Paul Soroudi is someone whose life has been shaped by saying yes. He didn’t grow up in an athletic family, but a simple invitation to join cross country in 10th grade sparked a lifelong relationship with movement. After building a successful business in his early years, Paul returned to running in adulthood, completing marathons, trail races, and hundreds of local competitions. More recently, pickleball became both his workout and his social lifeline, especially during lockdowns, helping him meet people, manage stress, and build community. Now calling St. George, Utah home, this 56-year-old runs trails, plays pickleball almost daily, takes classes to stay mentally sharp, and keeps saying yes, proving that active living is really about curiosity, connection, and movement.

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Dale Huckabee became a professional Quarter Horse jockey at 16 and later set a world record in mule racing at the Aspencade Stakes in New Mexico that stood for decades, traveling 350 yards in 21.03 seconds. When health forced him to step away from horse and mule racing, he rebuilt working ranches, managing horses, and eventually rising through the ranks at Coca-Cola, where he now serves as a security investigator helping reduce company losses across the western United States. At 68, Dale cycles over 150 miles a week, competes at the Huntsman World Senior Games, and loves cross-training with his wife.

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Jacquie Hertlein is a powerful example of how leadership, service, and sport can shape a lifetime. A lifelong multi-sport athlete, spanning volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, track and field, and tennis, she spent 17 years with the Calgary Police Service, rising to Acting Sergeant and earning recognition for compassion-driven policing. After an injury led to her retirement from law enforcement, Jacquie didn’t slow down. She redirected her drive into coaching women and girls to success at the provincial and collegiate levels, serving on Alberta Soccer’s Technical Committee, and now leading the Calgary Women’s Soccer Association while working for Canada Soccer Association as Match Commissioner. A recipient of Mount Royal University’s Lifetime Distinguished Alumni Award, and Alberta Soccer’s President Award Jacquie continues to prove that purpose, teamwork, and movement don’t retire, they evolve.

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Janette “Pink” Johnson has been living an active life since childhood, from competitive volleyball and basketball in college to earning her first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do at age 62 and competing in bowling against people across the nation. Pink also enjoys pickleball and hiking. After a health setback several years ago with a dramatic increase in fatigue, Pink tried several homeopathic options to reclaim her energy including Hormone Replacement Therapy and acupuncture, which both provided temporary relief; however, she found that proper nutrition made the biggest impact in her battle with fatigue. Now at 68, she is once again competing full-time in volleyball tournaments and can’t wait for her annual team reunion at the Huntsman World Senior Games in 2026.

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Aileen Gaumond spent 20 years as an electrician at a time when women were rarely welcomed in construction, earning her place in the union and working on everything from high-rises to tunnels. Along the way, she raised two elite U.S. Figure Skating athletes, returned to school for graphic design, and later taught everything from computers to electrical skills in a youth maximum-security prison, earning respect through strength, skill, and authenticity.

Now in her 70s, Aileen plays senior softball, golfs, bikes long distances, and works concerts and sporting events in the Denver, Colorado area for fun. After multiple joint replacements and surgeries, she proudly says that even though she isn’t an elite athlete, she feels incredibly lucky to still be playing, learning, and thriving.

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Stephen Matakovich, better known as "Tako" in the Senior Softball circuit, grew up just outside Pittsburgh as a proud Pitt fan and someone who still builds his daily life around staying active. He was a die-hard baseball player growing up, dreaming of playing in the big leagues and winning the state championship in high school. He also enjoyed football, basketball, and martial arts in his youth. However, the sport that has remained during his life is the one Stephen found in the military: softball. Over the years, it has helped him mentally and physically get through hard times.

No longer involved in law enforcement and working in heating and cooling, Stephen trains year-round, works with a hitting coach, and credits a healthy lifestyle, supported by his wife, who is devoted to holistic nutrition, for keeping him competitive with fellow senior players. He has played at the Huntsman World Senior Games, traveled to tournaments with his family, and says nothing compares to the camaraderie and fun of senior softball.

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Isabel Eliashev grew up in Venezuela and came to the United States as an international student, eventually earning a track scholarship at the New York Institute of Technology, all before becoming a U.S. citizen. She went from learning English through her track coach to building a lifelong career in education. Today, in addition to teaching Spanish and coaching cross country, she serves as the Head of School at Alpharetta International Academy in Georgia.

Isabel’s impact reaches far beyond the classroom. She was the first Latina to run with the historic New York Pioneer Track Club and now honors her late coach through the annual Ed Levy 5K. At 52, she competes around the world in masters track, from Sweden to the Huntsman World Senior Games, while inspiring her students, her children, and her community to stay active.

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A 75-year-old Army veteran and lifelong outdoorsman, Michael Sharkey spent years hiking, fishing, and skiing. More recently, he has taken up trap shooting, and he recently earned a silver medal at the Huntsman World Senior Games, hitting 80 out of 100 clay targets. Michael is also an avid gravel and road cyclist, traveling across the country and even Europe to compete. He finds cycling to be more than a sport; it is also therapeutic for his back.

Through reinvention, marriage, and curiosity, Michael has embraced a life full of adventure, from skiing three times a week to learning trap shooting from world-class instructors. Retired after years as ski patrol, a carpenter, and a watchmaker, he continues to challenge himself, stay active, and share his love of adventure with his wife.

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Rocky Jackson has always enjoyed staying active. He was an employment labor attorney for 43 years, and at age 19, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1969 out of Yakima Valley Community College, which he jokes makes him the oldest living holdout of the team now called the Cleveland Guardians. He spent his college years playing against future MLB greats, collecting enough road-trip stories to fill a book.

Since age 35, Rocky has played tennis on and off, and now in retirement, he is on the courts several times a week, even playing singles for the sheer joy of long rallies and movement. Rocky is an avid golfer who has played around the world with his wife, braving everything from beach courses to 105-degree summers. He strongly believes in cross-training workouts and is adding lap swimming into the mix. After double hip replacements in 2020, Rocky came back stronger, and at 75, he’s still playing singles tennis and living by the beliefs that “The universe always says yes” and “You have to use it or lose it.” 

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Vera Koo is a first-generation Chinese American woman whose life reads like an adventure in courage and reinvention. She is a 79-year-old wife, mother of three and grandmother of six, author, entrepreneur, and retired professional athlete who broke barriers in action pistol shooting. Through her adulthood, she has enjoyed a variety of outdoor activities, including snow and water skiing, equestrian, windsurfing, and rucking and camping. Action pistol shooting is where she really excelled: Vera has been the national and world titleholder in the sport and won the Bianchi Cup women’s championship eight times. She now competes in shotgun sports, specifically in sporting clay shooting, at the Huntsman World Senior Games.

Vera’s memoirs, “The Most Unlikely Champion” and “Wisdom and Things: Essays from an Unlikely Champion,” share her remarkable journey from China and Hong Kong to the U.S., her family’s entrepreneurial success, and the resilience that carried her through loss, faith, and unexpected triumph. Vera continues to mentor others with the hope that we all discover the “unlikely champion” within ourselves.

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