Senior Games Keep Bringing These Couples Together Lori Riley June 7, 2009Bob Davidson yelled to his wife as he ran by on the road, then tossed her something wrapped in a handkerchief. "Don't lose it," Jan Davidson recalled him saying. "My teeth are in there." She unwrapped the handkerchief and found his partial plate. He was having a hard time breathing so he took it out. "He changed his way of breathing," Jan said. "So he can keep his teeth in now." More photos Such is the life of the wife of a Senior Olympian. But Jan and her friend Nancy Tribou don't mind. They are fixtures at road races and track meets, sitting in the hot sun or under umbrellas in the rain like last Sunday at the Connecticut Senior Games at Trinity College. The guys — Bob Davidson of Canton and Bill Tribou of Granby — run and win the medals and trophies and occasionally complain about how much slower they are than they were 10, or even five, years ago. Bob will be 80 next month. He has been running since he was 55, and he and Jan have been married 59 years. Bill, 88, has been running since he was a high school sophomore and was an All-American at UConn in the 1940s. The women sit on lawn chairs or bleachers, coolers of egg salad sandwiches and drinks handy, chatting with each other and cheering for their guys. They have absolutely no urge to join them. "I ran a mile once," Jan said. "The next time, I tried to do it and I had to stop. I thought, 'Well, this is ridiculous. I can't do it anymore.' So I never tried it again. I can walk faster than I can run." "I never tried," Nancy said. "I'm a spectator. I go to the pool and do water aerobics." Both men are still ultra-competitive. Nancy worries that Bill, whom she met at a widow and widowers group at church 27 years ago, will push himself too hard and get hurt. "Take it easy, Bill Tribou," she said quietly, as he ran the 100 meters. When he went by, both women cheered. Bill joked when he returned to the bleachers, "I didn't hear a soul cheering for me. I wish I had my hearing aid. I might've heard somebody. I almost looked up here and said, 'For God's sakes, give me a clap or something.'" "I always cheer for you," Nancy said. Bill and Nancy have been going to the National Senior Games since 1991. Both couples have traveled all over the country, and Bill and Bob have won a slew of medals. There used to be more men on the track and more wives in the group on the sidelines, but as the runners aged, some stopped competing. Walt Gale of Windsor Locks, who was a competitive age group runner, can't race anymore because of health reasons. Most Thursdays, however, he still manages to get out and run and walk with Bob and Bill on the rail trail in Simsbury. Walt's wife Pat, a self-described couch potato, misses the camaraderie. She got to know Nancy Tribou at the 1996 Senior Games in Greensboro, N.C. "The guys went off and she and I were going out to eat," Pat said. "Instead, we went to have hot fudge sundaes. I thought, 'Here's a lady I'm going to be friendly with forever.' "We used to have a lot of fun, sitting in our chairs, laughing, and having a good time." About a year ago, Bill — who was running 25 minute 5K road races in his early 80s — slowed considerably. He didn't go to races as much as he used to. Nancy — whom he refers to as his manager — missed it. "We always have had fun, wherever we went," Nancy said. "For a while, he wasn't running and I said, 'I don't like this. I can't see any friends. I don't see anybody.' " Bill couldn't stay away. He ran the 100, 200, 400 and 800 last Sunday. There were only a few spectators, but the "managers" sat right in the middle of the metal bleachers, comfortably sharing a lounge chair cushion and sodas from the cooler. "We always go out to eat afterward," Jan said. "That's the important thing." Last winter, Bill ran a 6K race in Florida, finishing third in the 75-and-over age group. The overall winner had left already, leaving behind his prize of two dozen roses. They were presented to Nancy, the oldest runner's wife. "That was wonderful," Bill said. "That was a nice move." Bob appreciates his "manager," too, and not just because she is good with directions so he doesn't get lost going to races. "If the tables were turned, I don't know if I would be able to do for her what she's done for me," he said. "I watched one race once and I said, 'Now, this is most boring sport there is to watch.'"