Marilyn Hilliard is all about winning — even if she has to compete against herself.

Hilliard, 77, of Butler returned recently from Birmingham, Ala., where she competed in the 23rd National Veterans Golden Age Games.

She brought home three gold medals for her efforts, but isn't particularly impressed by any of them.

"There aren't many women my age doing what I do out there," Hilliard said. "I've been winning gold at those games since I started going seven years ago.

"I'm competing against the clock and myself as much as anything. I like to compare my times in bicycling to women in their 60s or even high 50s."

Hilliard won her gold medals this year in the quarter-mile and half-mile bicycle race, along with horseshoes.

"I haven't lost a game of horseshoes at the VA Games since I started playing," she beamed.

Her time in the quarter-mile bike race was 1 minute, 0.16 seconds. She finished the half-mile race in 2:10.

This marked the first year Hilliard failed to finish the quarter-mile race in 59 seconds, her usual time in recent years.

"That disappointed me at first, but then I realized that losing a fraction of a second in exchange for being a year older — that's not so bad," she said.

"My time was faster than women in their 60s. My half-mile time was only three seconds off that of a 57-year-old woman. I'm proud of that. And I'm tickled to death when my scores beat the men. I always check on that."

So it goes with Hilliard, who always is looking for ways to get her competitive juices flowing.

Suffering from arthritis and needing surgery on her ring finger, Hilliard is dealing with the pain until after the National Senior Games, slated for August in San Jose, Calif.

At the 2007 Senior Games in Louisville, Ky., Hilliard made history when she earned the silver medal in horseshoes. She became the first national qualifier from the Veterans Golden Age Games to medal at the National Senior Games.

"I wasn't aware of it at the time," she said. "But now I want the gold at the national games. The same woman who beat me in 2007 — Nancy from California — is coming back.

"If I prepare my best and do my best and still lose, I'll shake her hand knowing she's better than me. That's how sports should be."

An admitted tomboy all her life, Hilliard served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

When she decided to compete in bicycling at age 69, she bought a bicycle. When she decided to get serious about pitching horseshoes, she dug a horseshoe pit in her backyard.

"I didn't want to do it because they're ugly, and I like a pretty yard," she said. "But I've always been serious about competition."

The National Veterans Golden Age Games had 115 participants in the program's first year. There were 682 participants this year.

"We get a lot of the same faces," publicist Kristi Bell said. "Some veterans make it a priority in their lives every year.

"We had 45 World War II veterans competing this year."

While no veteran has participated in all 23 years of the Veterans Golden Age Games, Donald Mullett of Connecticut has been in 21 of them. The oldest competitor this year was Jack Faust, 98, of California.

Hilliard respects the Veterans Golden Age Games, but said they are easier competition than the Senior State Games or National Games.

"I'm thankful for the physical shape I'm in when I go to the VA Games because I'm among the healthier people there," Hilliard said.

She trains for competition year round, taking her bike on 3- to 5-mile rides and pitching horseshoes in her yard.

Hilliard combats her arthritis by staying active and taking supplements.

"When I keep moving, I feel good," she said. "That's why I train and work in my yard whenever I can.

"After I've sat around and watched TV for a while, and when I get up in the morning, that's when I feel like an old lady."

Hilliard isn't trying to beat old age. She's just enjoying competition within it.

"I compete against myself," she said. "I'm always trying to do better, but all I can do is my best."