At 71, MCHD WIC’s Lynne Ryan bikes to work and jogs on her lunch break
May. 22, 2025
At 71, MCHD WIC’s Lynne Ryan bikes to work and jogs on her lunch break
MORGANTOWN, WV — On the two days a week that Lynne Ryan works as a breastfeeding counselor and nutritionist at Monongalia County Health Department’s WIC program, she pulls up to the office on one of her bicycles that she rides from the Star City rail-trail to WIC’s new location on Pineview Drive, across from Mon Health Medical Center.
But the 71-year-old Ryan’s exercise for the day doesn’t stop with her daily cycling session to (and from) work.
After a morning of teaching new moms breastfeeding techniques and nutritional tips, she dons her exercise clothes again and runs four to five miles during 50 minutes of her hour-long lunch break.
“When we were next to the health department, I would run up to Core Arboretum and then run around the arboretum,” Ryan said. “I was worried when we moved (in February), but I got on Google Maps and found that there is a whole trail system behind Mon Health. I’m loving it.”
Ryan’s overall fitness routine includes running four to five times a week, in addition to biking and other activities such as hiking and swimming.
She sticks to her biking work commute and lunch run year-round, unless the streets are in really bad shape. Arriving at MCHD WIC one recent May morning on a blue Cannondale in light rain, she said, “I’m not going to let a little drizzle stop me.”
May is Older Americans Month, which highlights healthy living as we age.
Then the last Wednesday — May 28 this year — is National Senior Health & Fitness Day.
Ryan, who works part-time at MCHD WIC after retirement, is Monongalia County Health Department’s poster child for this celebration, often out-exercising her younger co-workers.
Growing up, Ryan enjoyed bike riding and she had always skied and hiked, but she didn’t enter this exercise phase of her life until she turned 49, after her four children had grown up.
She was motivated by Morgantown’s first Sprint, Splash ‘n Spin Triathlon.
“I think I want to try that,” she said at the time of the race that required swimming, cycling and running.
Even though her feet hurt after running her first mile, “I pushed through and it was fun. I was completely hooked.”
Eventually, she realized that running is her strength. “As I’ve gotten older and wiser, I’ve learned that it’s important to do the vast majority of my running on softer surfaces. I do no more than 10 percent of my running on pavement.”
While some people might be surprised at Ryan’s level of activity at 71, she has a group of friends, ranging in age from around 60 to 78, who call themselves “The Gang of Five.” They’ve gone on adventure trips to locales such as Baja, Mexico and Croatia, where, with the help of an outfitter, they distance swim in the ocean.
“It’s always a beautiful place, beautiful water,” Ryan said.
The outfitter takes the group out into the ocean in a boat and stays nearby in case anyone needs help because of fatigue or cramps.
Their next destination is Greece in September. “We do five days in a row,” Ryan said. “It’s a mile and a half before lunch and a mile and a half after lunch, and it’s a lot. I can really feel it at first and then I get used to it, and at the end I feel great.”
Exercise is important for all age groups, but for older individuals, it’s especially vital.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, physical activity can prevent or delay many health problems that can often occur with age. It’s also well-known that individuals typically start to lose muscle mass around the age of 30, a process that can accelerate after 60. Recent studies have shown that increased physical activity can also reduce the risk of dementia.
Ryan’s career at MCHD WIC began about six years before she started on her exercise journey. She began in 1997 as a lay breastfeeding counselor. Through the years, she returned to college to get a regents degree at West Virginia University with an emphasis in women’s studies and public health and took graduate courses in nutrition. She also earned her International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) designation.
In the nearly 30 years since she started at MCHD WIC, she’s seen breastfeeding rates rise from about 13% to the 60%-range.
“It’s really correlating with breastfeeding support — more support and counselors and classes,” Ryan said.
Those higher numbers are not just for initiation — mothers who try breastfeeding — but also those who go on to do it for six months or longer. “I hope it never goes backward,” she said.
WIC clients include pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding mothers and children up to the age of 5 who financially qualify. Mothers on Medicaid and foster parents automatically qualify. To see the financial guidelines, go to www.monchd.org and click on the WIC/Breastfeeding tab and then the WIC Eligibility Guidelines tab.
And while WIC provides specific breastfeeding guidance to clients, anyone can attend the free, public breastfeeding classes held at all six of MCHD’s WIC locations: Monongalia, Preston, Marion, Harrison, Doddridge and Taylor. To see times and dates, go to www.monchd.org/services/breastfeeding.
As for nutrition, even someone who has studied it sometimes needs to take stock.
“What I’m really realizing is how important calcium intake is,” she said. “If I don’t take enough calcium as I get older, my bones might not be fine.
“I feel like there is not a lot of room in a healthy diet to have empty calories.”
Another fact that might sound surprising for someone who bikes to and from work and then runs on her lunch break is that Ryan doesn’t always want to go out and do it.
“There are days when I have to talk myself into it,” she said. “But here’s the crux. I’m always glad afterward. I don’t want to go out there on a cold rainy day, but I know if I do it, I’m going to feel good.”