Racing through the senior Olympics

The following is a guest post from our friend, Henry Lynn

I’m an Olympic athlete, but I didn’t quite make it to Beijing. I regularly compete in my local Senior Olympics in track and field competitions.

Don’t be fooled by the name, the other athletes train hard just like me and can outdo many younger people with their skills.

I’ve never had a problem hearing the gunshot they fire as a signal to start the race, but when I first started competing in the games I noticed that other runners could inch up behind me and pass me without me knowing it until they were already ahead. I thought that it was probably because of my intense concentration on getting to the finish line, but I noticed that other runners seemed to hear me when I came up behind them or at least they glanced over like they did.

I decided there might be something wrong with my hearing and got a hearing aid. After I was fitted with one I noticed that there were other sounds that I had been missing, whether it was people talking that I passed on the street or the hum of my washer and dryer.

Now I don’t have to glance over to see if a competitor is about to best me because I can listen for them and concentrate on my own goal of getting to the finish line.