For Wes Boyea, track and field is a lifelong pursuit.
The 74-year-old Ballston Lake resident will head to Pittsburgh on July 7 for the 2023 National Senior Games, an event that hosts the nation’s top athletes 50 and older every other year. He has been selected as a Humana Game Changer, an accolade that honors athletes who exemplify healthy aging and inspire other seniors to live healthy lifestyles.
Despite his recent success, Boyea overcame serious hurdles to reach his current fitness level.
Boyea, who had competed in the shot put and discus events in high school, said he rediscovered track and field in his early 60s. Then, two days after competing in an Albany track meet, he suffered a heart attack.
“I ended up in Albany Med with a five-way cardio bypass surgery,” Boyea said. “After all the research was done, it (turns out) it was because of Agent Orange exposure that I got in the military.” He had served in Vietnam in 1968 as part of the army’s first infantry division.
After the heart attack, Boyea said his path back to track and field was a struggle.
“I couldn’t carry a quart of milk for two or three months … the first struggle was being able to get to the end of my driveway and back,” he said. “My wife was right there the whole way, pushing me. And she kept saying ‘You’re not just going to sit on the couch and do nothing, right?’ ”
Week by week, Boyea continued to regain strength by doing exercises like walking his dog around the block. In about a year, Boyea said that he was back on his feet.
“Slowly I was able to incorporate more serious training,” he said. “About a year later I was back throwing in the Senior Games.” Boyea first competed in the 2013 Senior Games in Cleveland.
Now, Boyea said that he practices the shot put, discus, and javelin events three times a week. In…
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