There are two words that describe Mimi Beams' biggest motivation to stay healthy: bad genes.

Beams' father, a former football player, was a smoker who loved his eggs and steaks. He was 42 years old when he had his first heart attack and 56 when he passed away with arteriolosclerosis, a chronic disease in which the thickening of arterial walls result in impaired blood circulation.

His death affected Beams, who was 25 at the time, in many ways.

"I have three brothers and a sister, and all of us know that we have bad genes," said Beams, 60, of Honolulu. "I have to be proactive on taking care of myself. And then, as it turns out, I really enjoy it."

For Beams, taking care of herself means running, biking and working out, among other activities.

"It's a habit with me," she said. "I do something every day, always in the morning."

Her exercise of choice is running, which she does with friends.

Beams started seriously running in the 1970s, when she was also an avid tennis player and paddler. She ran her first marathon, the Honolulu Marathon, when she was about 28 years old and continued to do marathons for 12 years.

"My first one was just to do it, then the second one I qualified to run the Boston (Marathon in 1977)," Beams said.

She has also done a number of triathlons and was part of a group of runners who started a women's run that today is the Straub/Kapi'olani Women's 10K.

Before the group organized the women's event, Beams said women often ran in the back of the packs.

"So we had this (women's 10K) run, we put it together and we got to be in the front of the line," Beams said. "It was such a big deal."

Getting into a routine workout, interestingly, came after Beams started running marathons. She went to an exercise class and was in for a rude surprise.

"I (was) this marathon runner and I was out of shape," Beams recalled, laughing. "So I was wildly offended that I was in such bad shape."

That experience evolved into developing a regular exercise routine, done either at home or at the Honolulu Club, where she often works out.

In addition to running with girlfriends, Beams also enjoys biking and golfing with her husband, Biff Grafer, 65, a commercial Realtor. The couple has been married for 25 years.

"We also do sports/active vacations," Beams said. "It's kind of cute, whenever there's a vacation coming up, he goes, 'OK, now I gotta get in shape.' "

Previous vacations have included skiing in Colorado and Utah, hiking in New Zealand, and biking in Europe — from Paris to London — which they did with another couple for Beams' 60th birthday in July.

"It was not your 'country club' bike tour," Beams said. "We biked 50 or 60 miles a day and it was ... wonderful. We really trained for this bike trip."

Beams is already looking forward to another hiking trip to New Zealand in January.

An advertising director at Pacific Business News and busy career woman, Beams' priorities in life stem from something she read by a successful businessman who wrote about what makes great business leaders.

"He said your first priority should be your health, your second priority is your family and your third priority is your career, your job," Beams said.

If you don't have your health, you're not worth it to anybody, and if you have a good relationship with your family, then you can be good at your job, she said.

"So I think without those other two, you can't be successful in your business," she said.

With health as a No. 1 priority, Beams is determined to stay active every day — something that gives her the energy to lead meetings at work.

"When I run a sales meeting and I haven't run in the morning, I'm not as good," Beams said. "But when I come in the office in the morning after a run, I'm much better."

Beams said she also knows the difference of how it feels when you're fit and when you're not fit.

"I feel sorry for people who don't do this," she said. "They're missing out."