Record breaker heads to world champs

Mitch Joynt of Milldale says he was not particularly competitive before he had his right leg amputated below the knee following a wood chipper accident. He was 18 at the time and working as an arborist.

He says having such a major accident as a teenager gave him time to rehabilitate and recover.

It wasn’t long before he began thinking about proving himself in competitive sport. After initially trying rowing, and representing NZ in a World Cup as a snowboarder, he discovered a talent for sprinting six years ago and hasn’t looked back.

When not working as a full time truck driver, he trains hard, wearing a state of the art running blade, and works out in his home gym.

Mitch says mainly he competes against himself, because sprinting is all about times. He currently holds the Oceania records in

Charity golf tournament ‘a great day off work’

Two Coast accountants, Jason Tudor and Brodie Hunt, are making a name for themselves, having won or placed second in three recent charity golf tournaments. Although neither are members of a golf club, and Brodie only recently started getting a handicap again, the pair enter the tournaments to support various good causes, and “for a day off work”.

Their success surprised them. Jason, 50, says his sport is stand up paddleboarding, although before a tournament he goes to a driving range or maybe does a practice round.

Brodie, 40, played golf a lot when he was younger and in the last 12 months he has played a bit more.

Players are put in teams with people you may not have met before, and Brody and Jason also play some charity tournaments with Jason’s son, Troy.

“Because you play as a team, you don’t have to be brilliant yourself,” Jason says. “What it comes down to is we work well together

Open Day

Friday 23 June, 10am-2pm

Framed by 16 hectares of lush gardens, with a range of fantastic facilities and close to every amenity, life in this fabulous community is like a coastal escape every day of the year. Take a tour at our Open Day, treat yourself to light refreshments and discover relaxed retirement living in Red Beach.

For the life you want to live Call Kerensa on 09 421 9723 kerensag@metlifecare.co.nz 101 Red Beach Road, Red Beach the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m events. Next month the 28-year-old is off to Paris to compete in the World Champs and he still has around $5000 to raise to make the trip possible.

Donations can be made here: https://givealittle. co.nz/.../mitch-joynt-to-world-champs

– particularly when putting, and knowing the lines we want to hit.”

“Turn up and have a good putting day is key,” says Brodie. Both encourage anyone to take part in charity golf events, regardless of their skill level.

“The majority are novices, and adjustments are made for those with handicaps so it’s a level playing field,” Jason says.

Winners of Milford Rotary Club’s recent golfing tournament, Coast charity golfers left, Brodie Hunt and Jason Tudor.

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^ Price is for an Occupation Right Agreement secured by a first ranking mortgage in favour of the statutory supervisor on behalf of the residents. Price valid for 30 days from time of printing. Stock availability subject to change. Car park not included in price. Note: Visitors must be feeling well to enter a Metlifecare site. Mask-wearing within a village is optional. For full Metlifecare COVID-19 guidelines, please refer to our website metlifecare.co.nz

Health

David Cooper, physiotherapist david@kineticsrehab.co.nz

Journaling for health

The start of winter is upon us as May rolls into June – though admittedly it feels like we have already had enough rain to last us a lifetime. All that aside this is the season for evenings spent rugged up on the couch. Before you reach for that smartphone though, hear me out.

The human brain makes up a mere 2 percent of our body mass, and yet it consumes over 20 percent of our energy demands simply to keep our body systems functioning! Keeping the brain healthy has been proven possible with a raft of activities such as reading, chess, Sudoku, crossword puzzles and more. Another activity increasingly showing up in the cognitive function literature is the art of journaling. This is a habit that I personally adopted around seven years ago when first going into business ownership. My journaling is perhaps better described as ‘rambling’ as I use simple, plain lined A4 books void of dates, days or in fact any other detail. Along with the date that I write in the top right corner, the most common two headlines on any given page are “Thoughts” and “Headspace”. Each journal of roughly 100 pages will last around two months, with the date ranges for each book written on the inside cover. Once completed it will be carried around along with its replacement for a week or two before joining the growing collection on the bookshelf at home.

Some of the personal benefits noticed include improved decision making, improved sleep and being able to process and work through challenges with less stress. I found myself able to better reflect on situations while writing by hand; often with tangents, arrows and diagrams thrown into the mix. For this reason an iPad or phone-based journal wouldn’t work for me, though I am aware there are some tech options out there. I have found that when facing a similar challenge to one encountered in the past, I am able to find the exact journal and page where I had written about it with almost photographic precision. Given I can hardly remember where my keys are on any given day (as my wife can attest to), this is rather surprising.

The research however shows why this is not a surprise. Journaling has been shown to improve memory, reduce stress, improve recovery from injury or trauma and create long term reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression.

For some the habit takes a while to develop and may need a daily almost ritualistic approach. Others, such as myself, are more free-spirited, sporadic and random. Every entry certainly doesn’t need to start with “Dear Diary” but regardless of which approach is taken, I would highly recommend this to people of all ages and stages. Get writing people!