‘This is my purpose’: 84-year-old South Florida sprinter on track to compete in National Senior Games

A South Florida woman is chasing gold in her golden years The runner is on track to represent the Sunshine State on the national stage The Nightteam s Heather Walker shines the Spotlight on her story At years old JoAnn Sampson is not slowing down literally JoAnn Sampson sprinter Eighty-four-year-old certain days I feel because I m training with my trainer and just stretching and doing everything so I feel a lot younger We watched as JoAnn and her trainer Eleazar Murphy went through a morning workout in Hollywood Eleazar Murphy trainer As a trainer she s like living proof of what exercise and eating right does From warming up to jumping rope and strength training JoAnn Sampson Yeah she s tough on me I needed someone not to treat me like an old lady but give me the skills and things that I need to run my race Running races is this senior sprinter s specialty competing in the - - and -meter dashes Eleazar Murphy The other trainers would be like You know you should not be having her run I m like She s a sprinter number one so she has to run you know what I mean So to tell her that she can t run that s crazy JoAnn Sampson This map is all the places where I ve left my footprints Each sticker on this U S map represents a place where JoAnn has laced up her running shoes A wall at her home is adorned with an array of medals for her accomplishments JoAnn Sampson This is my purpose You know we all have a purpose And if you think JoAnn has been racing her whole life think again The retired constituents school guide started running at age JoAnn Sampson I finished from Miami Northwestern in They didn t have track for girls everything was for boys The only thing I did in high school was a cheerleader JoAnn credits her soulmate of years who passed away in as the one who got her into track JoAnn Sampson Pump them arms pump them arms and I can hear him I still visualize him still there at the end of the lane and I just get my power from that In December JoAnn finished second in her age group in the Florida Senior Games That qualified her for the National Senior Games in Iowa which run through Aug JoAnn Sampson I m just going to show them the bottom of my cleats JoAnn s still got challenge The National Senior Games feature more than athletes competing in different sports Florida has the the majority athletes of any state in the country and JoAnn s mission is to draw even more attention to her fellow seniors JoAnn Sampson I feel like I was chosen for this to let seniors know that no matter what age you are you can do something You know follow your heart We are a generation of champions And JoAnn doesn t plan on stopping anytime soon Next year she will move up to the -to- age bracket and says she s motivated by her elders on the track JoAnn Sampson We have a group of s I ll see them in National Yeah I want to be like them Athletes embodying the phrase age is just a number one race at a time Heather Walker News FOR MORE INFORMATION Florida Senior Games National Senior Games If you know of a person place or group that you think we should highlight email us at spotlight wsvn com