World-class walker - awards won by nursing home resident Mildred Rafferty Smith

Nursing Homes, August, 1999 by Jack Watts

In Wyatt, Missouri, you won't find anyone more health-conscious than Mildred Rafferty Smith. She has won two silver medals in the 5K race/walk competition at the World Veterans Athletics Championships (WAVA), and she has been competing at the world level since 1991. Not bad for a lady who began competing in 1971, when she was 62 years old.

"I always walked wherever I wanted to go," Mildred states. "I used to walk a mile to get to the bus stop then the bus driver would let us kids off and we would have to walk another mile to get to the school. I just continued walking throughout my life for good exercise."

Mildred started competing in race/walking when a friend challenged her to compete in the Alongi Race in Detroit, Michigan. "That was in 1971, my first 5K," Smith states. "My friend said I had a good pace and was a natural for race/walking. You have to be sure that your heel hits the ground first or you will be disqualified." She joined the Wolverine Pacers Race/Walking Club in Michigan, which allowed her to compete in various races, refine her technique and increase her speed.

In 1991, she participated in her first World Veterans Athletics Championships in Finland. These championships cover track and field events just like the Olympics. The difference is that the events are for masters - women who are at least 35 years old and men 40 years old and up. The events are bracketed by age so the contestants are competing within a five-year age range. "I remember my first race well. There were 87 nations represented at these games. I competed in the 80- to 84-year-old age bracket and placed fourth in the 5K race/walk. That just gave me more of a drive to win a medal," says Mildred.

She took that drive and determination to the 1993 WAVA Championships in Miyazaki, Japan. There she competed in her favorite 5K walk/race and won the silver medal in the 85- to 89-year-old age bracket. "That silver medal was big, seven ounces of pure silver," states Smith. In 1995, the event was held in Buffalo, New York, where she won the silver medal again in the 5K walk/race.

Mildred is planning to compete in the 1999 World Veterans Championships in Gateshead, England. One problem exists. After an ice storm this past winter, Mildred fell and broke three bones in her foot. Mrs. Smith is receiving extensive physical therapy at Charleston Manor Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility. "I will be ready to make the trip to Gateshead," she emphatically states. "I may not win the silver or gold medal this time, but I will finish the race!"

This will be her last competition in the 85- to 89-year-old age bracket. "I get to move up to 90- to 95-year-old age bracket after this one," says Smith.

Jack Watts is administrator of the Charleston Manor Nursing Home, Charleston, Missouri. More information is available about the World Veterans Athletic Championships from the Gateshead organizers, any of the U.S. Masters travel agents or from the U.S. team manager at (212) 666-8603.