A decision to run in the 1992 London Marathon to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary has had far-reaching effects for John and Norma Marshall, who will be visiting Wanganui for the 2013 Games from their home on the coast of The Netherlands.
Close friends of Wanganui school-teaching and netball identity Marge Keelty, John (68) and Norma (66) were born in the UK but Norma grew up in Australia. The pair moved to The Netherlands in 1974 in connection with job opportunities.
``We live in Oostvoorne, which is a village on the coast near Rotterdam,'' said John.
``We have always been active in various sports and decided in 1991 to run the 1992 edition of the London marathon to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. And we have never stopped running since then.
``We are members of an athletic club in the region, Voorne Atletiek, and still train four times a week, as well as swimming as cross training.
``After London our hobby became competing in a marathon in an exotic location and combining this with a vacation. In this way we have run most of our 25 marathons around the world, including the Millennium Marathon in Hamilton, starting at 6.30am on January 1, 2000, the first marathon of the new millennium.''
John says they have been retired for nine years and still enjoy lots of travelling.
``As well as running we have set ourselves a yearly challenge. These have included cycling Lands End to John O'Groats in the UK, the Zermatt Marathon in Switzerland (finish at 2700m), and climbing to the Everest Base Camp and also Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa.
``We have never previously participated in any Masters Games but have been to Wanganui three times visiting an old school friend, Marjory Keelty _ we were members of the same swimming club in the UK. We are looking forward to our visit to Wanganui and the challenge of participating in the four running events of the Games,'' he said.
Brian Fothergill has made it part of his life to return from Brisbane to each Masters Games in his old home town of Wanganui, and he always makes himself extremely busy.
``I have entered swimming (pool and openwater), indoor bowls, kayaking, and petanque,'' he said .
``I have been to every Masters Games since the start, except one (Dunedin) and been to four world Masters _ Canada, Italy, Brisbane and Sydney _ winning over the period of 30 years 95 gold, 40 silver and 24 bronze.''
Brian was born in Aramoho in 1940, leaving in 1970 to go to Brisbane, ``where I opened a comic shop called `Daily Planet', which I sold last year after 32 years''.
Brian says his highlights in Wanganui included winning the 1960 bridge to bridge, representing Wanganui in swimming and harriers and also dabbling in table tennis, indoor basketball, badminton ... and drinking after hours at the Grand and Rutland hotels!
``I was also commentator for Ocean View Speedway and the Cemetery Circuit, taking part as `Sideline Sid' from the 2XA radio station, which I did with Eugene Crotty and Doug Armstrong.
``I still always make sure when I visit to go to Ian Boyland's Sunday session, which has been going for 60 years. And I still have many friends there, including my daughter Joanne McKinley, and it is always a delight to come back home ... kindest regards to all.''
The Pakuranga Bowling Club in Auckland has shown the way to people from New Zealand's biggest city on how to celebrate a bit of Masters sport. ``This is our fifth year at the Masters Games and the third time that Pakuranga Bowling Club members have attended the games in Wanganui,'' said Jill Fraser of the Pakuranga Club.
``We started in 2009 as a small group attending our first games in Wanganui. We came home with 17 medals in all and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the hospitality of the Wanganui people, especially the bowlers.'' So it grew.
``We went to Dunedin in 2010, Wanganui in 2011 and back to Dunedin again in 2012, where we won a total of 37 medals. The trips have been most enjoyable and the group has steadily grown in size and this year there are 15 entering and playing in all the events.
``We have three players who have attended all five games. Age range is from 65 to 86 and bowling experience covers a number of years and we also have some former Auckland representatives in our team.''
All team members have been together for quite a while.
``The players all work hard volunteering at the Pakuranga Bowling Club and most are past or present board members. At the Masters Games the evenings are spent out to dinner and are finished off with a `fines' session.
``This session builds up the camaraderie among the players and contributes to the enjoyment of the trip. Fines are for mundane things like `failing to win a medal that day' or `leaving one's bowling hat in the motel'. Fines are spent on a great night out last evening at the Games,'' she said.
Something for budding track cyclists at the Games to think about.
If you're not too keen about riding the banked Velodrome track, three Wanganui Cycling Club stalwarts will show you how.
Lyall Haistie, Adam Hamlin and Zeb Walker are holding late Friday afternoon coaching sessions at the Velodrome, starting at 5.30pm, on how to handle a bike on the banked track.
Come along and give it a try _ and then enter the track cycling at the Games.-->-->-->
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