United Methodist pastor running the race at age 90
May. 14, 2007
NOTE: Photographs and video available at http://umns.umc.org.
By James Melchiorre*
HADDONFIELD, N.J. (UMNS) - The Rev. Champion Goldy, 90, is a man in a hurry.
Driving his car through the streets of Haddonfield, he goes the speed limit - but reluctantly. "All the streets here are 25 miles an hour," he says impatiently.
The semi-retired United Methodist minister likes to stay busy and active - especially when competing in 100-meter and 200-meter races.
"After we moved here," Goldy recalls, "I got this little brochure in the mail (about the Senior Olympics). ... I looked at it and said 'Hey, I can do that stuff.' I went up there, won some medals, and for goodness sakes, I've been doing it ever since."
"Champ" Goldy became a "running reverend" at the tender age of 69. Twenty-one years later, he's still on the move.
Over the years, Goldy has competed in track meets from his native New Jersey to Oregon to Australia, winning dozens of medals. He's scheduled to run later this year in competitions in Louisville, Ky., and Orono, Maine, and plans to compete in the 2009 World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia.
His favorite running events are the 60-meter and 100-meter sprints and the 200-meter run. And, since waiting around between events is not his style, Goldy has expanded his track-and-field repertoire to include the javelin, shot put and discus events.
"The discus, now that's real fun!" he says with a smile. "I like that. I can do that, I think, 68 to 70 feet."
Though he didn't launch his formal track career until late in life, Goldy always has made physical fitness a priority and tried to be a role model for healthy living as a pastor. "In all the churches I was in, I always tried to take care of myself," he says. "We used to develop athletic sports in the churches - volleyball, basketball, baseball. So I kept pretty much in shape."
His love of sports began early, playing baseball as a boy in the tiny southern New Jersey community of Bunker Hill. "When the Lord called me, I was going to be a diesel mechanic," recalls Goldy, who switched gears and was ordained in 1947 after receiving degrees from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Penn., and Drew University in Madison, N.J.
Goldy "retired" in 1986, but remains a part-time staff member at Haddonfield United Methodist Church in southern New Jersey.
"I like to be going and doing things, and retirement just hasn't hit me at all," Goldy says. "As minister of visitation, I have about 120 people who are listed and who are mostly widows."
Goldy believes his commitment to athletic competition helps his ministry. "I think you can be more effective, the healthier you are," he says.
His personal life is very full. Goldy was married for 55 years until his wife, Audrey, died. He married Evelyn Toler seven years ago. He is also a working actor, with appearances in local stage productions of "Our Town" and "Death of a Salesman" as well as in industrial films for insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
"The Good Lord made us not to be sitting around too much," he says. "I just turned 90. My goal is to run the hundred meters when I'm a hundred. I'd like to do that."
*Melchiorre is a freelance producer based in New York City.
News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org
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