9th August 2015. Lyon. France.

As eight women go to their marks for the final of the W40 800m, the woman sporting a Team GB masters vest whispers to herself – “If you don’t win the world doesn’t end” and instantaneously feels an inner peace and calmness take over her body.

As the gun goes and the athletes break from their lanes just over 100m into the race, the Stockport Harrier reminds herself, “You are an honest front runner”, so it’s no surprise that she finds herself at the front of the pack. They take the bell and she reminds herself, “Keep running as hard as you can”.

It’s all going to plan and then out of the corner of her right eye, a blue vest appears and the Italian goes past her with 300m to go, much to the animation of the French commentary team in the stadium. To all intents and purposes it looks as if the Northern Masters athlete then has a battle on her hands to come away with a silver medal as the Italian powerfully strides into the home straight.

With 80m to go that voice appears again in her head- it’s the one that told her less than two minutes ago that the world wouldn’t end if she lost. That voice was lying! Nothing else in the world matters at this point as her inner conscience tells her, “I’m not going to settle for silver” and with the crowd on their feet and arms outstretched and eyes looking towards the skies (think Sebastian Coe Moscow 1980), Louise Rudd stops the clock at 2:15.69 and is a world masters champion.

Just four days later a second gold over 1500m is duly delivered at the double and an insight into her sense of humour is that she will go on to rib her work mates about her success in having “Dame Louise Rudd” business cards made much to their amusement!

5 years later, the proud owner of 6 global masters gold medals, 5 European titles and two British records joins me to unpick her philosophy of training.

Chronological, Biological and Training Ages

Any masters athlete worth their salt will tell you that, “Age is but a number”. Louise, who turns 46 in November is no different but she is perceptive enough to realise that chronological age is not necessarily correlated with biological age. Whist she jokes that, “I feel 70 odd some days with the knee niggles”, she asserts that she assesses she, “feels much younger- more like a 30 something year old, most of the time”.

Of course it’s equally naïve to say, “You are only as old as you feel”. Whilst matters of cognition are indeed important, there is a physiological side to the ageing process- call it nature if you will- which simply cannot be denied. Louise has always been active in terms of sports of some kind. Post University and looking to get back in shape, for instance she kick boxed (attaining junior black belt status) in her early twenties and this would have had tremendous gains in terms of her agility, balance and co-ordination. She also kept herself biologically ‘young’ through regular flexibility and circuit based training.

As well as the difference between her chronological and biological ages, its worth reflecting on her training age. Commencement at the age of 7 in track and field at first points to a training age of 40 odd years but closer scrutiny reveals a nine year break from track and field between the ages of 18-27. This means that she effectively has a training age specifically in athletes of three rather than four decades.

Significantly, thanks to the kick boxing in her twenties, she was healthy and ‘fight fit’ if not race ready in track and field terms. She enthuses that, “The kickboxing has stayed with me because they really honed in on your flexibility. Working the transverse plan of movement is good and something us runners tend to traditionally neglect”. This may in fact mean she can continue to compete as a masters athlete for longer than some because she has avoided the wear and tear of pounding the pavements for ten years, whilst maintaining a different kind of fitness.

In terms of her long term athlete development. Louise played both netball and basketball alongside her childhood foray into track and field. These two sports would have got her used to using all three energy systems as well as twisting, turning and jumping.

What is also significant about Louise’s training age is the fact that she was a late event group specialiser. Indeed when she dipped her proverbial big toe into the world of athletics courtesy of Sale Harriers, at the age of 7, she spent three years as a sprints based athlete, before moving into a middle distance based group at the age of 10. This will have been significant given the considerable alactic demands of the shorts sprints- typically 80 metres at her young age. This will have helped her to habituate some key biomechanical movement patterns which would have a transferable value much later in her middle distance track and field career.

Critically, even when she moved on to the middle distance training group at Sale and won a silver medal over 800m at the Northern championships as a U13, she still long jumped and ran in the 80m sprint final. This is long term athlete development at its finest and it’s not dissimilar to someone like the great Moscow Olympic 800m champion Steve Ovett, who could still operate effectively as a long jumper and 200m sprinter whilst running national age leading times over two laps.

 

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Injury management

Like many masters athletes with a significant training age in our sport, Louise has had and continues to struggle with persistent injuries. “I struggle with my back”, she confides, before clarifying that, “It all stems from an upper hamstring injury which seems to have a degree of permanency”. Perceptively she acknowledges that causation may not be related to her athletic activity but to the demands of wider lifestyle.

“I’m a rep for a pharmaceutical company”, she adds, “so I can spend all day sitting in a car, which doesn’t help”. As well as nurture, she believes some of this is down to nature as her father was a semi-professional football and she believes she has inherited his mesomorphic body type.

“I’m short and muscular like he was”, she says, before adding, “it does tend to make me a heavier runner so I have to be careful about impact injuries”. How does she manage these injuries? “I always do so kind of mobility drills, sometimes using hurdles before every run”.

Louise regularly sees her physio Chris Bramah at MHIP whether injured or not as this keeps her in one piece. Chris also sets her S&C based on what hers needs/weaknesses are.

Adjustments to frequency and intensity of training as a masters athlete

As recently as five years ago, Louise concedes, “I rarely took rest day and did lots of double days. That’s changed somewhat as I force myself to take days off and really only tend to do one double day per week”.

In terms of the intensity if her training she comments that, “My easy runs are ‘easier’ than they used to be as I’ve learned to ease back and I think terrain is important. I find running round grass like football pitches to help in terms of an active running recovery rather than pounding the pavements”. She effects specific S&C sessions twice per week as well as cross training through spin classes on the bike and then there’s the continued focus on flexibility with the yoga.

Louise offers significant insight when it comes to talking about her approach to training the specific energy systems, pointing out that, “I focus less on the lactate energy system unless it’s during the pre-competition or competition phases of the periodisation cycle. I’ve learned to time this much better over the years”.

She says that when she came back into the sport at the age of 27, she learned the importance of building her aerobic base before embarking on this kind of speed endurance work. It was the allure of the 2003 BUPA Great Manchester Run which caught her eye and she would go on to record an impressive 3hr 37mins in a London marathon, undertaken on four days a week training.

Regular attention to maintaining a solid aerobic base was maintained through the parkrun scene and through joining Wilmslow Running Club. So when did she make the decision to come back into the track and field fold?

“It was around the time of the Athens Olympics and Dame Kelly’s Holmes’ magnificent double that I began to hear of the masters concept and I really got a taste for it back then, I knew I was capable of running 800ms in just over 2m20s so at that point I joined Stockport Harriers because I wanted to run on the track once more and I hooked up with coach Dave Turnbull”.

So whilst the 800m has significant lactate energy system demands, Louise is careful as to when she stresses this system but points out that regular alactic work throughout the periodisation cycle is not uncommon. She concurs, “I do 6 x 15s strides a couple of times per week to help with leg turnover”.

Her aerobic base nowadays is developed typically through winter work involving tempo running. Typically she may start with 2 efforts of 3 miles and is progressed on to continuous runs of up to 8 miles.

In terms of competition, unlike a significant proportion of middle distance athletes, Louise tends to undertake cross country in the Greater Manchester League. This work which has obvious aerobic and strength endurance benefits is then superseded by a short indoor season on the boards between January and March, lactate predominant work in that pre-competition and competition phase of the periodisation cycle might involve sessions like 8 x 200m or ‘reverse pyramid’ work commencing with 1k and moving down to 800m/ 600m and so on. Even when effecting these mode of sessions, it would not be more than twice a week.

In addition she adds that, “Because the focus is on the quality of the work I’m undertaking in speed endurance terms, I tend to allow myself more generous passive recoveries between repetitions these days so pace can be maintained”.

So what does the future hold for Louise Rudd? “Well I’m not getting any faster!” she says with a laugh. Records and titles, however, still motivate her. “I’ll be focussing more on the 1500m and I can see myself moving to the 5000m eventually but ultimately enjoyment and health are the main focus”. She is now working with the duo of Eilish McColgan and Mike Rimmer and looking forward to getting back racing towards the end of the year.

Questions for self-reflection

1. Do I fully understand the differences between chronological, biological, training and competition ages and how these will impact my performance as a masters athlete?
2. What am I doing as a masters athlete to continue to work on my foundational and fundamental athlete development?
3. How, like Louise, am I continuing to work on my agility, balance and co-ordination?
4. Why might it be pertinent to revise both the frequency and intensity of my training as a masters athlete as Louise has?
5. Where and why does rest figure in my schedule?
6. What is the root cause of my injuries and how am I actively managing them as Louise does?7. Why might it be smart to think more deeply about when to training the three different energy systems as Louise does at specific points of the periodisation cycle?

Matt Long is a Midland Masters Men’s Team Manager and an England Athletics Coach Education Tutor. He welcomes contact to discuss these ideas further at mattlongcoach@gmail.com

You can keep up with Louise’s training and racing @lulurudd on twitter or @louisenrudd on Instagram

The post Rudd-ered for success appeared first on Fast Running.

Yared Derese of Carrick Aces took a fine win at the Bohermeen Half Marathon on Sunday (March 8) when he defied the cold and blustery conditions to finish in a time of 63 mins 54 secs. The only athlete attempting to stay with Derese was Kevin Dooney of Raheny Shamrock AC and he was rewarded with a fine time of 64 mins 26 secs.

A distant third in 69:25 secs was former international race walker Colin Griffin of Ballinamore AC. In a closely fought team battle, Trim AC, with Sean Murphy in 21st place their first counter, beat Carrick Aces on count-back. Raheny Shamrock finished third.

First woman in 77 mins 16 secs was Barbara Cleary of Donore Harriers who was also first W45. International mountain runner Sarah McMahon (nee Mulligan) of Dundrum South Dublin AC was second in 78:26 and Fiona Kehoe of Kilmore AC third in 80:05. Taking the team title was Brothers Pearse AC from Dublin, led by Sinead Tighe in 16th place. Raheny Shamrock AC was second and Trim AC third.

Surging over 10 miles

In Cork, at the Duhallow 10-Mile, also on Sunday (March 8) newly minted Irish citizen Hiko Tonosa of Dundrum South Dublin AC was a clear winner of the race in 50 mins 38 secs. Cillian O’Leary of Raheny Shamrock was second in 51:56 and Tom Lupton of Portlaoise AC third and first M40 in 54:35.

First woman was Linda Grogan of Dundrum AC in Co Tipperary with a time of 62:19. Niamh Cronin of St Finbarr’s AC was second in 65:46 with Sandra Manning of Eagle AC a close third in 65.57.

Letterkenny’s AnnMarie McGlynn was in fine form at the Walled City 10-mile in Derry on Saturday (March 7) where she finished first woman in 57 mins 15 secs. Race winner was Craig Simpson of Foyle Valley AC whose time of 52 mins 14 secs put him comfortably clear of the chasers led by Eoin Hughes of Acorns AC in 53:05.

Winners at the Kinvara 10km, also on Saturday, were Louis McCarthy in 433 mins 26 secs and Julie Kirwan in 39:07, while in the accompanying half marathon David Bohan ran 75:32 for victory ahead of Brian Furey, with Jane Ann Meehan first woman in 83:12.

Another Saturday race was the Simon 5-Mile in the Phoenix Park which had moved from its traditional autumn date and attracted over a thousand finishers. Leading them home was Tim Grummell of Sli Cualann AC in 27 mins 29 secs. Second and first woman was Laura Shaughnessy of Galway City Harriers in 27:33. while third was Robin Mooney in 27:41.

At Quest Kenmare on Saturday, winners of the elite 78km multi-sport race were Sebastian Giraud in 3 hrs 14 mins 10 secs and Ellen Vitting of Trim AC in 3:34.41. The athletes had to run, cycle and kayak their way along the near 50 mile route.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

Schools hat-trick for Morgan

Michael Morgan from Summerhill college in Sligo made it three in a row when he won the senior boys’ race at the All Ireland Schools Cross-Country Championships held in Santry in windy conditions on Saturday (March 7).

Morgan, who had won intermediate titles last year and the year before, played a waiting game when Daniel Stone of Belvedere broke away to lead the race by some distance early on, When he made his his move on the third of four laps, he soon caught and passed a tiring Stone.

In an absorbing battle for the minor placings, Conall McClean of DMC Titanic Quarter and Shay McEvoy of St Kieran’s Kilkenny had also passed Stone, while not far behind were Shane Coffey of Naas CBS, Louis O’Loughlin of Moyle Park and Oisin Spillane of Mercy Mount Hawk.

In the end, they finished in that order with Morgan finishing the clear winner in 18 mins 53 seconds, McClean six seconds behind for second and McEvoy just making it to the line in third place after staggering and falling within sight of the line.

For Stone in fourth place there was the consolation of leading Belvedere to a rare senior team victory, with St Malachy’s Belfast second and St Kieran’s Kilkenny third.

Tactical racing

Equally tactical was the girls senior race, which was over 3,500m compared to 2000m in the past, and proved a tough challenge. Lucy Holmes of Ard Scoil nas nDeise was the winner in 13 mins 56 secs, followed by Celine Gavin of St Dominic’s Cabra in 14 mins 4 secs, with Holly Brennan of Sacred Heart Drogheda third. Loreto Kilkenny was first team followed by St Angela’s Waterford and St Dominic’s Cabra.

Dominating the boy’s inter race was Abdel Laadjel of Kishogue Community College, who had a clear victory over Matthew Lavery from st Malachy’s and Dean Casey of St Flannan’s Ennis. St Flannan’s was first teams, followed by St Malachy’s and St Kieran’s Kilkenny.

In the girls inter race, Eimear Maher of Mount Anville in Dublin caught early leader Kirsti Foster of Down High School who had looked certain of victory in the later stages of the race and stromed home for the most dramatic victory of the day. Avril Mellerick of Midleton High School was third and Pobailscoil na Trionoide first team ahead of Loreto Mullingar and Down High School.

Junior winners were Lauren Madine of St Mary’s Downpatrick and Oliver Hopkins of St Declan’s CBS Cabra, while minor winners were Saoirse Fitzgerald of Lucan Community College and Luca O’Shea Breen of Temple Carrig in Greystones.

Doyle and Coscoran battle it out

At the Irish Universities Cross-Country, also on Saturday, at Curraheen, Cork, Cliona Murphy of Trinity College won the women’s title with a good win over Claire Fagan from DCU.

With Caron Ryan third, Sorcha McAllister eighth and Claire Rafter 15th, Trinity finished top team, beating perennial winners DCU by three points. Completing a Dublin clean sweep was UCD in third place.

DCU’s Cathal Doyle won a competitive men’s race from man of the moment Andrew Coscoran, also DCU, with just three seconds in it. Paul O’Donnell of UCD was third and Pierre Murchan of NUI Galway fourth. With four in the top six, DCU retained its stranglehold on the title. University of Limerick was a distant second and Trinity College third. Best college overall was DCU followed by Trinity and NUIG.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

Closing out the BHAA cross-country season was the AIB promotion in the tranquil setting of NUI Maynooth on Saturday (March 7) where Colm Turner of Garda was the winner of the men’s open 4-mile race in 21 mins 44 secs.

He was followed home by Thomas Sherlock from Bank of Ireland with Seoirse Comerford from Cairn Homes third and first M45. In th eteam categoriesBank of Ireland won grade A from Central Bank and Gardai; Teachers won B, Dublin Bus C and Revenue D.

Winner of the women’s 2-mile race was Helen Brouder of Teachers, with Sonya McConnon a close second and Niamh Corby of Revenue third.

The Health group, led by Grainne Butler in fourth place was first team, ahead of Retail and Revenue. In the open 4-mile, Rachel Yorke of VHI was first woman. Next up on the BHAA calendar is the RTE Indoor Mile in the NIA, Abbotstown on Wednesday April 1 (7.30)

Golden Gilshinan at indoors

Anne Gilshinan of Slaney Olympic AC underlined her status as the world’s best female master middle distance runner when she posted the fastest women’s 800m time of the day at the National Masters Indoor Championships in Athlone on Sunday.

Running in the W55 category, Gilshinan finished in 2 mins 20.10 secs which would have won her the title in any age group from W35 up.

Equally dominant in the men’s M65 400m was multiple world 800m and 1500m champion Gough of West Waterford AC, who only narrowly missed breaking the minute when he finished in 60.04 secs.

Winning both the W40 3000m and 1500m was former Irish senior international athlete Kelly Neely of City of Lisburn AC. She clocked 5:03.81 for 1500m and 9:50.54 for a 3000m race where the lap counting went somewhat awry for the later finishers.

Before that happened, Annette Kealy of Raheny Shamrock AC added the W50 title to her already impressive collection with a time of 10:20.43.

Taking the M50 800m title with a time of 2:04.31 was Shane Healy of Metro St Brigid’s AC who has been re-writing the record books for his age group over the past few weeks. He then finished third in the 400m with a time of 57.99 secs.

Middle distance race of the day was an M45 show-down between Mark O’Shea of Drogheda and District AC and Shane O’Neill of Rathfarnham WSAF AC. O’Shea just shaded it in 2:03.13 with O’Neill second in 2:03.90. O’Neill went on to win the 1500m in 4:16.66.

In the older age groups, Martin McEvilly of Galway City Harriers won both the M70 800m and 3000m in times of 2:53.45 and 11:55.18 respectively.

Cronin cruises it on the hills

A small piece of athletics history was made on Saturday (March 7) when Kate Cronin of Raheny Shamrock was the outright winner of the Howth hill race in Co Dublin. [It’s a fine way to celebrate International Women’s Day – ed.]

Cronin finished the new-look 9.6 km course in 45 mins 55 secs. Her fellow international athlete Killian Mooney of Dundrum South Dublin AC was second in 46:22 and orienteer Conor Short of CNOC third in 46:26.

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The post Golden Gilshinan over 800m indoors – Irish round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

After an unforgettable year of record breaking performances and gold medals, Irish runner Joe Gough is looking forward to many more years at the top of masters athletics.

Gough’s highlights in 2018 included winning double O65 middle-distance gold at the World Masters Athletic Championships in Malaga. In his preferred event, the 800m, he ran 2:16.37 to set a new European record, while in the 1500m he won his first world medal at the longer distance.

His achievements were duly noted, and in January, as well celebrating his 66th birthday, the European Masters Association awarded the West Waterford AC athlete with the honour of European Middle Distance Athlete of the year.

Cliona Foley spoke with Gough – at the announcement of Irish Life Health as an official partner to Athletics Ireland – to find out more about his career as a masters athlete.

Fast Running: Congratulations on winning the European Masters Distance Running Athlete of the Year award recently and being nominated for the same award at World Masters. Were you surprised?

Joe Gough: To be honest I didn’t even know there was such an award! I was only informed two weeks ago. The presentation will be at the European Outdoors in Venice next September where I’ll be competing.

Apparently as one of the continental winners you are also put forward for the World Masters Awards. Awards are not why you do the sport but of course they mean something.

It’s always nice to be acknowledged and also I feel it’s recognition for the Irish family of Masters Athletics which is a vast number of people, one of the biggest memberships in Athletics Ireland.

FR: Sum up your 2018. Did you achieve everything you had set to do?

JG: I broke an O65 world record in Dublin in March, the first world record on the indoor track in Abbotstown. I’d also broken the World O60 record in Athlone IT track in 2014 so it’s been nice to set two world records in two Irish stadia.

I’d won the 800m at World Championships before but never the 1500m. I took a decision to train for it and put it out there that I was going for gold in the 1500m, which was a big challenge because I’m not really a 1500m runner.

But I won it and broke the Irish record to win it, and also broke the European record to win the 800m so the World Championships were very satisfying.

They were the two highlights and winning European Masters Athlete of the Year in Middle Distance was another.

FR: What is your biggest challenge as a masters athlete?

JG: Probably to keep the motivation going. If you’re winning that helps! Being challenged helps too, they’re out to get me and that’s good.

I’ll be beaten on days and I’ll train harder and come back. That’s what brings you on. It’s never static which is great.

Staying focussed is the big thing. I plan every week and try to stick to that. I retired from work a year ago and it helps because I can probably recuperate now a bit better, but my training hasn’t changed that much. I couldn’t train any harder.

FR: How competitive is masters athletics?

JG: It’s very competitive right now. There are new people coming into it from other sports and they’re coming in fresh and really motivated so you have to be ready all the time.

There’s a fantastic buzz in it and of course it is social. I will make friends along the way but that’s not my purpose.

When you train hard and compete hard and are up on the podium, there’s no greater buzz. For me it’s always performance first.

FR: Which nations are your biggest rivals?

JG: All the big countries you’d expect really. America, Britain and Germany are all strong and masters runners are coming in bigger numbers from Kenya now.

I spoke to the Kenyan team in Malaga and they said they get $10,000 dollars for every gold medal they bring home. And they are also financed – their entry, transport and accommodation are paid for.

This year Americans making the first six in World Masters were also guaranteed $3000 for transport and accommodation from their federation and Germany does similar.

We have lagged behind and Ireland could market its Masters Athletics much better, it’s so vast now and constantly growing.

FR: What’s a typical training week like?

JG: Always three quality sessions, either on track or hill sprints. The other days I do a tempo run (quality as well) and strength and conditioning and I always do one long run every Sunday, about 10 miles. It’s easy to run 10 miles ‘easy’.

You do 10x100m on the track, that’s a lot harder. My long runs are done in the woods or on grass.

It’s all hills around me and Portlaw is just across the river. I live on Owning Hill. a lovely spot. My neighbour is the horse trainer Joseph O’Brien, Aidan’s son. We both use the same hill for our gallops!

My last choice for training always is the road. There’s wear and tear anyway but when I see concrete my body wilts! A mile on the grass is a mile you can do again tomorrow.

I always train with someone who is younger and better than me which brings me on and they’re also learning from me. I do a lot of bounding and plyometrics before my track sessions.

That’s works for me, keeps the fast-twitch fibres primed. I still have my basic Casio watch and can easily judge my own heart-rate so I don’t have any of those fancy monitors. I’d probably only lose one.

FR: You came back to running at 35. With your ongoing success in masters athletics, what advice would you have given your 16-year-old self now?

JG: Get a good coach. I had talent but I was one of those athletes who was always second; second to Eamonn Coghlan and second to Jerry Kiernan. I remember coming second to Eamonn in Dublin, him going off to Villanova then and me back to Waterford. At the time there wasn’t a great coaching structure in Ireland with a few exceptions.

Now there are good coaches out there and there’s no excuse. Today I train twice as hard as I did then. I’m still slowing down but the focus is there.

Dick Murphy is my coach. I might only see him once every two months but I don’t think I’d have achieved what I have if I was self-coached. You tend to do foolish things on your own. Dick spots things I’m not even aware of.

FR: What’s next for you?

JG: The World Indoor Masters in Torun, Poland in March. Last year’s World Outdoors attracted 7000 athletes from 102 countries and Indoors will be pretty similar. Competition is very hot, they’re coming to win medals and break records.

Then I have Europeans Outdoors in Venice in September. It’s a long year but you come back down and start a second season. What I do as a master is exactly what any elite athlete does; your weights, circuits, quality sessions, sprints, hill runs, time-trials and races.

FR: What’s the key to your success?

JG: I love running just for running’s sake. There is a wildness and wilderness about it which is lovely. But, when you’re on the track, you’re there to perform and I like that.

The track is the least favourite place for athletes because you’ve nowhere to hide, unlike a mass road race. The track is a lonely place so you have to be completely prepared for it and that’s always my thing.

There are times when I’m not motivated and I’ll say “why the hell am I doing this?”. But after a few hours or a day, that passes and I come back to it. I’m on a journey for myself.

Everyone can run for life, it has so many health benefits. It’s all about your own mindset; how you talk to yourself, the phrases you use. There are European and world records for people over 100 years of age so I’ve got 35 years left!

Joe Gough was speaking at the announcement of Irish Life Health as an official partner to Athletics Ireland, backing a sport that delivers on health, wellness and lifelong activity.

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The post Joe Gough talks masters athletics and motivation appeared first on Fast Running.

There were race winners from each of the Home Nations at the 31st British and Irish Masters Cross Country International on Saturday (November 17).

The event hosted by Wales and held in Swansea used a similar course at Singleton Park to the one used for the Welsh Cross Country Championships held earlier this year in February.

It was in Wales back in 1988 that the inaugural match was held at Wrexham and we had several athletes in action today who had competed at that first event.

The first race of the day was for the women’s categories and men’s over 65s where Teresa Doherty made the trip for Ireland count with outright race victory and a W40 title. Scotland’s Michelle Sandison was the third athlete home and the W35 winner.

England’s Kate Rennie won the W45 category, while compatriot Kath Bailey won the W50 race.

In the W55 race, Scotland’s Fiona Matheson won for a third consecutive time. The W60 honours went to Ireland’s Pauline Moran, while England’s Yuko Gordon claimed the W65 title.

Wales’ Alan Davies was a popular local winner in the M65 age-group with multiple previous winner Nigel Gates second. Gates made a welcome return to the event where he last took victory in 2004 after dabbling with Triathlon.

The sun continued to shine as the M50 through to M60 categories got their turn to do battle in the second race of the day.

Despite three athletes contesting most of the 8,000m course together, it was England’s Tim Hartley that took top honours for England with a M50 victory 10 years on from taking the M40 title at the same venue.

Northern Ireland’s Steve Cairns came home for the Silver medal. England’s Andrew Leach was close behind in third.

Mick Byrne was Ireland’s M55 winner with Scotland’s Alastair Walker securing M60 glory.

International victory for McKinstry

The final international race of the day saw Mark McKinstry take the M35 title with the largest race winning margin of the day by some way. The Northern Ireland man led from start to finish with his lead steadily growing throughout the 8,000m route of Singleton Park.

Photo: Rob Gale

“I knew I was in great shape coming into this race, I’m in the shape of my life,” said McKinstry afterwards. “I knew that the Welsh lad was a good athlete so I needed to keep an eye on him. When I started to pull away, I knew it was looking good.

“It was a great course and I really enjoyed it. My major aim for the season will be to get selected for the Northern Ireland senior team at the IAAF International at Dundonald, Northern Ireland in January.”

Phil Matthews was the Welshman that Mckinstry had feared and hung on for second place on the course where he’d taken the silver medal at the Welsh Cross Country Championships in February.

England did enough to take the M35 team title from Ireland, who had won it 12 months ago in Derry and overall won a superb 16 team golds.

Some results were unavailable at the time of publishing but the report will be updated in due course.

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The post Competitive racing at British and Irish Masters Cross Country appeared first on Fast Running.

In total 4600 athletes from 74 nations, aged between 35 and 99 competed in the championships.

The top performing nation was Australia, with 59 golds and 124 overall medals. Great Britain were second, with 50 golds and 118 overall medals, and the USA third, with 42 golds and 108 medals.

GB team round-up

In a successful championships, the Great Britain team finished second in the overall medal rankings.

The star of the GB team was Louise Rudd, winning individual golds in the W40 800m, 1500m, 3000m, and team relay gold in 4x200m.

The hurdles also proved successful for the Great Britian team. In the W60 age category 60m hurdles athlete, Jane Horder set a world record. Horder, also won a gold medal with team mates Caroline Powell, Sue Dassie, and Carole Filer in the 4x200m. There were additional wins in the hurdles for M35 Liam Collins, M40 Mensah Elliott, M45 Joe Appiah and M80 Tony Bowman.

There was also gold doubles in the 1500m and 3000m for W60 Joan Howe and M55 Guy Bracken.

Pole vault gold medals were won by Allan Williams in the M65 and Sue Dassie in the W60 event. Paul Thompson also won the M60 half-marathon.

USA team round-up

Topping the individual golds for the USA team with seven field event wins, was 85 year-old star Gloria Krug.

Gloria Krug, W85 has 6 Gold medals so far in Daegu! She has won W85 Hammer, Jav, Disc, LJ, TJ, WT & Shot tomorrow GO GLORIA! #indoorworlds pic.twitter.com/GrUExFg9Tc

— USATFMastersTrack (@USAMastersTrack) March 24, 2017

Krug, has been a lifelong athlete, but didn’t take up track and field until she was in her early 60s.

In the W65 3000m and 1500m, 65 year-old distance runner Kathy Martin won golds and set two age group world records. Also setting records was 80 year-old sprinter Bob Lida in the 400m and 200m.

On final day, USA teams made a superb showing in the 4X200m relays, including a world record in the M65 team of Charles Allie, Charles Powell, Thad Wilson, and Bill Collins. The W55, M35, and M50 teams also set American records in the 4X200m.

Ireland team round-up

The Irish masters team also had a successful time at the championships in Daegue, wining a total of 28 medals.

28 medals for the Irish at the world masters in Daegu. Maith sibh go leir pic.twitter.com/FYjIhycbX0

— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) March 26, 2017

Geraldine Finegan was the star athlete, winning a total winning a total of 6 individual medals. The talented Finegan won a gold medal in the W50 pentathlon, two silver medals, in the triple jump and pole vault, and a bronze medal in the 800m, javelin and 60m hurdles.

In total Ireland won 9 gold medals at the championships.

Joe Gough, successfully defended his M60 800m title, and North Easter Runners, Brian Lynch won gold medals in the M60 1500m and 3000m.

Middle distance athlete, Mark O’Shea also won two gold medals. In the M45 800m race the talented athlete battled hard for the gold, setting a new Irish record in the process, and his second gold of the championships came in the 1500m. Additionally W75 athlete Ann Woodlock, won gold in her 3000m race.

There was also cross-country team golds for the Ireland in the M35 and M55 8km races.

In the M35 race, Ronan Kearns, Paul Fleming and Sean McDermott all raced well to secure the team gold, and in the M55 race, the collective time of 1:36:31 from athletes Tom O’Connor, Pat O’Grady, and Michael Cornyn, was enough to secure the gold medal.

The 28 medals that the Irish team won in total included 9 golds, 9 silver and 10 bronze medals.

For full results of the World Masters Indoor Championships click here.

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