DES MOINES, Iowa — Ron Peterson, 82, of Waukee was selected to be one of the flag bearers for the State of Iowa in the National Senior Games hosted in Des Moines.

Peterson has always had an active life. Before he retired, he would play basketball on his lunch hour at work. When he was 51 years old, he entered into a bike ride across the country, riding over 5,300 miles. After the race, he took a recommendation from his friend the next year.

At 52, Peterson competed in his first Iowa Senior Games. Now, 28 years later, he still competes in Iowa, surrounding states and Florida. Through his time competing, Peterson has racked up 1,250 medals, of which 825 are gold.

Those medals weren’t all won when he was younger, either. In the last Iowa Senior Games, Peterson competed in 26 events; he won gold in 25 of those.

This is the first year that Peterson has competed in the National Senior Games. He was selected out of over 600 Iowa athletes to be the male flag bearer for the opening ceremony.

“Well, it’s quite an honor. Honestly, I mean, out of all the athletes that do compete, I think we had about a thousand people competing in this last Iowa Senior Games. So out of all those people to be selected, this is quite an honor,” Peterson said.

It’s not just the games themselves that Peterson looks forward to, either.

“It’s fun to win medals, but, the other part of it that I really enjoy is the social interaction,” Peterson said. “You meet so many people. And, the more events you get into, the more people you are going to meet. Over time, they become good friends, even your best friends sometimes.”

In the National Senior Games, Peterson will compete in eight events in the areas of basketball, high jump, discus, shotput, and corn hole.

The games start July 24 and run through Aug. 4 at various locations around the Des Moines Metro. Learn more about the event and find out how you can watch the games here.