LONGEVITY
Almeta Jones
For Almeta Jones, fitness has always been the watchword. Now more than ever, as a fifty yearold grandmother, she is, as she puts it, “practicing what I preached.” In recent years, she has taken up vegetarianism, running in competitive events, and educating others on the importance of physical fitness.
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t a young age, Jones was interested in “how to eat to live instead of living to eat,”often reading health books and playing team sports like basketball, softball, tennis, and track.These days, she has renewed her love for exercise by running almost every day and frequenting the YMCA gym and pool.“I try to walk one to two miles and run one mile, five days a week at least. I love to run,” she says of her routine. Jones started running in 2000, with a breast cancer benefit in New York.“It was so exciting to see so many people running for a good cause,” she recalls. Since then, she has run the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K twice, an event that she calls one of the “most exciting” in Richmond. It’s a challenge she relishes,“a natural high to be engaged in.” Jones is also committed to encouraging others to live her motto— “eating healthy and putting exercise in your diet.” This year, she helped ADT Security, where she works as a corporate sales representative, to sponsor 10 people in the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k. She also participates actively in Henrico Health Plus seminars and evening classes on fitness. As she puts it,“challenging others to do good is also a blessing to me, because we all need it.” With the support of her family, Jones has been able to seamlessly incorporate physical activity into her daily life. Participating in races challenges and motivates her and pre-work runs help her to tackle the office with more energy. Her lifelong dedication to fitness has not diminished as she continues to inspire herself and others to exercise, eat right, and stay strong. SBQ
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