Wheat Ridge home to world champion track athlete.
Terry Ten Eyck doesn’t let the old man in.
The 80-year-old is a world champion track athlete and is motivated by conversations with his high school friends.
“There’s a lot of conversation about doctor’s appointments and what you’re going to have to get fixed next month,” Ten Eyck said. “Don’t let the old man in. That’s the deal. You let that guy in the house, he’ll put you on the couch and say sit.”
The former Wheat Ridge High School state track champion competed in the shot put and discus events. He credits his high school coach, who was an Olympic caliber pole vaulter, with his high school success. Ten Eyck rose from the fifth ranked distance to the winning distance in the shot put event, setting a state record.
Ten Eyck attended CU Boulder, playing football in the fall and track in the spring, as a freshman. CU’s track coach at the time offered Ten Eyck a shot putting scholarship if he only pursued track after his freshman year. With football being hard on his body, Ten Eyck took advantage of the opportunity.
After college Ten Eyck served seven and a half years in the Navy.
While raising his two daughters, Ten Eyck enjoyed riding bikes together. The family bonded over cycling events. Ten Eyck put down the bike in his 50s.
“At that point, I started being a really good couch potato,” Ten Eyck said.
After a fall on ice and a rotator cuff surgery, Ten Eyck’s physical therapist advised he started doing physical activity again. He began looking back into the track activities he did in his youth.
Among the company of some friends pursuing the same sport, Ten Eyck began competing in local and then out-of-state meets in the shot put, discus, hammer and weight throw events. Winning a couple national meets and events, he learned a valuable lesson about Masters Track and Field events, which are separated in five-year interval age groups.
“The secret is to be the youngest one in the age group,” Ten Eyck said.
He was happy to get rid of those “pesky 73, 72 and 74-year-olds, who were administering lessons each track meet” and is now the youngest competitor in the 80 to 85 age bracket, he said.
Since his reinvolvement in the sport, he believes getting coaching has elevated his performance.
“You can’t practice in front of a mirror all the time,” Ten Eyck said.
Returning to an old sport challenged Ten Eyck when getting his head around the distance of winning marks, with many of the distances and weights in Masters Track coming in about half of what he was doing in high school and college.
“Mostly I’m competing against myself,” Ten Eyck said. “I like to make improvements, and I did for about the first three or four years, but then you can offset deterioratioBy increasing the technique. But that only lasts so long. And now, I figured out, the performances are decreasing pretty dramatically from 75. The difference between a 75-year-old and an 85-year-old is dramatic.”
Ten Eyck looks for different milestones now in his competitions.
“Some die and nobody gets stronger,” Ten Eyck said. “You have to get your mind around appreciating any kind of performance, even if it’s not that notable.”
Ten Eyck enjoys participating in the hammer throw event in his age group, which involves spinning a 8.8 pound ball attached to a four-foot wire over his head a couple times and letting it go. The event requires a surprising amount of leg strength, he said.
Ten Eyck attended two international championships held in Florida so far this year. Occurring three days before his 80th birthday, he was the “old guy” in his age group.
“I was easy pickings for the younger guys,” Ten Eyck said.
A month later Ten Eyck competed as the spring chicken of the 80 to 84-year-old group, joined by his daughter Tara Dunn, who cheered him on and helped prepare him for the meet. Ten Eyck competed in the hammer throw, weight throw and shot put events, competing with about 3,500 competitors from around the world, representing almost every country except Russia and North Korea. About 1,500 of competitors were from the U.S. He won first place at the shot put event and placed second at weight and hammer throw. During the hammer weight event, he woBy the distance of the width of a quarter.
“It was an alignment of the stars to be the youngest guy and be in the United States,” Ten Eyck said. “There are better throwers who live in Europe. When you’re 80, sometimes you don’t feel like making a long trip.”
In the wise words of Ten Eyck’s coach, “95 percent of Masters Track is showing up,” he said.
While watching her dad compete in Florida Dunn remembered the times he supported her and her sister’s track and cycling competitions. She remembers her dad giving her a signal during her races. She gave him that same signal at his competition and wore matching Navy hats to recognize the aircraft carrier Ten Eyck served on while in the Navy.
“It was fun to be on the other side and get to help,” Dunn said.
Terry Ten Eyck and his daughter Tara Dunn wear matching hats at his masters track competition in Florida to honor Ten Eyck’s time in the Navy. Photo courtesy of Tara Dunn.
Dunn wasn’t surprised when her dad took up track again.
“I think that’s kind of in our bones,” Dunn said. “I think it’s a great way to stay healthy and to stay sharp.”
Ten Eyck’s younger sister and brother in law are avid supporters, even braving a snowy, late-night drive to the airport to cheer him on with signs after his wins at the international competition in Florida. His wife Diana Ten Eyck also supports his involvement with track.
Ten Eyck has a busy summer ahead. He plans to attend the National U.S. Masters Outdoor Championship in Huntsville, Alabama, the National Throwing Championship in upstate New York and the National Senior Games in Ames, Iowa.
