Lou Peyton, 70 and her husband Charlie, 73, are not letting their age slow them down.

The Little Rock, Ark. couple, originally from Vicksburg, competed in the BluzCruz kayak race for the fourth year in a row this weekend.

“We’re very happy,” Lou said. “We placed third in the K2 recreation tandem mixed category.”

In addition to running, biking and hiking, the husband and wife duo compete in about three kayak races a year, Lou said.

“It’s like running because the same people go to races and they’ll ask you if you’re coming to whatever the next one is,” she said. “They encourage you to come to more.”

Lou said they first learned about the BluzCruz while competing in the Phatwater Challenge in Natchez.

“We met Tim McCarley who was race director of the BluzCruz,” she said. “You know he’s so outgoing and represents Vicksburg so well.”

Lou said she was in the middle of the Mississippi River between Port Gibson and Natchez when she heard McCarley say he was from Vicksburg and immediately a bond was formed.

“He invited us to come to Vicksburg and paddle this race, so we did,” she said. “That was four years ago, and we’ve been back every year.”

Lou said she and her husband love their hometown of Vicksburg and they always wish they could stay longer.

“I think the people are so friendly in Vicksburg and welcoming to other people,” she said. “I think everyone goes away looking forward to next year, and they want to bring other people. We tell other people about this race, and you just want to pull people down here because it is so much fun.”

Charlie shared many of the same sentiments as wife.

“We are really BluzCruz fans,” he said. “Vicksburg is lucky to have something like the BluzCruz.”

Friday night the couple drove around town pointing out where they and other friends used to live and other landmarks that are important to them.

Lou said despite they’re age, they’re still staying active.

“I think our bodies are holding up well, but we really can’t go out and run 15 miles,” she said. “I can hike 15, but I can’t run.”

Lou said their big workouts take planning.

“(We do) two days of low intensity if we’re going to do a long ride,” she said. “I like to take two days off after. Someone told me, you taper down to do a race then you taper back up, and I think that works well. It keeps you from getting injured.”

The couple competes in a 62-mile bike race every year in Little Rock, and they work several run races.

“I run Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a group of friends,” she said. “As far as races I haven’t raced in a while, but I have registered for a race on Labor Day weekend in Tennessee called Race for the Ages.”

Lou set records with her running at the age of 45.

“In 1989 I was in a group of women, and we were the first women to run the grand slam of ultra running,” she said. “That is completing four 100-milers in a summer. Three Arkansas people, myself and three men, went on and completed another 100-miler, so I ran five 100-mile races that summer.”

Charlie and Lou also both ran the Boston Marathon in 1985

Lou said she and her husband have always lived a very active lifestyle.

“When he was working, he would run to work, or if it was a day he didn’t want to run, he would bike to work, so he would get his training in just going to and from work,” she said. “Now we are doing longer rides rather than as much running.”

When the Peytons’ children were growing up, they may not have always appreciated their parents’ lifestyle, Lou said.

“They probably wanted to go to the mall and meet their friends, but we’ve always had an active lifestyle,” she said. “Charlie and I both enjoy exercise.”