A group of Pahrump senior citizen athletes will be travelling to St. George, Utah to participate in the Huntsman World Senior Games, an annual event that attracts more than 10,000 participants.
Sprinter Marvin Caperton will try to defend his world title in the 50-meter run, where his personal best is 7.08 seconds.
“I should defend my title,” the 59-year-old sprinter said. “I have been working hard all year to do that. My goal is to win the national competition and the worlds competition in my age division.”
A life-long athlete, Caperton played football and ran track at UCLA, he also participates in the 100, where his best time is 12.01 seconds.
Participants age 50 and up are eligible to participate in the senior games, which offer a variety of sports. Besides the regular Olympic sports like swimming, archery, cycling and track and field, other events include pickle ball, table tennis, lawn bowling and horseshoes.
Medals for the games are given out in age divisions. The opening ceremony will be held on Tuesday, but events start running Sunday through Oct 18.
Caperton, who regularly participates in senior events in Las Vegas, said he enjoys the competition the games provide.
“It is an exhilarating experience and I enjoy the competition and it’s a lot of hard work,” Caperton said. “I train four times a week. I work out two days a week in the gym and two days on the track.”
Caperton will be joined in Utah by Kim Bradshaw, who will be playing with a Reno-based softball team. She will play third base in the 55-and-up division and is 59 years old. Her team won the Rock ‘n Reno Challenge Cup softball tournament in that age group in May.
In her ninth year in the senior games, Bradshaw said the love of competition and camaraderie keeps luring her back to the diamond, often beating younger competition along the way.
“I do this for the competition,” said Bradshaw, who has played competitive softball for most of her life. “I love to compete and I love to see my friends every year.”
Bradshaw enjoys competition so much she said when she is too old for softball she may try the horseshoe competition at these games. She plays a lot of horseshoes in Pahrump when she is not playing softball.
Bradshaw said two other local residents will be playing softball at the games — Kathy Hawk and Karen Osborne — but will be playing for other teams.
While she enjoys the sport and time with teammates, Bradshaw remains focused on obtaining the ultimate goal.
“Nobody likes to lose, but we can play serious and still have time to socialize and have fun,” said Bradshaw, hoping to improve on her best ever finish of a silver medal.