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Bay Area Woman Training For Bodybuilding Competition At Age 72

SAN RAFAEL (KCBS) -- A Bay Area woman who first took up fitness training at the age of 48 now hopes to win a statewide body building competition at 72.

San Rafael resident Dixie James has the energy of a 25-year-old.  She exercises or does some kind of athletic activity every day of the week.

"I come to the gym to do yoga, and I swim," Dixie said.

She'll be 73 next month - the same month as her 50th wedding anniversary.

Those two events are a big part of the reason the septuagenarian is training for the Northern California Bodybuilding and Fitness Championship.

"I'm doing more and more since I'm aging, and a lot of people, I think feel that it's OK to stop, and I'm feeling just the opposite. I'm feeling stronger," she said.

Dixie is a proponent of exercise. She says people live longer, live better, and live happier with even just a small amount of exercise.

"Who isn't going to get older? Hopefully we all do, because that means we're living a long life," she said.

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