Active Aging Week Profile: Esther Wenzel Keeps Running through Retirement

Esther Wenzel poses with her daughters after they completed a recent "Race for the Cure" run to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness.

Esther Wenzel has always been on the go. She’s been a cartographer, computer analyst, mother, homemaker and bank teller; She’s lived in Colorado, California, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and she’s had one habit that has helped carry her through all of it: Running.

At 83 years old, Wenzel still makes running a top priority. She runs at least three times a week—pushing an hour each trip, walks ½ mile each day from her home at Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community to visit her husband at the Health Center, and typically participates in two 5k charity runs a year. She has done the “Race for the Cure” for breast cancer awareness nearly every year to support friends and family who have suffered from the disease.