92-Year-Old Has Eye on World Senior Games

One sprightly 92-year-old man is gearing up to go the distance at the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah, next week.That man is longtime Hollywood publicist Julian Myers, who has represented everyone from Julie Andrews and Gregory Peck to James Dean and Marilyn Monroe throughout his 61-year career in public relations.

Myers — who told AOL News that he “had to drag Marilyn Monroe out of bed twice in the morning for press interviews” back in the day — is now pushing himself to seize the day as he prepares to compete in 13 track and field events among his peers at the annual Huntsman World Senior Games.

The games — which attract athletes 50 and older for sporting events such a cycling, running, soccer, table tennis and square dancing — are taking place Oct. 4 to 16, and Myers will be there to do his part on the track.

“It’s the first year they’ve allowed us to compete in more than six events at once, so I’m entering 13 in the track and field category,” Myers explained with glee. “I’m starting my shot put and discus career for the first time this year. I started my javelin career at 87 because there’s always time to learn something new.”

Myers’ long list of events includes the 3,000-meter run, the javelin toss, the long jump, the triple jump, the shot put and the discus.

He figures he has a pretty good shot at the running events, not because he’s lightning-fast, but because he’s usually the only one competing in his age range, which is the 90- to 94-year-old category.

“Hardly anyone my age runs the 3,000-meter, so I can probably win that one. I’m going to try everything I can, except for the high jump,” he says.

Myers, who has run 25 marathons so far, says he’s been preparing all year to get in tip-top shape for the games.

He runs at least one mile, six days a week — five miles every Saturday — around his home in Marina Del Rey, Calif.

Additionally, he says he frequents Santa Monica High School to use its track facilities, where he gets in practice on the long jump.

“I just did a senior track meet this past July, too, so that helped me a great deal. I also plan on taking a few Pilates classes before Huntsman to loosen me up,” Myers says. “I train all year for this. I just try to live a healthy life every day.”

Besides a passion for being active, Myers says he competes in track events to promote a friendship-appreciation holiday he and his wife, Patsy, created six years ago called Amigo Day.

“It’s celebrated the first Sunday of every month. All you have to do is be with friends and show them you love them. We want the world to have at least one happy day each month,” Myers says.

The elderly athlete’s ultimate dream is to have Amigo Day added onto calendars and observed around the world.

“I’m working on it, but I’m still young and I’m going to make it happen. I expect to live to at least 120, so I have plenty of time,” Myers adds.

For now, he promotes his holiday by wearing a special rainbow-colored Amigo Day T-shirt while running around his neighborhood or competing in marathons.

And though that’s usually his sole agenda at the Huntsman World Senior Games each year, this time, Myers says he’ll be sporting a different get-up.

Like an experienced publicist, Myers will don a T-shirt promoting his latest Hollywood project, a 75-minute film he’s hoping to make titled “Nighthawks: The Movie” about artist Edward Hopper’s famous painting by the same name.

Myers is looking for folks to help produce and finance his film, so he’s hoping to excel in his events at Huntsman to get both his shirt and his project noticed.

The former 20th Century Fox publicist says his passion for showbiz is what drives him to stay healthy and fit, so he can continue making his dreams come true.

“I’ve lived the luckiest life of anyone I’ve ever known,” Myers says. “And I have a lot left in me.”