DAVID K E N N E D Y

David Kennedy has been part of Woolgoolga Senior Athletic Club for a number of years now, competing locally on Monday nights with his fellow club members. He recently went to Sydney to compete in the 70-74 age bracket of the Australian Masters Athletics Championships, and returned home with a decent haul of medals! His level of fitness and dedication prove that age is just a number when you find something you enjoy!

Hi David. Could you tell us a bit about Woolgoolga Seniors Athletic Club and how you came to join?

Woolgoolga Seniors Athletic Club competes on Monday afternoons from 4:30 pm at the Woolgoolga Sports Ground from October to March. I joined when my sons were doing athletics at school and I have just continued on from there.

What sort of activities are offered at the club and what do you like to participate in?

The club runs track and field events on a 4 week rotational basis so every event is covered. Each Monday night there will be 5 events made up of jumps, sprints, throws, distance events and walks. I prefer to compete in the jumps and throws events but also like to do the shorter sprint events. I am not too keen on events greater than 400 metres although I will do them on occasions. My favourite events are the Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump and Javelin. What have been some of your favourite things about being involved at the club?

Meeting people of similar interest and the friendships made. I enjoy the competition among others and the opportunity to help and encourage other club members in their events. It is also satisfying when you see the improvement in your times/distances over the course of the season. Have you always enjoyed athletics or is it something you’ve discovered more recently?

I have always played team sports, baseball, cricket and touch football but as I got older it was more difficult to compete with the younger players coming through. I did athletics at school so doing Masters Athletics where you compete with people of your own age appealed to me.

You recently returned from competing at Australian Masters Athletics Championships in Sydney competing in the 70-74 age bracket, what was the competition like and how did you go?

I always enjoy competing at these events with athletes from around Australia and overseas. This year we had athletes from New Zealand, Cook Islands, USA and India competing in my age division where the competition was strong but friendly.

I was able to win gold in the High Jump, Long Jump and Triple Jump. I also got silver in the Javelin and bronze in the 80 metre hurdles.

In my other events I finished 4th in the 60 metre sprint and 7th in the 100 metres. What was your motivation for competing in an event like this?

To see how I compare in my chosen events against others from around Australia and to catch up with athletes I have met previously. It is also an opportunity to compete at first class stadiums.

How often are there events like this that are open to all different ages?

Masters Athletics are open to athletes aged 30 years and above and you generally compete in 5-year age brackets. Each year we can compete at Country Championships, State Championships, National Championships and World Championships. There is also a website dedicated to Master Athletics where results of all athletes worldwide are collated and given rankings so you can easily compare your results to the best in the world.

You’re obviously pretty fit, what effect does being fit and active have on other aspects of your life? Why do you feel it’s so important to stay active?

I live on 1.2 hectares and I doubt I would be able to maintain the property if I were not fit. Staying fit and active I believe keeps you feeling young in body and mind. I seldom get sick and have very few injuries and I put this down to keeping fit and mobile.

What advice would you give to anyone reading this and thinking of giving senior athletics a go?

If you intend to give senior athletics a go, and I encourage people to try it, just take it slow in the first few weeks of competition and slowly build up your performances. I do a lot of walking and that seems to help with keeping fit. It is low impact and does not put a strain on the body. I generally walk 30 to 40km each week when in training.

Who is Woolgoolga Seniors Athletic Club open to and how can people find out more or get in touch?

The club is open to all athletes 15 years and above. We can be found through our Facebook page and website or you can just turn up at Woolgoolga Sports Ground on Mondays from October onwards at 4:30pm for competition.

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It can be confusing to think that your childhood measles vaccination is still going strong, yet other illnesses need regular boosters to work best. So, why do some vaccines last longer than others?

To recap, vaccines work by training the body to recognise an attack and mount an immune response through antibodies and other defence mechanisms. This response needs to be strong enough to decrease the severity of infection or bypass it completely.

When trying to understand why some vaccines last longer than others, as with everything in science, there are several factors. Here are three to remember:

1.Viruses mutate at different speeds. Flu, and now COVID-19, mutate quickly. They can quickly develop new strains that are different from previous ones. This makes it challenging to develop long-lasting immunity against them because the immune system may not recognize the new strains as easily. Polio, for example, does not – making it far easier to contain and potentially eradicate. To address the challenge of new strains, scientists must continuously monitor the virus’s genetic changes and develop new vaccines or update existing ones to match the new strains. This is why flu vaccines are updated annually to match the most prevalent strains circulating in a particular year. The same approach is being taken with COVID-19 vaccines as new variants emerge.

2.Antibodies

decay at different speeds.

The antibodies developed from measles and mumps vaccination take more than 200 years to diminish by half. On the other hand, those for COVID-19 seem to last just several months. The longevity of the antibody response is essential because it helps the immune system mount a more prolonged and effective response against the pathogen if the person is exposed to it again in the future.

3.Vaccination technology has an effect.

There are multiple ways to develop a vaccine.

that provides the best protection against the disease while minimizing any potential side effects.

Boosters are recommended for some vaccines because the initial immune response may diminish over time, and the virus may evolve or mutate, making the original vaccine less effective.

It’s generally believed that live (weakened) vaccines create a more long-lasting response as they are the closest experience to real infection. However, this type of vaccine is not always the right one for a particular illness. Inactivated vaccines, such as the flu vaccine, are made from viruses that have been killed or inactivated, so they cannot cause the disease. Each type of vaccine has its advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, the goal is to develop a vaccine

So, what’s the takeaway? Well, just because one vaccine provides lifetime protection, we can’t assume all do. Boosters are recommended for some vaccines because the initial immune response may diminish over time, and the virus may evolve or mutate, making the original vaccine less effective. Boosters help to stimulate the immune system to maintain or increase protection against the disease. Ultimately, it’s essential to follow the recommended vaccination schedule to ensure optimal protection against preventable diseases.

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