Super competitor walks away with 20 medals
Last updated 13:00 14/10/2013
VIRGINIA WOOLF/ Fairfax NZ
HEAVY METAL: Super participant Deborah Nesti, of Auckland, with her haul of medals from the South Island Masters Games in Nelson.
Relevant offers
Aucklander Deborah Nesti came to Nelson to mainly compete in the NZCT South Island Masters Games walking races and left with 20 medals.
The nine-day event, based at Saxton Field, finished yesterday with the organisers, Sport Tasman, rating it a success and keen to host the games again in two years.
Ms Nesti, 48, is a Masters Games enthusiast after first taking part in Dunedin last year and again in Whanganui in February.
While race walking is her main sport, she's taken to trying lots of others.
In Nelson she participated in 23 events - nine athletics, four indoor rowing, the cross country walk, half marathon walk, relay walk, 5km walk, 10km walk, table tennis, euchre, the Interislander Quiz Night and 10-pin bowling singles and doubles.
"When I started doing Masters Games I entered three events, then I met this guy who was doing eight or nine, so I thought why not. This time I entered a lot of events."
She said the games had given her the impetus to try a lot of activities and to go to place in New Zealand she hadn't been to previously.
"A lot of people say we have a lovely country, but I had not seen a lot of smaller places."
An accountant who runs her own business, she said: "I like the idea of going away on holiday but still keeping fit."
Most of all she loved meeting so many people and said she was inspired by older people who kept fit.
"I might end up like the man who at 99 was still out there walking, I thought that was great.
"I want to be a great role model to my kids, to show that I am out there doing stuff," she said.
Today the organisers were packing down after the event.
Games manager Rita Merriman said 2400 people had taken part, with half of them from out of town and 40 per cent were first-timers to the masters games.
The games had gone smoothly, with volunteers helping to make it a success, along with good support from sponsors and other businesses.
The Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency would assess the economic benefit and report back next month.
Next year the SI Masters Games will be held in Timaru.
"It's been a fantastic nine days. We're looking forward to doing it again and hoping Sport Tasman is awarded the contract in 2015."
No comments:
Post a Comment