World Champion Angela Staab: It's Not How Old You Are, It's How You Are Old! EP 248
Meet Angela Staab, the octogenarian dynamo whose running shoes have blazed a trail through the world of track and field, capturing 16 national titles after lacing up for the first time at the tender age of 57. Her zest for life and competition has not only shattered records but preconceptions about what it means to grow older with gusto. In our conversation, Angela opens up about her late bloom into athletic prowess fueled by her daughters' encouragement and a desire to live life to the fullest. Her tale is peppered with milestones, like that unforgettable marathon alongside Mickey Mouse, and brimming with wisdom on how to approach each day with vitality and verve.
Angela's narrative isn't simply one of physical triumph; it's a masterclass in the art of defying odds and the alchemy of motivation, grit, and unwavering support from those we hold dear. She shares insights into overcoming health hurdles such as hypothyroidism and her philosophy that incremental gains are the building blocks of monumental success. It's more than a story of running—it's a lesson in living, punctuated by a mantra that will have you rethinking the possibilities of your golden years: "It's not how old you are but how you are old." Join us for this episode that does more than just inspire—it invigorates the soul and prompts a renaissance of the spirit, demonstrating that true greatness knows no age limit.
00:01 - Inspiring 81-Year-Old World Record Holder
04:45 - Inspiration
Welcome to the award-winning Champions Mojo hosted by two world record-holding athletes. Be inspired as you listen to conversations with champions and now your hosts, kelly Palace and Maria Parker.
Speaker 2:Hello friends, welcome to the Champions Mojo podcast. I am your host, kelly Palace, and, as usual, I am with my co-host, maria Parker. Hey Maria, hey Kelly, it's great to be with you here today. Yes, and Maria, this is a special edition of Champions Mojo from the pool deck and we have a great interview for you today. It's brief, it's short, but it's powerful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and we. I wasn't there, but I was able to listen to the interview and some great takeaways.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we hope you'll stick around and catch the takeaways. And here we go. We are at an on-deck inspiration, but I'm actually going to change it and say it is an on-road inspiration. My hubby and I did a 5K this morning and I ran into this beautiful 81-year-old world record holder running next to me and Angela Stobb. Welcome to Champions, mojo. Thank you, it is really my pleasure. What we like to talk with our champions that are on our show is just what motivates you to do the things you do. So I give you a little bit of background. First, angela has got 16 national titles. This summer she's traveling to Sweden for the world championships. She's just got many, many accolades, which I can put in the show notes. But she is 81 years old and you did not start running until you were 57. Tell us how that happened.
Speaker 4:My daughters. I was a hospital administrator. All my family had died of heart disease or diabetes. Two of my daughters came to me and said mom, slugs die, you have to get exercise. And so the one that's here today taught me how to run, and the youngest one taught me how to swim. And then they took me to triathlons so I would be a part of a team and made me run. And they did the biking and the swimming. And then I got hooked, because way back then, that's 30-some years ago, there weren't many 57 or 60 year old women. And then on my 60th birthday, I did the Mickey marathon with Mickey, because it was his 100th birthday, and they gave me a big badge and I had the most fun. The only problem was I didn't realize how hard it was to walk after you had done how long run. And so my husband, as my birthday present, gave me three days, all expenses, disney World, plus the race, plus any souvenirs that I wanted. Little did I know I could barely walk the next day to do the parks, but I did and I managed to get a few souvenirs. And I called my grandson, who then was just a small tiny, and I said Jay, guess what grandma had 22,000 people at her birthday party and he said wow, grandma. And his smart alec father said after how many gave her presents. And I said you tell your smart alec father that everybody hugged me and said congratulations and happy birthday, and so that was a gift in itself. And I have a motto that you might be interested in for your old cooks. My motto is and you can say Angela said it, it's not how old you are but how you are old.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. I love that. That's beautiful. So how do you train for these events? So today was kind of an over distance for you. There was a 5k training run, run, walk in a normal week.
Speaker 4:How does an 81 year old train I actually only run Three days a week, and then I do how long, how far on those three days? Oh, it's all different. I got a coach five years ago when I did my hip in so I have an artificial right hip and the sports medicine guy said you need a trainer so that you're not you're over training and most of what I do is interval training, because on the track I'm the 800 1500er and my 800 track training is 200 wind sprints for two and a half miles and then I also do some upper body and a lot of core and then I do Pilates once a week and then I play pickleball Twice a week and Sundays I take off, unless I have a race and you're hosting in Florida. The Southeastern Masters championships are in Gainesville February 11th for US track and field. So I'll be coming back down to Gainesville and then coming here and there's a race here, but it's on the day before the Southeast and championships and I don't want to run it and then try to run the Southeastern championships. It won't work Well.
Speaker 2:I love your busy schedule. Now, one of the things that I asked you on the run but I want to ask you for our listeners is what are these times that an 81 year old woman is running?
Speaker 4:I run a five minute half mile and I run a two minute quarter mile and I only ever ran the 100 once and I really can't tell you what my time was. I know it was weighed out in the 30s because I got first place, wow. But I only did it because I run with a relay team, a world champion relay team, and I have to run the 100 and the 200 to prove to them that I really can sprint if I have to, because I'm normally a middle-distance runner, and so I run the 100, the 200 just to show them that I can get a fast start and finish.
Speaker 2:Those times are pretty darn respectable.
Speaker 4:I mean that's and the two mile in my world placement was 22 minutes 22 minutes.
Speaker 2:That is so fast. So what advice would you give to someone who is it? What did you call yourself? A slug, a slug. What advice would you give to someone who thinks they're a slug and they'll never make?
Speaker 4:it. You won't make it if you don't get up and try. What my daughter did with me was we have a real long driveway, a 350 foot driveway, and so she made me walk the driveway, walked out, walk up, walk down. Then I had to jog up, walk down, jog up, walk down and then jog up, jogged out just that short distance. And she did that with me for about two months and then she took me out on the road because my first race was actually a 5k and it was very hilly in North Carolina, and she and her sister ran with me and she ran backwards in front of me cheering me on, and her sister ran beside me Cheering me on. They wouldn't let me look at my watch. They had my watch and they wouldn't let me look at, and the van to pick up People was in the back and they kept saying mom, you got to hurry up, you don't want to be in that van. That would be a highly insulting thing. And so my 5k time to that day was 42 and you had a finish in 45. I did it in 36 that day, just because they were cheering me on and telling me I didn't want to be in the van.
Speaker 2:That is beautiful. So your favorite event is the 800. Yes, that's my. You're doing the hammer.
Speaker 4:Oh, I'm a throws champion too. I do the hammer shot. Put discus, javelin and weight, it's the pentathlon and the pentathlon. I got third this year, 23 third in the nation, and I go back to defend my title this August in Chicago.
Speaker 2:Besides your maybe your hip replacement, what's been the biggest obstacle in your 81 year old life that you've had to overcome? My weight.
Speaker 4:First of all, I have very severe hypothyroidism and every time my thyroid gets messed up, I gain weight and gain water and my legs gain water. So I have those compression big, heavy-duty ones that they sell for runners to massage their muscles, and every night I put those on and they massage my muscles but they also drain the water out of my legs. And then the other thing is same as with most older people you always have an ache or a pain or you kill so many muscles and you just can't avoid it because you're old. But If you let that stop you, then you're stopped. And one of the reasons why I go to the sports medicine doctor that I go to is he was a runner and he will never say to me stop running, stop doing everything, don't do anything, because he knows that if I stop I may not get started. And the other thing is go slow, don't try to run the 5K. First Walk a mile or two, then run a mile and just jog it and just gradually build up those programs that they put in running magazines and online. Yes, it's called the couch potato to 5K or something like that.
Speaker 2:Do those? Yes, Obviously you have this incredible mindset to wake up and have this thyroidism problem and aches and pains. What do you tell yourself?
Speaker 4:I wake up in the morning and I say, thank you, dear God, I woke up. And then I get to sit on the side of the bed and I say, thank you, dear God, I can still sit on the side of the bed. Then I get up and go to the bathroom and I say, thank you, dear God, everything works. And then I say, hey, it's going to be a great day. Keep going, and that's what you have to do.
Speaker 2:OK, maria, here are the takeaways on Angela Stob. I could not have expected, just by commenting on a USA t-shirt, that this would have turned into such a great interview. But Angela Stob was such an inspiration, 81 years old. What was your first takeaway?
Speaker 3:I love the interview too, and it just goes to show that everywhere around you there's probably somebody special. So if you start a conversation with someone, be on the lookout for somebody really special, and certainly that she is. My biggest takeaway from Angela's was just how much her daughters encouraged her and loved her. They said, hey, mom, we want you to live a long time and they got her going. And for me, having others in your life encourage you, that's how I got started exercising. My sister-in-law, my husband, others encouraged me. Don't be afraid to encourage and ask your loved ones to start exercising, and you never know where it's going to turn. She's turned into a world record holder.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. Don't be afraid to encourage people in your life that you love to get off the couch. This reminds me of one little stanz of my 93-year-old dad. Said on the phone, your father-in-law the other night, he's alone and he was just telling me something that lifts him up was a little stanza. He does not know where it came from, but it is. I live for those who love me, for the blue skies above me and to do good. And that just reminded me of a little bit of what she was saying in that and that's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, my takeaway there are many things but I love she said it's not how old you are, it's how you are.
Speaker 3:Oh, I love that too. She's very inspirational.
Speaker 2:Thanks, maria. Another great one in the books. Love you, kelly. Love you too, love you too.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Champions Mojo podcast. Did you enjoy the show? We'd be grateful if you would leave us a five-star review on iTunes to help others find us, and we'd also love to hear from you. We're on all social media platforms or you can reach us at championsmojocom.
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