Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408040043
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On it was written an Old Testament verse - Isaiah 40:31:
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
It's a verse that Akers now recites nearly every day, usually before she goes running.
The verse "just helps me get through the day," she said.
It also helps her get to the finish line faster than most people her age. Akers, 69, is one of the top distance runners in the state among women her age.
Two weeks ago, Akers won three gold medals in the Commonwealth Games. She didn't have any competition - literally - in winning the 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter runs. No one showed up to run against her in any of those races. She's accustomed to being a one-woman show, though.
"Sometimes my granddaughters will ask me, 'Nanny, did you win?'" Akers said, "and I have to tell them, 'Yes, but there aren't many Nannies out there running.'"
When there are, Akers still wins. She finished first in the 400, 800 and 1,500 during the Virginia Golden Olympics a couple of months ago in Williamsburg. Those victories earned her a trip to the national Golden Olympics next year in San Antonio, Texas.
It will be the second straight time Akers has competed in the biannual event. Last year, she went to Baton Rouge, La., for the national meet and came away with a silver medal in the 1,500.
"She has to get to the national level before she finds any competition," said B.J. Willard, Akers' friend and occasional running partner.
Akers has run around the country in the 13 years since she first slipped on a pair of running shoes and hit the asphalt. She usually comes away with a neckfull of medals from her races. Akers will never want for jewelry again; she owns so much gold and silver. She has won more than 100 medals and trophies during her running career, which began at the tender age of 56.
That's when she was talked into running for exercise by George Porterfield, the husband of her daughter, Cindy. Akers was caring for her bedridden mother at the time, and running gave her a chance to relax and work off stress.
Soon, Akers was running competitively. She debuted at the very first Jurisson Run in 1982, a race she struggled to finish. She hasn't stopped running since, and she's gotten faster with age.
"The next year, we couldn't even see her," Willard said. "She was so far in front of us."
Willard, an exercise physiologist at Radford Community Hospital, uses Akers as an inspiration to some of the older patients she works with in physical rehabilitation.
"Most people figure that if they haven't gotten into fitness by now, why bother?" Willard said. "Louise is a perfect example that it's never too late to start an exercise program. I have her picture plastered on the wall of my office for folks to see."
Akers and her husband, Jack,- who also have a son, Barry - are members of the Senior Athletes of Montgomery County, a group that sponsors sporting competitions and sends members to the state and national meets. Jack Akers, 66, qualified for the national Golden Olympics in golf last year after winning a bronze medal at the state level.
Louise Akers, who will be one of the favorites to win her age group during the Draper Mile race Friday in Blacksburg, often runs with her granddaughter, Carrie Porterfield, who is a member of the cross-country and track teams at Virginia Tech. Her other granddaughter, Katie, also is an athlete, although she prefers basketball.
Akers never had much opportunity to play sports as a child. She and Jack spent most of their adult lives working at Leggett's in Christiansburg. It was only after retirement that she became interested in physical fitness. She either runs or walks three miles daily around her neighborhood.
"I never thought after all these years I'd be doing this," she said. "No, no, no, no. I just thank the Lord I can be out there and do it."
by CNB