High mileage - Benefits of a healthy lifestyle

Asked to imagine a typical grandmother, most people would probably envision a grey-haired old dear in a gingham dress and wolly cardigan, sitting in an armchair by the fire and doing her knitting, or watching television.

Joan Brady is not anyone’s notion of a typical grandmother. She has just clocked her 350th kilometre as a passionate sportswoman and runner. She hardly broke a sweat yesterday as she completed the Dublin mini-marathon, a race she has contested for 35 years.

Joan, who is 78, is as fit as a fiddle, while many Irish people half her age are shaped like a cello, due, largely, to a sedentary lifestyle.

The National Guidelines for Physical Activity recommends that people should undertake at least 150 minutes of activity per week but successive surveys by the HSE has revealed that only around 40% of adults get enough exercise.

Joan is an example to us all that the best way to stay young, as well as physically and mentally fit, is to get outdoors and walk, jog, or run to your heart’s content — in every sense.