Have You Heard About The National Senior Games?

Written by:

Tracey Drews

CTS Premier Cycling Coach

Updated On

September 23, 2025

More than 12,000 athletes aged 50 to 100-plus years old gathered this summer in Des Moines, Iowa for the 2025 National Senior Games. There were more than 20 sports represented, with more than 300 State-qualified athletes competing in cycling events. If you’re over 50 and unfamiliar with the National Senior Games, here are the stories of what it took for two of my athletes and me to prepare for this year’s competition.

What are the National Senior Games?

I qualified for the 2025 National Senior Games, which are held every other year, along with five of the CTS Athletes I coach, and three us competed in the Games. Among the “corn sweated” fields (yes, it is an actual phenomena Corn Sweat and Exercise), cyclists competed in four race distances across two disciples over a five-day period. The first events were five- and 10-kilometer time trials, followed by the 20- and 40-kilometer road races. Results were awarded in five-year age groups and the 65-69 age group was largest for both men and women.

This program has always been special to me, professionally and personally. At CTS we strive “to inspire and empower the athlete in every body”, and in that same spirit the National Senior Games Association (NSGA) provides an Olympic-style multi-sport format for athletes 50+ to compete. The members of this organization believe it is never too late to get active and that camaraderie and competition through sport promotes life-long health and wellness.

How do athletes prepare for the National Senior Games?

I’ve been fortunate to coach athletes for several editions of the National Senior Games. Every athlete has his or her own training history and competitive background, so for the athletes I coached for the 2025 Games, I gathered stories in their own words.

Jim DeGoey’s Senior Games Story – The Veteran Racer

I am an avid masters amateur age-group competitive cyclist who has competed in more than 150 road/criterium/time trial races in the last 24 years. I was really looking forward to competing in the National Senior Games this year. Four years ago, just as I was starting an early morning training ride, I was struck by a kid on an electric rental scooter. I was thrown over the handlebars of my bike and my helmeted head impacted the asphalt trail surface. I suffered fractures in my neck and upper back, along with four fractured ribs. Subsequent spine surgery fused 15 vertebrae and left me slouched shoulders and an immobile neck, but thankfully no paralysis. It took almost a year of failed attempts to realize that I would no longer be able to ride my road bike, let alone race my time trial bike.

Two years ago, I purchased a recumbent racing tricycle. At the same time, I started looking for a new coach with experience working with older recumbent racers. I found Tracey Drews. Together we started planning my competitive comeback.

The culmination of 37 weeks of training prepared me to race the 5k and 10k time trials/recumbent division at the 2025 National Senior Games in Des Moines, IA. I was beaten by 45 seconds in the 5K time trial and earned a silver medal for my second-place finish. The following day I won the 10K time trial by 12 seconds over the first-place finisher from the 5k. This gold medal finish in the 75-79 age group recumbent division allowed me to check off one of my bucket list cycling goals, to win a National Championship by age 100. With Tracey’s help I achieved it 24 years early!

David Hughson’s Senior Games Story – The New Cyclist

Competitive sports were a consistent theme throughout my youth. I enjoyed the competition. Tennis was my primary sport and I was a competitive tennis player throughout college and into adulthood. I didn’t start cycling until I reached retirement age! For the first year I rode sporadically and then transitioned to structured training. This training was exciting, and as I saw my improvements, it reignited my competitiveness.

I met my coach, Tracey Drews in 2020 at my second CTS Cycling Camp in Brevard, NC. After six months of working together individually, she proposed the idea entering the time trial events at my local Senior Games in Missouri. That first time trial at the MO Senior Games was addicting! The venue was peaceful and beautiful, surrounded by agricultural land, an old country church, and the occasional cow grazing in the pasture.

Since that time, I have participated in numerous similar races and earned many medals. Tracey has always been extremely supportive, creating tailored training plans and teaching me subtle race craft techniques. We also enjoy lively discussions about the thrill of competition. In 2024 I qualified in the 5K and 10K time trials for the 2025 National Senior Games in Des Moines, IA.

Attending the 2025 National Senior Games was so much fun. The cycling competitors were cheered along the roads by family members, friends, and volunteers each day. The scale of the event was much larger than my local and state level races. One of the most thrilling things to see was the podium of three men aged 95 to100 years old. They probably received the loudest cheers and applause of any podium group. For me, it was a wonderful opportunity to see and be a part of such an expanse of ages and abilities all in one venue, cheering for and racing against each other.

My Senior Games Story – The Comeback Coach

I earmarked Des Moines early in 2024 as my return to National Senior Games competition after a 12-year hiatus and set the path to qualify using the South Carolina and North Carolina Senior Games. In May 2024, I qualified for all four events in South Carolina and raced North Carolina games for training. Living in Asheville, NC, training was going well until September, when Hurricane Helene devastated the area.

The hurricane and aftermath led to inordinate levels of stress for several months. In all that chaos and stress, I found myself unable to train and experienced depression, anxiety and heart arrhythmias. After emergency room visits for those symptoms over the Holiday Season in December 2024, the first six months of 2025 included two weeks of 24-hour heart monitoring, to be followed in April and July with visits to the cardiologist to consider my options for an ablation procedure for atrial fibrillation (a-fib).

Thankfully, the frequency of the heart arrythmia diminished by the end of June. During this time, I reduced my training volume and intensity, rarely riding much above Zone 2. There was an occasional race specific session, but not much more. In the July visit to the cardiologist, I discussed my desire to race in Des Moines and cleared me to race but advised that I should use “good judgement”. He also gave me some medications in case of emergency.

Armed with my doctor’s approval and an emergency plan, I set my goals for the Senior Games. I would compete in my races but committed ahead of time to stopping if symptoms flared. And even if I couldn’t race, I would still be able to support Jim and David’s efforts.

While my training was sparse during the nine months leading into July, I am so glad I made it to the races. NSGA and Des Moines did not disappoint! The race venues were well organized, the courses were challenging, and staff/volunteers were friendly and helpful. My competitors were strong and fierce, but gracious and supportive of each other off the “battlefield”. I was able to perform well and garnered second place in the 5k TT and sixth-place finishes in the 10k TT, 20k road race, and 40k road race in the 65-69 age group. Best of all, I witnessed Jim’s triumphant return to racing and David’s competitive spirit reignited in a different sport.