Asking a woman her age is regarded as a bigger liberty other than, perhaps, uttering that well-worn one-liner.... "your place or mine?" at the end of your first date.

But when I spoke to Pat Oakes she freely told me she was 56 and proud of it. And so she should be, because Pat is no ordinary 56-year-old.

Mother of four, grandmother of one, married to Paul, and living in Sidcup, Pat is still showing that age is no barrier to sporting success.

Indeed, her achievements and that of her athletic-mad family are nothing short of masterful.

Pat, pictured above, is an honorary member of Cambridge Harriers and has represented them on and off for the last 40 years, while also competing internationally for Wales during the 1970s.

Nowadays, Pat competes in league meetings with other members of her family for Medway & Maidstone AC, but it has been her excellence in various masters and veterans' championships in the far corners of the globe which have made her a sporting heroine.

She said: "I've recently returned from San Sebastian, in Spain, after competing in the European Veterans' Indoor Championships.

"I did not win gold on this occasion, but still managed to break a British record and won a silver and two bronze medals in the women's 55 to 59 age group.

"I went to the championships knowing that a British or even a European record in the triple jump was a possibility. Ironically, I didn't quite make it but, unexpectedly, broke the British record in the pentathlon!"

Pat added: "My first four pentathlon events went unusually well. I ran the 60-metre hurdles in 11.69 seconds, high-jumped 1.21 metres, threw the shot 8.30 metres and then leapt 3.93 metres in the long jump.

"I am a very weak 800-metre runner and had done little preparation for this discipline because of a lingering chest infection.

"But I managed to maintain my silver medal position behind the Swiss athlete and ahead of the Austrian competitor to score a record 3,330 points overall.

"From round two in the triple jump, I was in the gold medal position with an 11-centimetre advantage right up until after my sixth and final jump. Two competitors were left to take their final attempts. The Finnish athlete leaped ahead of me with 8.84 metres followed by the Swiss representative who managed 8.79.

"So within a couple of minutes, I had been relegated from gold to bronze but still well ahead of the rest of the field, including the reigning outdoor champion.

"My best jump of a good series was 8.76 metres and was not far short of the records I am hoping to achieve in the near future. Currently, the British record stands at 8.90 and European at 8.95 metres.

"These championships rounded off a busy period since last August when I competed in Potsdam, Germany in the European Oudoor Championships.

I had been carrying an Achilles injury throughout the summer but took my chance at Potsdam and was surprised to win a silver medal in the triple jump and bronze in the 80-metre hurdles.

But that was just a pipeoner for our globe-trotting athlete who, in October, travelled to Melbourne to contest all three jumping disciplines, 80-metre hurdles and javelin at the World Masters' Games.

Pat added: "This is the biggest multi-sports event in the world, with more than 25,000 competitors from around the globe. I won gold medals in the hurdles and all the jumping events, plus bronze in the javelin.

"But to be fair, the competition I was up against was not so hot as in Europe, because fewer top athletes returned to the southern hemisphere, having took part in the World Veterans' Athletics Championships, held in Brisbane the previous year.

"My preparation for the European Veterans' Indoor Championships in San Sebastian was ideal preparation for the British Championships held in Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, where I won titles in all my events.

"However, I have to go abroad to find enough athletes to make my events exciting and this will certainly be the case in July, when I shall be contesting the triple jump and 80-metre hurdles at the bi-annual World Masters' Championships being held in Puerto Rico."

And I bet you will be simply a Puer genius, Pat!