Maurice Newman has skated the Berlin Marathon 16 times and two 24-hour races at Le Mans

Sixtieth birthdays tend to be marked with a meal, a card about being “over the hill” and, if you are lucky, a decent bottle of something. Maurice Newman marked his by putting on a pair of roller skates for the first time.

Twenty years later, at 80, he is a regular with the London Skaters group, has completed two 24-hour skates on the Le Mans race circuit and the London-to-Brighton skate, and has skated the Berlin Marathon sixteen times — his fastest, about 1 hour 39 minutes, when he was in his early seventies. He also rides a unicycle.

“When I skate I feel free, it’s like being a child.” — Maurice Newman, Time Out London

The “unsuitable” activity

There is a category of activities that people over 50 quietly rule out for themselves — not because a doctor has said no, but because they seem to belong to a younger crowd. Skating. Skateboarding. Climbing walls. Stand-up comedy. Surfing.

Newman’s story, and the piece in Time Out that profiled him alongside other older Londoners, is a reminder that the rule is imaginary. In the same article Stella Ralfini, 77, describes starting stand-up comedy at 76 with a first gig at the Comedy Store.

“I’ve learned that nothing is impossible if you’re willing to take the risks.” — Maurice Newman

Why the group matters

Look at what Newman actually does: he skates with London Skaters. The 24-hour events and the Berlin Marathon are group events. This is the pattern in nearly every story we run — the people who are still going twenty years later are the ones who found other people to do it with.

If you take one thing from this: choose an activity with a club attached. The skating, the running, the swimming is the excuse. The Friday night crowd is the reason you are still there in year twenty.

A word on risk

Skating at 80 carries obvious risks, and Newman is candid that taking them is part of the point. We are not going to pretend otherwise. But the answer to “what if I fall?” is not always “don’t skate”. It can be “learn to fall, wear the pads, and skate with people who will pick you up.” Which is more or less how children do it, and Newman says the whole thing makes him feel like one.