One of Vickie Liddell’s stated goals is to inspire others. In that, she has succeeded grandly.
Liddell, 10 months short of the big 7-0, volunteers at her church and also teaches piano. Her day “job,” however, involves sore muscles, sweating and continuing to strive to be the best she can be on the track and field.
Obviously, there aren’t a lot of folks her age doing what she does, and certainly not at the level she does it. Her cohorts, then, are junior high, senior high and a few college kids who work with a coach, Louis Moss. So in a line-up of athletes waiting to high-kick down the track or coil down low as they wait for a whistle to start a sprint, there are 6-year-olds, 16-year-olds and this 69-year-old who, they’d better watch out, will whip them.
Liddell worked as a music teacher, raising several children, many of whom had their day running track. When it came time for Liddell to retire, she said she wasn’t quite ready to retire retire as in scale back and sit and relax.
Now, she keeps one eye on the calendar of racing events across the country, one on her training regimen, and all the while she is paying attention to and taking care of her body. And when the time comes for an event, she hops in her car and away she goes, sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by family members or friends. Her return trip usually involves bringing home the medals she won.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
At some events, she doesn’t need to qualify. But at others that are more restrictive, she does, meaning she may have to go to this race in Arkansas to qualify for a 200-meter race and to that one in Oklahoma to get into a long-jump event.
Coach Moss, himself a former track runner, says he’s never seen anyone with her determination. “I used to do this myself,” he told a reporter. “But I can’t do what she’s doing. She amazes me on a daily basis.”
Not everyone can run a medal-winning 200-meter dash. But everyone can take something from Liddell’s passion for life in that if one puts one’s mind to something, anything is possible. And at any age.
Go, Vickie, go!