“Most people my age are dead,” said 95-year-old retired Penn State engineering professor and United States Navy veteran, George Etzweiler.

“I’m not decaying as fast as the average 90-year-old, apparently,” he went on to say.

He’s not kidding. How is he not kidding, you might say? Let’s review just how remarkable this limber nonagenarian is, and what he does to stay in better shape than most 30-year-olds and definitely all 40-year-olds (and so on and so forth).

Mr. Etzweiler:

  • Ran the New York City Marathon at age 67

  • In his 60s, he climbed all 48 of the 4,000-foot peaks in New Hampshire

  • He became a vegan at age 91

  • He ran the Mount Washington Road Race in New Hampshire in June, which is a grueling 7.6-mile run up the highest peak in the entire Northeast U.S. with a staggering 4,500-foot elevation climb

  • He runs five miles up and down a mountain three times a week

  • He doesn’t consider himself a “runner”

  • He eats a lot of fruit — a LOT of fruit — like for breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day

  • He plans on running Mount Washington at age 100, crossing the finish line and then dropping dead (his words) because it would be “a nice age to die at, and a nice place to die”

You won’t soon forget ol’ George. Probably because there’s very little “ol'” about him.

Non sibi sed patriae.

GQ