World Masters Athletics Championships - Italy Sept 2007

Richmond and Zetland Harrier Ken Harker, has recently been reflecting on his performance in the World Masters Athletics Championship, which took place in Riccione, Italy in early September. Having taken a bronze medal at the World Indoor Masters in March 2006, Ken wanted to test himself and see how he faired on the outdoor circuit against some very tough and experienced, world-class opposition.

Having been plagued with a back complaint for most of the season and during his preparations throughout the Summer, he was unsure as to how he would actually do when he arrived at the venue in Italy, having competed in selected races across England during the months preceding the main event.

The first of the 800m heats took place during the late evening on Thursday 6th September at 9.30pm and with 12 athletes in each race, the first 5 athletes, plus 4 fastest losers would go forward to the semi-finals. Ken ran in heat 3 and made sure he stayed in the top 6 on the way around, moving into 5th place down the back straight on the last lap and crossing the line in this position and therefore qualifying for the semi-final. During the race, he had felt comfortable and relaxed with a pleasing time of 2.05.

The semi-finals took place the next day, this time at 6pm in the evening, where Ken was placed in the first of two races, from which the first 4 and 4 fastest losers would be selected the final. Knowing it was going to be a tough task to qualify, Ken adopted the plan of sitting in with the pace for as long as possible, which was very quick and was reflected in his reaching 600m in 1.30; the fastest he had run all year. Unfortunately he just couldn’t hold out over the remaining 200m, finishing in 2.07 and 12th place, although he realised that is would have taken a PB to make the final, as 7 of the competitors finished with an extremely fast sub-1.58 clocking.

Having really enjoyed the experience and had time to contemplate his next move, Ken has decided that it is time to move up the distances, which is something he has been considering for a while and is now looking forward to competing over 1500m and 3000m on the track, in addition to using the fast-approaching Cross Country season and road races for speed, fitness and endurance.

Middlesbrough Tees Pride 10K -16th September 2007

Jon Orange has been continuing his winning ways once again, rounding off a busy Summer season on the roads. This time he was taking part in the Middlesbrough Tees Pride 10K on Sunday 16th September, where over 1950 runners took to the streets to cover the distance mapped out before them. Stephen Hepples was the winner once again, setting the standard and stopping the clock in an incredible time of 30.28, while Jon produced another excellent result, finishing in 33.28 and 11th place, continuing to reign supreme in the Male Vet 40 category, taking the honours and finishing almost a minute clear of his closest age group rival.

BOFRA Fell Race Championships 2007

Marc Scott has been bringing the BOFRA Summer Fell Race Championship to an end in style, competing in 3 events during August and September. Reeth Show Fell Race took place on 29th August and is run over approximately 2.5K, which includes 600 feet of climbing and Marc was in good shape, finishing 3rd Under 14 on the day in a time of 14.54. Next on the calendar was the race at Burnsall, near Skipton on 9th September, where he bettered his previous result by finishing 2nd Under 14 with only 8.13 on the clock from a field of 14 competitors. Rounding off the season well, Marc then took another 2nd place in his age group at the Embsay Fell Race near Skipton on 16th September, where he crossed the line in 13.19 ahead of another 14 runners, having tackled over 800 feet of ascent in the process.