Discover Your Inner Jock

Posted September 27, 2007, 3:49 pm in Fitness by Growing Bolder


If you thought your days of competitive sports were behind you, think again.
Masters and senior athletes events are popping up all over the country, and every step of the way, GeezerJock magazine is there to shine a light on these tremendous athletes who are largely ignored by mainstream media.

Co-founder and editor Sean Callahan says it took almost eight years to get the magazine off the ground, but over the past couple of years, more and more people are realizing the power of the over-50 demographic and the power of exercise.

At this summer's Senior Games, a biannual event held in cities across the country, more than 12,000 athletes from across the world gathered in Louisville, Ky., for two weeks of competitions.

As the popularity of events like Masters swimming and triathlons have grown, so has the importance of GeezerJock. It has become the bible for serious athletes over 40.

Sean tells Growing Bolder that the magazine's controversial name was intentionally provocative.

"I think more than just creating a publicity stunt, by putting these two words together that had never been put together before -- geezer and jock -- we believe we changed the meaning of both of them. Geezer is not what you think it is, and neither is a jock. A jock is an 85-year-old woman riding in a 40K road race and doing it hard and fantastically well and having a ball doing it," he says.

Sean says the Masters athlete movement was launched in 1968 when a guy named David Payne came up with an idea to hold an age-group track meet in San Diego. From there, Masters swimming, baseball and softball tournaments started springing up.

He says the movement has grown so popular in cities big and small that athletes can pretty much find a meet in their sport any day of the year.

Not only are Masters athletes improving their lives by staying in shape, they're also improving their spirits by having fun.

"The thing that we love about this movement is it's not about working out. It's playing. No matter what sport you choose to play, you are playing, and that's the great thing about it. It's fun. It's not just the drudgery of going for a run if you don't like to run," Sean tells Growing Bolder.

He believes it's the best incentive that exists to stay in shape, and we couldn't agree more.

Want to hear more from Sean? Click the play button below the photo on the right to listen to our conversation and find out how some athletes are improving their times, even as they age.


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