself fortunate to be naturally coordinated all of his life.

“I can do things pretty easily,” he said. “I can downhill ski or roller skate or ice skate, it doesn’t make much difference. I don’t have much problem. I used to be a pretty good ball player, too.”

Runia has faced some challenges from time to time. While baling hay about a week before nationals, he injured his left shoulder.

“I was stepping out of the tractor and the next thing I knew, I was flying through the air,” he said. “I couldn’t lift my arm for a couple of days, so I was afraid I wasn’t going to get to compete at the National Games.”

Runia also has one bad eye, though amazingly, it doesn’t seem to affect him too much while throwing horseshoes.

“I’m not supposed to be a horseshoe pitcher because I can’t see how far that is away,” Runia said. “My depth perception is off. I don’t even park a car very well. I either bump the sign ahead of me or I’m back 10 feet. Everybody asks, ‘how can you still do horseshoes?’ I don’t know why. I just can.”

While Runia is retired from dairy and grain farming now, he still bales hay – and not the easy, round-bale version, but the physically-demanding, small square bale kind.

“I sell a lot of hay in the summer, and I’ll have 1,500 bales up in the barn some winters,” he said.

Runia does his best to stay active, trying to strike a good balance between competing in tournaments, baling hay and doing the usual yard work at the family farm in Balaton, where he and Evelyn raised six children. While some of it is enjoyable, it’s also hard work. One primary motivator keeps him moving forward, though.

“If I didn’t keep active, I’d probably have Alzheimer’s,” Runia said. “That’s about the only thing that keeps a guy from getting it, is activities. That’s what they claim. That, and socializing with people. If you sit around, you don’t last long.”

Runia’s father had Alzheimer’s, and two of his brothers have it, so the fear is real. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics reveal that 84,767 deaths occur per year in the U.S. due to Alzheimer’s. It’s sixth-leading cause of death, behind heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents and stroke.

“He’s trying to do everything he can to ward it off, between working, reading and just keeping his mind and body busy,” Brad Runia said. “I definitely support that. Baling ditch hay and playing horseshoes year-round are a pretty big part of him staying active.”

Despite the fact that he’s well past the current life expectancy rate (78.8), Wally Runia shows no signs of slowing down. A week after the National Senior Games, he was back in competition, this time at the World Horseshoe Tournament in Topeka, Kansas, where he took second place in his class.

“I had everybody beat except one guy from Texas,” Runia said. “He came in and didn’t have the right average. You pitch against a certain group, see (determined by average, not age)? He was in the wrong bunch because he beat everybody to snots.”

When asked how he got so good at horseshoes, Runia was quick to deflect any praise.

“Actually, I ain’t that good,” he said. “I used to be better.”

Runia didn’t start pitching horseshoes until he was 65 years old.

“(The late) Kenny Stafne wanted me to get in the Balaton league and play horseshoes,” Runia said. “Like everybody, I didn’t pitch much at first. Then when I was 70, I heard about indoors, so I pitched more there. When I got to be 71, 72, 73, I got to be pretty good at it. I won quite a few tournaments.”

Along with local leagues, Runia has competed at different venues, in states including Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, California, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

Also for the past 15 years or so, Runia has been participating in the South Dakota Senior Games, in which he holds a number of records. First-place finishers at the state level qualify for the national competition.

“To qualify for the Nationals, you have to beat everybody, which I did,” he said. “I don’t go to the Minnesota Senior Games because their schedule is goofy, so I go to South Dakota. They have it in different towns there in September.”

While Wally continues to hone his skills – he built indoor and outdoor horseshoe pits along with the homemade hammer contraption – his son, Brad, ponders whether or not he’ll follow his dad’s lead in the future.

“Staying active is such a key, just to have a goal every morning when you wake up, to get that feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day that you accomplished something,” Brad Runia said. “I’ll probably do the Senior Games when I get older. It looks like a lot of fun. And again, anything to keep you active and going.”