Use it or lose it. Wear out; don't rust out. The facts are clear: Regular exercise, especially for older people, is vital to health and well-being. "But if it's not fun, you're not going to do it," says Barbara Jordan of South Burlington, who leads physical fitness classes for seniors at UVM.

The Green Mountain Senior Games is the place to have this kind of fun on September 15 at Castleton State College. Whether you are a couch potato or a super jock, GMSG offers sports competition for all comers.

Initiated by the Governor's Committee on Physical Fitness 24 years ago, the purpose of the senior games is to "get people out and moving," says coordinator Ardis Smith of Weston. Smith, now 84 years old, was a competitive runner until she broke a hip. She has been involved with the games since they started. Her motto: Compete In Senior Games For The Health Of It.

The games include activities for people at every fitness level with competitions in five-year age cohorts from 50 years old and up. This year the games include runs of various lengths, tennis, bean bag toss, badminton, bowling, swimming, basketball, croquet, table tennis, softball throw, golf chipping, (bring your own equipment), frisbee throwing, precision walking, racquet ball, pickle ball, and new this year - line-dancing (no partners needed). This year and on other even years, many of the events enable people to qualify for participation in the National Senior Olympics held on the odd years. Next year the National Senior Olympics will be held in Louisville, Kentucky on July 8, 2007.

Besides the annual statewide event, the Green Mountain Senior Games also coordinates regional senior sports days in different towns throughout the year and special events, like the bowling qualifier for the national games to be held on September 30 at Twin City Lanes in Barre.

Nancy Fitch of Burlington has been playing tennis for 40 years. "It's a social thing," she says. She plays 2 - 3 times a week, indoors in the winter. She is going to Castleton to qualify for the national games. "It's just fun," she says. "You get to see people you haven't seen all year. It's important, as you get older, to keep participating, competing, being out there."

Bob Willey of Essex Junction loves basketball, and he has been playing for sixty years. He is going to Castleton to coordinate three-man teams in each five-year cohort for qualifying for the national games next year. When he is not at his day job at Vermont Systems, his family-owned computer business, Willey plays at the Essex Sunday Basketball League and with the Golden Rims at the Racquet's Edge, whose members range in age from 50 - 75. "I just like the game," he says. "It keeps me limber and agile. "Competition makes keeping fit more interesting. Basketball is more fun than just running by yourself."

Flo Meiler, 70, of Shelburne is a cheerleader for the Vermont games. A track and field multiple medal winner in the National Senior Olympics, she picked up her latest trophy in June at a meet at the State University of New York in Albany, where she became the only American woman in her age group to finish a steeplechase - five times around a 2000 meter track, including 23 jumps, five over a water barrier.

Meiler loves the high-end competition, but she also loves the low-key fun parts of the Vermont games. This year she plans to participate in the precision walk - which anyone can join. You estimate your walking time for one mile and then strive to meet that time. Strength and speed can be a handicap in this competition that relies instead on an accurate estimate of your ability. Meiler is also looking forward to line dancing, a new activity for the games, which she hopes will be part of the 2007 Senior Olympics.

"If you keep physically fit, you tend to be more mentally fit," Meiler says. "And you don't have to be a super-jock to enjoy the Green Mountain Senior Games."

For more information about the Senior Games, contact Ardis Smith at 802-824-6521 or ardissmith@mymailstation.com

Barbara Leitenberg writes on senior issues for the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging. This article originally appeared in the Burlington Free Press.