By Ewan Palmer
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A woman in Tennessee has described how she still enjoys bowling twice a week at her local alley even at 103 years old.
Meg Ruckman is proving that age does not mean you stop doing the thing you love by regularly hitting the pins at the Strike and Spare Bowling Alley on Western Avenue in Knoxville.
Speaking to 11 Alive, Ruckman said she didn't take up bowling until she was 60 years old, when her daughter suggested she play with her.
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Now, more than 40 years later, Ruckman is still playing and even competing, taking part in the Spunky Seniors league for players over the age of 50 twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays.
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"I don't know, it just gets in your system and you just love it," Ruckman said. "It's just one of those things, really draws you right in."
Wendy Cox, the general manager of the Strike and Spare Bowling Alley, said that bowling frequently may even be the secret to Ruckman's long life.
"She'll say even when she's sick, the one thing she hates the most is missing bowling," Cox said. "So maybe that is the secret."
Cox said she has been holding birthday parties for Ruckman at the alley for the past few years so she could celebrate doing the thing she loves.
"It's a tradition now," Cox said. "I started at 100 because I thought it was an amazing feat at 100, to be doing what she's doing.
"She's amazing," Cox said, adding other staff members at the alley also enjoy seeing her turn up to play. "She's such a sweetheart. She's a superstar for sure."
Cox says that Ruckman still bowls a good game.
"She's pretty good," Cox said. "She's shot in the mid-400s for three games."
However, Ruckman did admit that time may have affected her performance down the years.
"When you get older and you're not coordinated as good, you can't bowl as well," Ruckman said.
When asked why she thinks she has been able to live as long as she has, Ruckman replied: "God has just been good to me."
With regards to what advice she would give others, the 103-year-old added: "Just do the very best you can."
Speaking to WATE in 2021 when she was 102 years old, Ruckman described how her daughter got her into the sport.
"I came here from another state and I was a little bored I guess, and she was a bowler, so she decided 'you're gonna bowl,'" said Ruckman. "So she got me into bowling and I've been bowling ever since."
She also encouraged others to take up the sport, no matter what age they are.
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