Competition adds a social aspect to a fitness routine

He already signed up for the 52nd Annual Peachtree Road Race, which takes place July 3 and 4, through Atlanta. He considers himself an “age-grouper,” meaning he competes against people his

own age. This December, Webster will turn 65, which puts him in the 65-69 group. “I'll be among the youngest in that age group, something to look forward to,” he says. TAKING UP A SPORT

LATER IN LIFE You don't have to have had a long athletic career to benefit from a bit of competition. Bill Cordes, 75, of St. Cloud, Florida, is a late bloomer who recently placed

third in the U.S. Tennis Association 50-and-over 3.0 division in the National Singles Championship. Cordes didn't start competing in tennis until 2018. Up until then, he had been an

avid spectator, attending tournaments and following his favorites, like Roger Federer. Then he heard that the USTA planned to build a world-class national tennis facility in Orlando. The

64-acre facility includes a player development area for professional athletes, including those who compete in Grand Slams. Unfazed by his age and inexperience — he occasionally played on the

weekends, but had never competed — Cordes persuaded his wife to move nearly four hours north to be near the campus “so I could play every day,” he says. A U.S. Army veteran, Cordes signed

up for a USTA military program that offers free instruction for military members, took some lessons and started competing. His tennis career blossomed. For lifelong athlete Kathleen

Fitzgerald, 78, of Norman, Oklahoma, competition keeps her accountable and focused in a way that's different from taking a daily jog or a yoga class. "You have a purpose. You have

a goal you're working toward,” says Fitzgerald, the executive director of the Oklahoma Senior Games, in which she competes in table tennis and track and field. “You sign up for the

competition and you know it's coming and if you aren't prepared it's your own fault.” Until seven years ago, Fitzgerald was an ice skater, winning a silver medal in the senior

games’ 55 and older competition. When she came off the ice, she says she realized that for her, it wasn't all about winning. “It was an appreciation for the people that had helped me,

like my coach, the other skaters... Just the whole process of setting the goal and then working toward it,” Fitzgerald says. For Hennessy, the softball player, nothing beats the feeling he

gets when he steps up to bat or catches a ball in the field. “All of a sudden everything else melts away,” he says. “You don't worry about any other problems. You're just playing

with your friends." Video: Philosophy Professor Turned Boxer _Merlisa Lawrence Corbett is a contributing writer who covers sports, interior design, business and human-interest stories.

A former reporter for _Sports Illustrated _and tennis columnist for _Bleacher Report_, her work has also appeared in _Essence_ and _Black Enterprise_. She is the author of the biography 

_Serena Williams: Tennis Champion, Sports Legend and Cultural Heroine_._