Some fine-tuning continues to be done for each NZ Masters Games. Entry numbers will wax and wane and in a bid to keep numbers up, the minimum qualifying age has been lowered (it now starts at 20). But the competition is arranged so it's like competing against like; the competitors up against others of a similar age.
The Masters Games had its genesis with a ground-breaking European tour by American and Canadian masters athletes in 1972. It was followed three years later by the World Veteran Track and Field Championships in Toronto. The World Association of Veteran Athletes (WAVA), later the World Masters Athletics, was founded in 1977.
Fast forward to January 1981 and Palmerston North hosted the grandly named Interessen-Gemeinschaft Alterer Langstreckenlaufer (IGAL) road running world championships with the WAVA track and field championships held a few days later in Christchurch.
By then Kiwi sports media finally began to take masters sport seriously, rather than showing images of decrepit runners falling over hurdles.
The Palmerston North Harriers' Club organised the low-budget 1981 IGAL event with a group of volunteers. It was seat-of-the-pants stuff because on registration day the competitors' numbers, ordered from the US, had not arrived. Organisers compromised, buying plastic material, cutting it up and writing the numbers with felt pens.
Despite this hiccup, sunny weather and a large crowd made for a carnival atmosphere and a highly successful event. It was just the sort of event to get people thinking about what could be.
The first World Masters Games was in Toronto in 1985 and the impact of 8300 participants on the local economy ensured the games' survival, despite a financial loss for the organisers.
Three years later Christchurch initiated a South Island Masters Games but the first NZ Masters Games, initiated by Arthur Klap, was held in Wanganui the following year.
With just 1400 participants in 31 sports it was regarded as something of a novelty. Few were farsighted enough to comprehend the impact the event would have on the city but, in the coming years, the biennial games attracted up to 8000 entrants and 67 sports, making it the biggest Masters Games event in the country by far.
Since 1992 the games has been annual, alternating between Wanganui and Dunedin. Disposable income, free time and active lifestyles make the event a target market for equipment manufacturers, host cities and the travel industry. Obviously it has economic benefits for the city even if not all competitors stay for the full duration of the games.
What makes Wanganui the ideal venue is the clutch of sports facilities within the a small area at Springvale Park. Two stadia, open sports fields and an indoor swim complex can't be replicated in many other places so it makes it the ideal hub for many events, as well as the logical home for the Games Village.
The village provides a unique focal point with dining, entertainment and commercial activities side by side. It's the place where competitors unwind and enjoy the social side of the games. That big marquee becomes Party Central for 10 nights.
Wanganui's location on the North Island's west coast has helped create the "Wild West" theme for this year's event. And that theme is one the organisers are urging the competitors to embrace.
But what makes the game succeed is the involvement of the competitors and the unstinting help from an army of volunteers.
Few people in Wanganui don't know Bevan Tasker and he's one local who has a remarkable record of offering his services to the games. He's been at every Masters Games in Wanganui since 1989, four in Dunedin and two Pan Pacific Games.
No surprise then that Tasker received the Volunteer Services Award in 2013.
In Dunedin for last year's event, he was asked by the local paper why he keeps doing what he does. His reply was that it was all about enthusiasm.
"I like to meet up with my old mates again."
Tasker said from those small beginnings 26 years ago he had no idea the event would grow to what it has. He reckons part of that success lies in the fact it gets older people out of the house.
"It builds their confidence and helps them meet other people to get different views on life. Some people groan and grizzle because they have an ache and pain but some competitors overcome great odds and have a great outlook on life."
He's won medals in bowls and Twilight 400, will be among the army of volunteers oiling the wheels of the Wanganui games and will be back in Dunedin in 2016.
He has some positive advice for competitors at this year's Games: "Participate and enjoy it. Meet new friends and look forward to meeting up with them again."
David Archibald, a 65-year-old Auckland builder, has been coming to the Wanganui Masters ever since he took part in his first Games here in 1990. And since Dunedin started sharing the event he's been to that city for every Games as well.
"I came with a touch team called F Troop and we won gold that first year in Wanganui," he said.
This year Archibald is competing in touch and indoor rowing.
"I used to do proper rowing in the 1960s and have been doing indoor rowing for the last 15 years," he said.
He usually has success, maybe not always a gold medal but at least a bronze.
"Just being able to pack my bag and go is the key thing about the games for me."
This year he will stay for three days, enjoying at least one day of rest and recreation. But his other priority is being back home for the imminent arrival of his first grandchild.
The Masters Games officially open at 7pm on Friday, January 30, with competition beginning the next day. The event closes on Sunday evening, February 8.
