Sanders: My health has been ‘blessed’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Friday that his entire life has been “blessed” with physical vitality.

“I have been blessed ever since I was a kid with really good endurance and good health,” he said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

{mosads}“When I was a kid, I was a good long-distance runner. I was a cross country runner,” continued Sanders, 74. “I won more than a few meets.

“You never know what is going to happen tomorrow to anybody of any age. I have been blessed,” added Sanders, the oldest major presidential candidate. Sanders argued his grueling campaigning style offers evidence his age is not an obstacle to the Oval Office.

Sanders argued his grueling campaigning style offers evidence his age is not an obstacle to the Oval Office.

“I am not quite sure this is the best way to determine who is best qualified to be president of the United States, but we do three or four town meetings a day,” he told Mitchell.

“We work six, seven days a week, 15 hours a day. If the people of America want to know whether I have endurance, follow me on the campaign trail.”

Sanders then joked his energy is so high he considered a boxing career before launching his White House run last year.

“It was a tough decision: Do I get involved in senior boxing [or] go for the light heavyweight challenge?” he quipped before playfully jabbing at Mitchell.

“I decided to run for president, but I am in good health, thank God,” Sanders added.

Sanders’s physician released a letter Friday describing him as in “very good health” and “without limitation.”

Brian Monahan, his doctor in the Senate, noted the Vermont lawmaker had “no history of cardiovascular disease.”

He added that Sanders drinks alcohol infrequently, shuns tobacco and has received his recommended vaccinations.