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Media Contact: Mark Winitz
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Fifty-Plus Fitness Weekend and Bay Area Senior Games Slated, March 10-12

Peggy Fleming to Receive Fifty-Plus Zatopek Award

Palo Alto, Calif. - (March 1, 2006) - Fifty-Plus Lifelong Fitness announced today that Olympic figure skating icon Peggy Fleming is the 2006 recipient of the organization' s prestigious Emil Zatopek Award. Fleming, revered for her balletic style and grace on the ice, skated to five U.S. titles, three world championship crowns, and a gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games. Fleming, a San Jose, Calif. native who resides in nearby Los Gatos, is only the third woman to win the annual award.

Bestowal of the Zatopek Award will take place at the Fifty-Plus Annual Awards and Recognition Dinner on Saturday, March 11, 2006 at the Palo Alto Sheraton Hotel—a highlight of the organization' s 23rd Annual Fitness Weekend. The weekend, scheduled for Friday-Sunday, March 10-12, 2006 at Stanford University and several nearby venues—plus the companion Bay Area Senior Games on March 12—offer a variety of fitness activities, competitive sports events, a health conference, and health fair.

Fleming is the 16th recipient of the annual Emil Zatopek Award. The honor is named after the splendid Czech Olympic distance runner who won three gold medals at the 1952 Olympic Games. The citation is awarded to individuals who have attained notable achievements in sports, and in doing so have inspired others to live a fit and active lifestyle.

Past recipients of the Emil Zatopek Award: Zatopek (' 91), Paul Spangler (' 92), Payton Jordan (' 93), Fred Lebow (' 94), Peter Wood (' 95), Bill Toomey (' 96), John McCarthy (' 97), Bill Rodgers (' 98), Joe Henderson (' 99), Ben Parks (' 00), Kathrine Switzer (' 01), Denis Waitley (' 02), Anne Warner Cribbs (' 03), Yohiro Uchida (' 04), and Roger Bannister (' 05).

At the 1968 Winter Olympic Games, Peggy Fleming was a dominant performer. She had placed 6th in the 1964 Games, but in Grenoble Fleming built up a huge lead after the compulsory figures and easily won the first-place votes of all nine judges. At 19 years old, she was the only U.S. gold medalist at the 1968 Winter Games. Fleming began touring professionally, and later became a successful television commentator, often working with fellow Olympic champion Dick Button.

Among her many awards, Fleming is a member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, Women' s Sports Foundation Hall of Fame, Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, and San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.

In January of 1998, on the 30th anniversary of her Olympic gold medal, Fleming was diagnosed with breast cancer. Faced with what she called " another Olympics, a life Olympics," the renowned skater decided to share her experience with the public so other women would be strengthened. Fleming is an advocate of breast cancer awareness.

Today, Fleming' s interests are focused on health issues and fitness. Balance, she believes, is the key to living a vital and satisfying life. Towards that end she has served on several community project boards, including the San Jose Sports Authority, and as honorary chairperson for Easter Seals and the PTA. She was also the national spokesperson for the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

The 2006 Fifty-Plus Fitness Weekend and the inaugural Bay Area Senior Games will draw almost 1,000 physically active adults, primarily ages 50 and over, who will participate in track and field, swimming, tennis, table tennis, race walking, and fitness walking events. The Bay Area Senior Games is a stepping stone for the California Senior Games, which, in turn, is a qualifying event for the biannual Summer National Senior Games (the Senior Olympics). The San Francisco Bay Area will host the Summer National Senior Games in 2009.

This year, the Fifty-Plus Fitness Weekend' s signature event, the Paul Spangler Memorial 8K Run, once again serves as the Pacific Association/USA Track & Field 8K Championship. The road race will draw the top senior runners in the country. A separate 8K race for competitors younger than 50 will showcase the finest " open division" distance runners in Northern California.

Perhaps, inspired by the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, many fine senior athletes have prepared for their own challenges at the Bay Area Senior Games.

71-year-old Fei-Mei Chou of Sunnyvale, Calif. took up track and field in her late 40s, and has never stopped. On her way, she has competed in numerous masters and seniors competitions from the local to the world level. Embracing the Olympic ideal, Chou—a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Taiwan—sprints, jumps, and throws. In the Bay Area Senior Games, she will compete in the 100-meter, 200m, and 400m sprints, discus, high jump, and long jump.

Last year, at the USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Hawaii, Chou was a member of the 4x100m relay team that set a championship record in the women' s 70-79 age division. Chou then competed on the U.S. 4x100 relay team at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Spain, and also placed fourth in her age group at 400m.

Kim Rupert, 51, of Hillsborough, Calif. will contend for the women' s Senior division title in the 8K championship run. Shortly after finishing the race, Rupert will pick up a racket and play a single' s match in the Bay Area Senior Games tennis tournament.

" Hopefully, the run won' t take too much out of me," says Rupert, who was the runner-up in the women' s 50-59 division at the USATF National Masters 10K Championship last year. " But I regularly run and then go play tennis. It still shocks me that I' m [over] 50. I think of myself as 20."

Another multi-sport entrant is Irene Obera, 72, of Fremont, Calif. Last year, at the USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Honolulu, Obera crossed the finish line in an American record time (15.57 seconds) while winning the 100m title in the women' s 70 age group. In fact, over a 30-year span, Obera had never lost a 100m race in her age group—until she placed second at the 2005 World Masters Athletics Championships to W70-74 world record holder Margaret Peters of New Zealand. Obera' s time of 15.12 bettered her own American record set in Honolulu while she and Peters both bettered Peters' previous world mark. Obera has competed in world masters meets a dozen times, and holds many track records.

Last month, Obera was inducted into the African-American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the inaugural class (1996) of USA Track and Field' s Masters Hall of Fame. Now, Obera is shifting her emphasis to tennis. Her goal, of course, is to top her age group in women' s singles tennis competition at the Bay Area Senior Games.

Some senior participants have taken circuitous routes to their current athletic endeavors. Michael Schneider, 60, of Redwood City, Calif. became a professional Frisbee player/entertainer after competing as the number one tennis player on his San Francisco State University team. Schneider, and his Noodle the Wonder Dog, entertained in the U.S. and abroad as part of the World Champion Frisbee Show. Schneider was the world Frisbee accuracy champion in 1983. He also taught English and math, and served as tennis coach at Menlo-Atherton High School for 37 years.

 About 15 years ago, Schneider returned to tennis competition. Last year, in men' s doubles competition, Schneider and his partner (Fred Suessmann) were ranked number one in California in age 50-59 competition, and were among the top eight teams in the U.S. Schneider will co-direct the Bay Area Senior Games tennis tournament on 11 courts at Stanford, and compete as a fill-in player. He also serves as President of the Northern California Senior Tennis Association.

Walter Witkowski, 76, of San Leandro, Calif. was a young table tennis player in Germany before marriage, family, and his profession as a cabinet maker became priorities. Five years ago, Witkowski took up the sport again, now plays almost every day, and works as a table tennis umpire for USA Table Tennis. He owns about 50 table tennis medals and trophies. Among them: Witkowski won two gold medals, in age group singles and mixed doubles competition, at the 2005 World Masters Games in Edmonton, Canada. In the upcoming Bay Area Senior Games, Witkowski will compete in men' s singles and doubles competition.

Says Witkowski: " My dream is to some day go to a U.S. tournament and be the oldest table tennis player in America, and nobody [my age] will be there to beat me."

Gary Kelmenson, 55, of San Jose, Calif. will compete at the Bay Area Senior Games in the shot put and discus following a successful younger career in the track and field throws events. He was the 1991 World Masters Champion in the Weight Pentathlon and a three-time (1982, ' 84, ' 90) National Masters Champion in the hammer throw.

" I stick with it to stay healthy," says Kelmenson, a former coach at Saratoga (Calif.) High School, and Foothill Community College (Los Altos Hills, Calif.). " The few years that I didn' t train, literally parts started falling off. When I' m in shape, the quality of life is definitely better."

Larry Lettieri, 58, of Menlo Park, Calif. is entered in the Bay Area Senior Games as a first-time participant in Senior Games competition. Lettieri was a high school sprinter; then, he started road running during the early-1970s running surge. In the early 1980s, he discovered the Los Gatos, Calif. all-comers track and field meets, which piqued his participation in sprinting again. Lettieri was ranked fourth nationally in 2005 in the men' s 55-59 100m event (with a 12.43). He typically trains three times a week on the track, and lifts weights twice weekly. Lettieri will compete in the 100m and 200m events during the Fifty-Plus Fitness Weekend.

 Besides the athletic activities and the awards dinner, the Fifty-Plus Fitness Weekend/Bay Area Senior Games includes the popular Fifty-Plus Health Conference on Saturday, March 11 at Stanford University' s Annenberg Auditorium. The conference, entitled Extending Vitality, features presentations by noted health and fitness authorities. Former San Francisco 49ers star Ronnie Lott will present the keynote address at the conference, which is entitled " Attitude, Inspiration, and Lifelong Fitness."

EVENT ENTRY: A registration form for all of the Fifty-Plus Weekend/Bay Area Senior Games events can be obtained by contacting the Fifty-Plus Hot Line: (650) 843-1752, E-mail: info@50plus.org. Online race registration is available at www.active.com. Further information is available on the Fifty-Plus Web site at www.50plus.org.

Fifty-Plus Lifelong Fitness is a non-profit, international organization based in Palo Alto, Calif., with 2,000 members, whose mission is to provide a longer and more independent lifestyle for adults by expanding awareness and involvement in health and fitness activities.

Major sponsors help make the Fifty-Plus Fitness Weekend and Bay Area Senior Games possible: City of Palo Alto Recreation, Classic Residences by Hyatt in Palo Alto, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto Weekly, Catholic Healthcare West (CHW)/Sequoia Hospital, and Stanford University Hospital.

MEDIA NOTE: For media credentials, further information, or interviews, contact Mark Winitz, Win-It!z Sports Public Relations, Tel: 650-948-0618, Fax: 650-949-2172, E-mail: winitz@earthlink.net.