4th Annual Element Care PACE Olympics

Five Salem residents haven’t given up on their Olympic dreams and they are all over 55.

In fact, they will be participating in the 4th annual Element Care PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) Olympics. The PACE Olympics will be held from 10 to 1:30 p.m. on June 18 at Danvers Indoor Sports, 150 Andover St. in Danvers.

The Salem residents will be competing on one of seven teams representing Element Care sites on the North Shore and Merrimack Valley. Approximately 80 participants (many of whom will be over 70 years of age) will be competing in this year’s PACE Olympics which will consist of four games: Bocce, Bean Bag Toss, Fast Ball Relay and a new event, Puzzle Relay.

The games are extremely competitive with participants practicing at least 2-3 times a week, some even daily leading up to the event. Each team will be supported by cheerleaders decked out in their team colors with noisemakers, necklaces and pom poms. Just like the international Olympics games, the PACE event offers a variety of games, multiple rounds of competition, intense training and athletes who come together to compete for the ”gold” or in this case the PACE Olympic Trophy that will be awarded at the end of the event.

The goal of Element Care’s PACE Olympics is to promote wellness and a healthy, active lifestyle for older adults so they can live in their homes and communities, safely and comfortably, for as long as they can, keeping their stays in hospitals and nursing homes as minimal as possible.