Three Jewish community members, Drs. Alan and Sharon Poisner and David Eisenberg, recently returned from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they competed in the biannual National Senior Games along with 11,500 other seniors in 50+ age groups in a variety of sports.
David Eisenberg
David Eisenberg is an attorney practicing in the Kansas City area in labor and employment issues and has been recognized by his peers as one of the Super Lawyers (2005-2021). He is also president of the Heartland Racewalkers.
Eisenberg recently returned from the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland where he was on the bronze medal USA team in the 70-to-74-year-old division. In his second appearance at the National Senior Games, he took silver medals in both races. In 2022, he took a silver medal and a fifth place ribbon in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Since he continues to set personal record times, his prospects of moving to gold seem likely.
Dr. Alan Poisner
Alan Poisner, M.D., is professor emeritus of pharmacology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He has won gold medals in many national and international racewalking competitions over the past 35 years. He is a founding member of Heartland Racewalkers and served as its president for 20 years.
Poisner, a veteran racewalker in the Senior Games, has raced in 15 of the last 16 events, beginning in 1993 (he missed the 2022 event because he developed COVID-19 the day before he was scheduled to leave). This year, he repeated as gold medal winner in both the 1500-meter and the 5K races but did not set any records because he already had the records in the 85-to-89-year-old division. He has now won gold medals in both races every time since 2013. In 2023, there were only two other walkers in his division, but he managed to beat 22 of the walkers in younger age divisions. He is looking forward to the 2025 National Senior Games, where he will seek to establish a new record in the 90-94 division.
Dr. Sharon Poisner
Sharon Lowenstein Poisner, Ph.D., J.D., is a retired history professor and family lawyer who has been active in the Jewish community for many years.
Poisner entered the power walking 1500-meter race in the 85-to-89-year-old division and came in fourth, beating a woman in a younger age division. This was the first race that she had ever entered, although she had been to many racewalking events since Alan entered her life at Village Shalom in 2014. She is eager to come back to the next National Senior Games in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2025.
