OH! Magazine - Australian Version July 2016 | Page 7

am meeting with 70-year-old Novocastrian Laraine Dunn. She’s arrived in Melbourne after having spent eight days on a pushbike named BeDe, which stands for ‘Black Diamond’. BeDe is a 2014 carbon fibre roadbike with a flat bar fitted to accommodate Laraine’s back condition. We’re both in Melbourne to attend the annual FILEX fitness industry convention and the first thing she says to me as she hops off her trusty stead with the boundless energy of a toddler is ‘you know, the ride from Newcastle to here just wasn’t long enough!’ Did I mention she just turned 70? I This is the sort of jaw-dropping statement that comes out of Laraine’s mouth all the time; the stuff that you never expect but really appreciate hearing from someone who – at a glance – looks like she could be your nana but who has the vigour and the ambition of a high school graduate! On all her adventures, BeDe holds two panniers or saddlebags, which can each carry up to 6kg. She also has a smaller bag on the front and Laraine limits her luggage to whatever she can fit into these bags. So I greet Laraine as she dismounts her beloved treadlie, and I ask about her most recent adventures; like why she chose to ride her bike from Perth, across the Nullarbor Plain and all the way to her hometown of Newcastle; and why she wanted to spend two weeks in ‘diabolical’ weather, taking BeDe all the way from the top of Scotland to the very bottom. Her response: ‘Why wouldn’t you?’ Originally, Laraine’s plan was to walk from one end of Scotland to the other, but her calculations revealed it to be an eight-month undertaking, so she decided to ride it instead. The result was a 15- day journey that saw her travel 1,500km in the saddle. She had a riding partner who was 14 years her junior, and at the end of the ride, after constantly enduring the freezing cold weather, almighty gales and – literally – sloshing water inside her socks – he said to her ‘Rinny, you should be proud of yourself. A lot of blokes wouldn’t have been able to do what you’ve done!’ In truth, gender is just one of the many stereotypes that Laraine defies. A long time advocate for active ageing, she has been a fitness instructor for decades. She steadfastly believes that a positive attitude is key to living a healthy and happy life – and she’s living proof that it’s true. In 2005 Laraine was given the fitness industry’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, which acknowledged her accomplishments as a national and international presenter, educator, author and group exercise instructor – a role where she has inspired hundreds of older adults to get out of their chair and embrace growing old with a healthy, positive and active attitude. Married for 37 years to her late husband, Gary, Laraine says that they both tried to live for the moment and enjoy life as much as they could. Valuing the body and taking risks are her ‘big’ philosophies and probably the invisible hands that drive her to do the things she does. ‘I believe in taking at least ten risks a year,’ she says. Actions can be as simple as doing something new, striking up conversations with new friends, learning a new skill or just getting out of your comfort zone. ‘It’s this risk taking that has taken me to the edge lots of times,’ she says, which is evident from her own adventures. ‘But I make a lot of my decisions when I’m outside my comfort zone; and that’s why I like to encourage others to go there too.’ ‘Riding is not an addiction or a religion,’ Laraine says. ‘I just get on the bike and I have this amazing sense of gratitude. The sky, the landscape… it’s all there just for me. And every time I do it, I just think 'thank you, thank you, thank you for this experience'. It’s the smells, the sight – I’m just really aware and appreciative of it all; and having the opportunity to enjoy that day after day after day – well, why wouldn’t you?’ It’s sometimes hard for us mere mortals to keep up with Laraine, particularly when she lists the adventures she’s ticked off her to-do list – most of which are activities that people half her age are fearful of! She recalls jumping out of a plane over Namibia’s Skeleton Coast as the scariest. ‘It was a tiny little plane in a third world country and the guys who ran it looked like they had just stepped out of a bar. It was amazing – all you could see was desert. Jumping out was great but what was more outstanding were the 360s the plane was doing – after the third one I had to ask them to stop!’ she says. Approaching each adrenalin-fuelled escapade with a ‘no fear’ attitude keeps Laraine calm and stops her from backing out (not that it’s ever an option), whether it be hiking Mt Kilimanjaro, swimming with whale sharks on Ningaloo Reef, trekking New Zealand’s less-travelled trails or white water rafting down a crocodile-infested Nile river. Laraine has a new love interest in her life now – in a long-time friend named Ivan. This cheery, bright-eyed chap appears to be an ideal co-pilot when it comes to chasing down adventures. In most instances Ivan accompanies Laraine on her pedal-powered journeys, though you’ll often find him at their end-of-day destination after having arrived first on his motorbike, perched atop of a hill with a pair of binoculars glued to his peepers. In these situations, Ivan’s role is to spot Laraine with enough time to ensure the billy is boiling by the time she parks BeDe up for the night! Laraine Dunn is the epitome of active ageing. She’s a shining example of how powerful a positive attitude can be, and she’s an unexpected role model given how genuinely humble she is in her day-to-day life. Laraine is speaking at the 2016 Women’s Health & Fitness Summit (10 to 11 September in Melbourne). If you’d like Laraine to be a keynote speaker at your next event email [email protected] ( OH! MAGAZINE ) JULY 2016 7