While elderly people ran the risk of sitting on the couch and "vegetating", Mr McKenna said being active kept his diabetes under control, increased his fitness and stopped him gaining weight.
"It seems to be working - I'm still alive," he said.
Being part of a group also provided social interaction and motivation to exercise regularly, he said.
"If you know you're going to go down and meet somebody you're going to commit yourself," he said. "It has that effect of getting people out and around. There's no commitment, no membership fees. If you don't turn up, you don't turn up."
His weekly walking group, which leaves from Decor Gardenworld at 9am each Thursday, has about 25 members, including some from overseas who share their time between Los Angeles, the United Kingdom and Thailand.
Every third Friday, the group also ventures outside Tauranga for a walk, covering kilometres of scenic North Island walks together.
The group also has two pot-luck dinners each year and walkers have broken into smaller groups for weekly treks to the Mauao summit.
Locally, Tauranga City Council seemed to be updating walking and riding tracks across the city - meeting the demand from recreational groups, Mr McKenna said.
Fellow City on its Feet walker Jenny Clare has been meeting her walking group every week at Memorial Park for the past 10 years. The group has five "fitish" members, who set off from the fountain at 9.30am sharp each Wednesday for a half hour walk before heading to a cafe for a coffee and chat. "It's just a nice little chat and a break out of the house. We chat away as we go round and have coffee," she said.
Meanwhile, Dana Thomson became the leader of one of the city's six new cycling groups after attending an event during February's Bike Wise month. The 25-year-old, who works in health promotion, runs the weekly Ladies Social Road Riding Group around the city, leaving from outside the QV Eatery, opposite Tauranga Hospital, at 4.30pm each Wednesday.
Miss Thomson moved to Tauranga from Melbourne six months ago and saw the group as a way to meet new people. "It's been fun to meet a few new people and everyone's been really friendly," she said.
The group has attracted five women in its first three weeks, ranging from their 20s to 50s, who start on Cameron Rd and make their way to a quieter area in The Lakes, Matapihi or Otumoetai. The rides last about an hour and cover 15km to 20km. Miss Thomson said there was safety in numbers on the road. "It helps people build those road-riding skills."
The women's group aimed to be inclusive, catering for all riding abilities and fitness levels, she said.
In Mount Maunganui, popular women's surfing group Surfemme has about 28 members who share their skills with others wanting to learn to surf.
Founder Tarina McKenzie started Surfemme in 2007 when she and a group of surfing friends had young children. A group of the mums would surf for 40 minutes, while the others looked after the children, and vice versa. With their children now at school, Mrs McKenzie said "surfing mums" get-togethers were infrequent but she was still connecting local women with others who wanted to surf and provide childcare via the Surfemme Facebook page.
