Forgive Bert Larsson for his enthusiasm for exercise.
Just about everywhere he goes, it seems, that enthusiasm leaves people smiling.
Maybe even the state trooper — after he gave him a reprimand — who once encountered Larsson on a late-night roller skiing outing on neighborho
od streets.
“Get that gawl darned thing off the street!” he told Larsson.
When asked if that was exactly what the trooper said, Larsson chuckled.
“No!” he said. “He was stronger. I have a lot of funny incidents. I have to laugh.”
Larsson is something of a legend among fellow workout enthusiasts at the downtown Everett YMCA, who know that behind his gently teasing demeanor is man who continues to compete — and win — at Masters World Cup skiing events.
Larsson, who celebrated his 85th birthday on Dec. 28, is an avid cross-country skier, and has a bagful of medals for his efforts.
In 2006 alone, he brought home gold in 5-, 10- and 15- kilometer events.
“Yeah, I have lots of hardware,” he said, including three gold medals, three silver and three bronze from master’s competitions.
Last year, he earned a silver medal in a master’s competition in France.
“A Finnish guy beat me!” he said.
Larsson came to the Seattle area from his native Sweden in 1956, sponsored by a cousin. He moved to Everett in 1968, and has lived there ever since.
He said he has skied all his life, and previously taught alpine skiing at Stevens Pass.
He worked as a carpenter and when asked when he retired he said, “I don’t know what I should say. I built my own house in 2002 … I kind of slowed down, but I’m still working.”
It’s not unusual for him to take on a 50- to 60-mile bike ride in the summer. And in winter, he often hits the hills for cross-country ski runs three or more times a week. Some of those involve nighttime skiing, called headlamp races.
You’ll often see him at the downtown Everett YMCA, working out on the rowing and bicycling machines as well as with weights, often part of the “door buster” groupies who work out at 5 a.m.
Core body strength is key to cross-country skiing, he said.
“You have to find out for yourself what your own body can do and not do.”
Weights help build endurance needed for cross-country skiing, but people should be careful not to add too much weight, he said.
“Especially as you get older, the muscles disintegrate,” he said.
So in 2010, he started carefully adding a little more of his workout time with weights.
“I’ll see how it will work,” he said. “I’m positive. This should do me good.”
After all, his next master’s cross-county skiing competition is just around the corner — in March in British Columbia.
Bert Larsson
Age: 85
Emigrated from Sweden in 1956
His response when someone questioned whether he still had the right stuff to compete: “I went back to Italy and got three gold medals. Yup. That’s the way I am. They shouldn’t say anything.”
His advice to older adults who want to remain active: “I look at other people who live longer and you get up in the morning, go to the YMCA when they open up at 5 a.m. and you’re there and work out.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
