Fall 2018
A publication of
STAYING HEALTHY IN RETIREMENT
Active senior citizen? Thy name is Don Schiff Retired banker competes in bike and obstacle course races, climbs walls BY LYLE GANTHER lganther@shawmedia.com PRINCETON — Don Schiff of rural Princeton believes life is good at 78 years old. After retiring in 2007 from a Princeton bank at age 67, Schiff has stayed physically active the past 11 years by competing in bike racing, obstacle course races (OCR) and now rock climbing. “Your age is just a number,” Schiff said. “I want to eat better, stay healthy and enjoy my family.” He now stays in shape by jogging to prepare for rock climbing instead of riding a bike, which he did for the first seven years of retirement while winning 104 trophies, medals and jerseys in the 123 races. The past two years, he got hooked on obstacle course races, winning 21 medals. Schiff found obstacle course racing as much of a physical challenge as racing a bike for 40 to 100 kilometers without stopping. After 2014, Schiff lost interest in bike racing and found obstacle course racing to be his next challenge. This is where a person encounters 30 different obstacles during the 90 minutes of competition. He also competed in an abdominal snow race Jan. 7 in Geneva, where he won his age group This past year, he has done rock climbing, most of it being inside. Schiff admits it was scary rappelling down granite walls that were 112 feet tall in Baraboo, Wis. He also likes Upper Limits in Bloomington, where old silos have been renovated to 10 climbing routes of 60 to 70 feet high.
See ACTIVE, Page 4
Shaw Media/Lyle Ganther
ABOVE: Don Schiff of rural Princeton wears his trademark red, white and blue headband while displaying some of the awards he has won during his retirement years while racing bikes or competing in obstacle course races. RIGHT: Don Schiff competes in an obstacle course race. He also started rock climbing this year and competed in bike races for many years to stay active in his retirement years. Photo contributed