thedrifter
07-30-08, 07:03 AM
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
A 62-year-old leatherneck hopes to earn his stripes on 'American Gladiators'
Fitness devotee Al Adams Moreno is applying for the show, saying he's in better shape now than when he was in the Marine Corps.
By PETER LARSEN
The Orange County Register
Comments 0 | Recommend 1
Al Adams Moreno refuses to act his age. To be precise, at a point in life most guys are looking forward to more time on the golf course or the couch, the 62-year-old private investigator hopes to get in the arena with the "American Gladiators" and show them what a tough old dude can do.
"I think it's a real positive story," Moreno says of his quest. "It's not only inspirational to the baby boomers, but to be able to participate and bang heads with those gorillas in a credible way will give people pause."
It's a dream, Moreno says, he's been waiting to fulfill since the tender age of 50, when after making it through the auditions for the original "American Gladiators" he was crushed to see the show canceled before he had his shot on TV.
"When that show came out, I first tried out in 1994, in Studio City," says Moreno, whose firm, Global Investigations, has offices in Newport Beach. "And I made a pretty good showing. Then the second year, I tried out again and got really, really close.
"So then in '96, they had the tryouts in Orlando, Fla., and I flew out and I qualified," he says. "I was waiting, sort of the 'Where do we go from here?' thing, and living in Newport at the time. And one of the girls at the gym was dating this Turbo guy" – an original gladiator – "and she said to me one day, 'Al, did you hear? They canceled the show.'
"And I went, 'Well, (bleep)!'" Moreno says.
Forced to wait, he continued his regular hard-core workout routine, hitting the gym at least six days a week, taking up rock climbing, and generally keeping fitter than guys half his age.
"It drops jaws," he says of the workouts he does. "I've got a six-pack now that I didn't even have when I was in the Marine Corps."
After "American Gladiators" returned to the air this year, Moreno eventually filed his application, 20-some pages and a video, the latter of which – viewable HERE– offers a convincing argument for giving him a spot on the show.
In it, you see Moreno going through the Marine Corps fitness test at Camp Pendleton. Competing alongside the Marines in two active duty companies, Moreno knocks off 21 pull-ups in 30 seconds, does 100 sit-ups in two minutes, and runs three miles in just over 18 minutes.
"Out of 241 guys, there were seven guys, myself included, who got the perfect score of 300," Moreno says. "Funny thing, I still have my physical fitness sheet from '68 at Pendleton, on my way to Vietnam – I did more pull-ups now than I did back then."
That he's able to do any of this is something of a miracle, Moreno says. As a second-grader he was diagnosed with Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease, a condition that causes hip damage and knee pain.
"I had a brace, elevator shoes, crutches," he says. "The doctors were all, 'Don't plan on doing anything physical for the rest of your life.'"
By junior high school, though, he had recovered with no long-term damage, leaving him free to run track and play football in high school, serve in the Marines and on the Los Angeles Police Department, and eventually – he hopes – take on the gladiators.
"My sprints are good, my strength is good, and then there's crashing heads, and that's not going to be any problem at all," Moreno says.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7787 or plarsen@ocregister.com
A 62-year-old leatherneck hopes to earn his stripes on 'American Gladiators'
SIX PACK: Al Adams Moreno, shows off his abs while rock climbing.
COURTESY AL ADAMS MORENO
Ellie
A 62-year-old leatherneck hopes to earn his stripes on 'American Gladiators'
Fitness devotee Al Adams Moreno is applying for the show, saying he's in better shape now than when he was in the Marine Corps.
By PETER LARSEN
The Orange County Register
Comments 0 | Recommend 1
Al Adams Moreno refuses to act his age. To be precise, at a point in life most guys are looking forward to more time on the golf course or the couch, the 62-year-old private investigator hopes to get in the arena with the "American Gladiators" and show them what a tough old dude can do.
"I think it's a real positive story," Moreno says of his quest. "It's not only inspirational to the baby boomers, but to be able to participate and bang heads with those gorillas in a credible way will give people pause."
It's a dream, Moreno says, he's been waiting to fulfill since the tender age of 50, when after making it through the auditions for the original "American Gladiators" he was crushed to see the show canceled before he had his shot on TV.
"When that show came out, I first tried out in 1994, in Studio City," says Moreno, whose firm, Global Investigations, has offices in Newport Beach. "And I made a pretty good showing. Then the second year, I tried out again and got really, really close.
"So then in '96, they had the tryouts in Orlando, Fla., and I flew out and I qualified," he says. "I was waiting, sort of the 'Where do we go from here?' thing, and living in Newport at the time. And one of the girls at the gym was dating this Turbo guy" – an original gladiator – "and she said to me one day, 'Al, did you hear? They canceled the show.'
"And I went, 'Well, (bleep)!'" Moreno says.
Forced to wait, he continued his regular hard-core workout routine, hitting the gym at least six days a week, taking up rock climbing, and generally keeping fitter than guys half his age.
"It drops jaws," he says of the workouts he does. "I've got a six-pack now that I didn't even have when I was in the Marine Corps."
After "American Gladiators" returned to the air this year, Moreno eventually filed his application, 20-some pages and a video, the latter of which – viewable HERE– offers a convincing argument for giving him a spot on the show.
In it, you see Moreno going through the Marine Corps fitness test at Camp Pendleton. Competing alongside the Marines in two active duty companies, Moreno knocks off 21 pull-ups in 30 seconds, does 100 sit-ups in two minutes, and runs three miles in just over 18 minutes.
"Out of 241 guys, there were seven guys, myself included, who got the perfect score of 300," Moreno says. "Funny thing, I still have my physical fitness sheet from '68 at Pendleton, on my way to Vietnam – I did more pull-ups now than I did back then."
That he's able to do any of this is something of a miracle, Moreno says. As a second-grader he was diagnosed with Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease, a condition that causes hip damage and knee pain.
"I had a brace, elevator shoes, crutches," he says. "The doctors were all, 'Don't plan on doing anything physical for the rest of your life.'"
By junior high school, though, he had recovered with no long-term damage, leaving him free to run track and play football in high school, serve in the Marines and on the Los Angeles Police Department, and eventually – he hopes – take on the gladiators.
"My sprints are good, my strength is good, and then there's crashing heads, and that's not going to be any problem at all," Moreno says.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7787 or plarsen@ocregister.com
A 62-year-old leatherneck hopes to earn his stripes on 'American Gladiators'
SIX PACK: Al Adams Moreno, shows off his abs while rock climbing.
COURTESY AL ADAMS MORENO
Ellie