Judah Kelly is a self-confessed adrenaline junkie and her need for speed is getting stronger by the day.
The year 9 Queen's High School pupil has been winning a swag of medals since she began competitive roller speed skating.
In her first year in the New Zealand team, Judah, who turns 13 tomorrow, won six of her seven races at this month's Oceania speed championships in Timaru, and in doing so won the overall cadet girls category.
The races were in varying distances and a combination of short road and banked-track disciplines.
Kelly set a sizzling time of 29.57sec in the banked track 300m time trial, cutting 2sec off her fastest time. It was the fastest time at the Oceania event across all female grades, and just 0.41sec outside Nicole Begg's New Zealand record, set in 2006.
She said it was an "incredible buzz" to do so well so early in her career and it has just made her even more determined to perform better next year.
Kelly went into the Oceania championships as a junior New Zealand champion after dominating her section at the indoor New Zealand championships in Timaru in January.
She won the 100m and 300m time trials on the banked track, and the 300m and 1500m events on the flat track, and was part of winning relay teams on each track. Her time of 33.133sec on the 300m flat track was a national record.
Born in Wanganui, Kelly moved to Dunedin two years ago with her parents, Rowan and Leon, and four older siblings.
Her mother and father were "massive" supporters, as was her grandmother, Robina, who would travel from Wanganui whenever she was competing.
"My grandma got me into the sport five years ago and since then she has never missed an event," Kelly said.
She enjoyed competing in the banked track races because she "loves going fast", and preferred the shorter distance races because they were easier on her legs.
"I have a passion for skating and I don't know what I would do without it.
"It's not just hard, but also fun, and I love that I get to meet a ton of different people from different countries." She trains three or four times a week with a small group of people at a Dunedin car park and often trains in Timaru.
Because Dunedin does not have a roller speed skating club, she is still a member of the Wanganui club, but is considering a move to the Timaru club.
She said Timaru coach Bill Begg had been a "huge help" in progressing her skills.
Kelly's goal is to compete in the world speed skating championships within the next three years.
In her spare time she enjoyed hanging out with friends and playing the piano and keyboard.
When asked about other thrill-seeking activities she would like to do, Kelly's face lights up as she responds: "I so want to do bungy jumping and sky diving".
For now, she is quite happy to settle for speed.
