82-years “young”: Never lost her competitive edge

Every morning Cathy Behrens walks out her front door to sit outside to snack on some fruit, where she is typically accompanied by a feathered friend.

She feeds a roadrunner who is recently brave enough to approach Behrens after her early morning bike ride in the outskirts of Pahrump. But during the summertime, instead of biking, Behrens would drive over to the outdoor 25-yard community pool to swim laps as she trained for her next swimming competition.

Behrens trained hard at the age of 82-years-young to compete in the Nevada Senior Games. She’s always been competitive and even in her senior years, she doesn’t see why she couldn’t remain competitive.

“I love it,” Behrens said after being asked why she stays active and competes. She’s always been a fan of swimming ever since she was a little girl. And her will to stay active stems from her passion.

“I use the word passion because that’s really important in exercise,” she said. “If you love it, you’re going to do it. But if you don’t love and enjoy it, you’re gonna quit.”

Behrens has seen it, after a year, people will quit and get heavier – it even happened to her. She didn’t like feeling sluggish so she got back into staying active to where she is today, a gold medalist from the NSG swimming competition.

But it wasn’t always this nice for Behrens.

New beginning

Back in Cleveland, Behrens owned a successful nursery garden business with her husband at the time. The business ran for roughly 15 years.

“I loved the business, loved it. I love flowers,” she said. “But the marriage was terrible.”

After the husband left for Las Vegas, she got a divorce and Behrens found herself in one of the roughest patches of her life with two kids to feed and care for.

She went from having a thriving business to selling everything and moving to Las Vegas after her daughter at the age of 15 wanted to stay close to her dad, which was devastating news to Behrens in 1987.

“Everyone goes through a rough period,” she said. “I don’t care who you are.”

With two kids and in a new city, Behrens had to make it work.

“I gotta feed the kids, I gotta put clothes on my back and I went through a series of jobs,” she said, before she went to school to become an aesthetician, which she said was the best thing to ever happen to her.

She eventually landed a job that treated her well, where she worked in a spa on the Strip. Now she was able to afford a house and build her life back up in the 15 years she was there.

“I was there when Mike Tyson was coming to Vegas and fighting,” she said. “I was there when Steve Wynn opened the Mirage, opened Treasure Island and everything was gold.”

Behrens retired at 62 with a home in Las Vegas, a lot in Pahrump and with savings, until she got the itch to travel to Australia.

“I never looked back”

For nearly 20 years, Behrens had been searching to find a way to travel to Australia. As she thought about it in her home she began to look around, when she came up with an idea.

“You know, I could sell this house and I could get money to go to Australia,” she said. She realized she would still have a house payment at the age of 94, but on her birthday, the house sold. and she took a long-anticipated trip to Australia.

“It got sold and I never looked back,” she said. She’s lived in Pahrump full time where she has been training and staying active since.

Now Behrens wants to be able to keep up with her 21-year old granddaughter, who is in the process of becoming a firefighter.

And she will soon, through an organization called Nevada Rural Retired and Senior Volunteer Program. Behrens will soon be helping inspire older folks who are homebound and will keep them company.

Some of the participants are down after sad circumstances and all Behrens wants to do is give back.

“I love to give, I love to give to people,” she said. “I just want to help someone feel a little better that day.”

Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@pvtimes.com. Follow @JimmyRomo.News on Instagram.