The 40-year-old will head to Calgary, Canada, in June, where she will compete at the world powerlifting championships in the masters 1 under-84kg category.
Having qualified for the event at the national championships in August last year with a total lift of 337.5kg - combining bench press, squat and dead lift - it had been a long preparation.
Saturday's southern provincial championships would act as her ``dress rehearsal'' for the big event.
That rehearsal was something coach Chris McIntee said was better to do in the Southern Powerlifting gym in Fryatt St, rather than on the world stage.
McIntee had proved key in Park's journey and, indeed, got her into the sport three years ago.
Having just competed in his first event, he suggested Park and friend Shelley Kennedy have a go at a mock competition being held at Absolute Fitness.
Despite having less than a month to prepare, they decided to do it,
and it turned out to be a good decision.
While plenty of success has come since then, the personal challenge was what made Park stick with it.
``I quite enjoy it,'' she said.
``It's a good sport for anyone to get into.
``It's all personal achievements, I suppose.
``You only really compete against yourself and the more you can do, the better you are.''
That enjoyment has been key to fitting lifting into a busy schedule.
Between working at the university, getting to daughter Natasha's sports, training four days a week and helping with running the powerlifting club, she was rarely home.
She had also battled through a back injury that hampered her two and a-half years ago.
However, she found a way to make it work and that was showing in her performances.
Park holds three South Island records - 75kg bench press, 150kg dead lift and 337.5kg total - and hopes to take the squat this weekend.
Her competition personal best in that was 115kg, 5kg below the record.
However, having managed 125kg in practice, she was hopeful of doing it when it mattered.
From there she hoped to deliver more personal-best performances in Calgary, as the competition stage brought out the best in her.
``It's a huge difference,'' she said when comparing competition to practice.
``You've got a bit more adrenaline kicking around and feel more excited.
``So what you do in the gym is completely different to what you do on competition day.
``Usually you have better lifts on competition day because you're a little bit more excited, I suppose.''
Nearly 50 lifters will compete in Saturday's event. The women will begin at 9am and the men at 2pm.
