Athletes and volunteers make sure the Minnesota Senior Games take place (PHOTOS)

St. Cloud/Sartell (WJON News) – The Minnesota Senior Games concluded Sunday. The four-day event concluded with swimming at Tech High School in St. Cloud and mixed pickleball at Sta-Fit in Sartell.

Michael Weeks of Batesville, Arkansas, has been competing in the multi-state Senior Games for over 7 years and has won 776 medals. His goal is to win 1,000 medals by the time he turns 70. Weeks says as long as he stays healthy, he should be able to achieve his goal:

“It just depends on how I feel because it seems like I’m always hurt because I do so many of these things that it’s just always a possibility.”

Weeks took part in all 16 swimming events this year, as well as the 200-meter run and all field events. The 84-year-old Craig Walker from Redlands, California, has won nearly 1,200 medals, has been competing for 12 years and says he has no plans to stop:

“There is nothing better than the feeling of going to a swimming meet and having so much fun that you forget that you are an old man for a few hours.”

Walker says he participates in about 25 events each year. Pickleball had the most participants, with 226 players. The games would not have been possible without the support of volunteers.

Lyndsey Stram coordinated all the pickleball players in the second year. She says the schedule is the biggest challenge, as you have to try to keep track of what age group and who is playing on the 10 courts and when.

She says that all the phone calls and emails with questions can also be challenging, and that there is one question she has had to answer often:

“Funny thing is, in pickleball, people can be a little snooty about the ball we play with. So that was a big question, and we play with the Franklin X-40s, and I’ve had to tell so many people that.”

Stram says they’re working hard to get everyone taken care of before they get to the games. The Senior Games had nearly 100 volunteers helping coordinate 15 different sports and over 700 athletes from 24 states participating. Check out photos from some of Sunday’s events below.

READ MORE FROM AUTHOR PAUL HABSTRITT:

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