HATAITAI former Olympic 5000m runner Anne Hare has returned from Sydney with gold and silver medals hanging around her neck.

Anne destroyed the field in the 45-49 years 5000m event at the 2009 World Masters Games, and took silver in the 1500m.

“It’s all a bit of fun,” she says. “We took the kids over for a bit of a holiday beforehand and then went to the games.”

People 25 years old and above are able to enter certain events at the games, but are not selected to represent their country.

“If you want to compete, you have to make your way there yourself. Some people wear country colours and some wear club colours. It’s really down to the person.”

Anne – who got 13th in the 5000m at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and is now on the New Zealand Olympic Committee – won her Sydney gold in a time of 17 minutes 52 seconds, nearly a minute ahead of second place.

She competed in three Commonwealth Games, running the 1500m, 3000m and 10,000m at the 1986, 1990 and 1994 games, respectively.

Anne still holds records in two races in America at the Syracuse 5km and the 4 mile Buffalo race.

She has a best time of 15minutes 21 seconds in the 5000m, faster than the gold-winning performance at last year’s Beijing games.

More than 28,000 people from 95 countries attended the masters games in Sydney – a record number for the event.

Anne, a financial consultant for Craigs Investment Partners Limited, and husband Chris have coached various athletes. She stays fit partly by running to work in the city from their home Hataitai.