Valentine's Day: Gold for the oldies, first place for AKS, a fistful of cash for Bun
First up, Adrian reports a very successful day at the British Masters Indoor Pentathlon Championships, which took me a bit by surprise as I had no idea he knew how to ride a horse or use a gun. Still, over to Adrian:
"As the Met League fades into a distant masochistic memory - it seemed like a good idea at the time, but like the pain of childbirth or having your chest waxed, probably best forgotten - life and athletics goes on. Combining jumping and throwing with the rather more pedestrian running, the Vets Masters Multi-events, sprinting and officiating team took to the boards at the Lee Valley Athletic Centre for a day of great achievement.
Ivor Wiggett, calm, patient and authoritative, shared the starter's duties with some bloke from H*ghgate Harriers, in the true Corinthian spirit of inclusiveness. Many Thanks are due to Ivor and all the officials for making the day possible.
"Many thanks too, to the supporters who come along and pretend they are having a good time as the obsessive athletes do whatever they can in the competitions and then pore over points tables, to gauge progress.
Dave Spencer picked up a couple of Gold SCVAC medals in the 200m and 400m, both in very good times. The 200m time is a club record for indoors.
"Tony Killilea took part in his first ever multi-event, finishing it off with a very fine run in the 1000m, gaining over 106 points over the second best runner (370+ over some), finishing with a good first time score of 2421. Simply getting from one event to another is a challenge in your first multi event , and understanding just exactly what the instructions mean by call rooms and check in areas, causes stress, but buoyed by the completion of this 5 parter, Tony plans for his next multi- a 14 eventer in Helsinki in April. Blimey! Tony gained two club records in the 60m hurdles and in the 1000m (by nearly 40 seconds) and comes in at 51st out of 68 on the all-time UK rankings.
"Back from injury towards the end of last SAL season (just seeing the way his foot ballooned up made me feel faint), Ivan Ross came back with a series that had him lying a close second all the way through to the 1000m, at which juncture he had a 117 point deficit. He won the 1000m with a superb solo performance, to take the Gold Medal at the last by 14 points. A superb recovery and an excellent day's work. Ivan gained three club records in the 1000m, the high jump and the pentathlon itself. He moves up to 37th of 82 in the UK all-time rankings."
Adrian's scores for the indoor pentathlon since 2011 have been 2736, 2795, 2883, 2983 and now 3494. This progression is apparently 'not expected to continue', but does now place him equal second in the UK all time M65 rankings, though admittedly there are only 24 entries in the record book.
♥ Other Valentine's Day action:
Inseparable chums and indefatigable runners, Adam Kirk-Smith and Andrew Brooker stood out at the Love Welwyn 10k, the day after a gruelling Met League: AKS took first place inside 33 minutes, with Andrew snapping up third.
Tom Stephenson bagged third at the Deal Half: "This was my first half marathon way back in 2012 when I came home in 1 hr 20 mins so now I know the power of Heathside's training routine as I went back and managed to come in this time in 3rd place in a time of 1 hr 15. I was very pleased with that as it was a hilly course and the last 4 miles were run into a 20mph headwind. At about 11 miles it started hailing." Tom's looking good for the London Marathon and Rosaire Gray also made it round inside 2 hours.
There were smiles all round for Rebecca Bunting and Henry H-G at the Worthing Half, with both securing PBs. It was doubly worth the trip for Bun, as she pocketed £200 for finishing second lady
It was also half time in Barcelona where Kelly Thorneycroft ran 88 minutes
Finally, a slightly unlikely Valentine couple was Joe and Gavin at the Bramley 20. Gavin, who's currently over-training in order to make up for the week's break he had to take after over-training (...), submits the following
"The Bramley 20 is a useful starter pack for the London Marathon training season – a tasty tester to assess the size of the gap to be closed before you can declare yourself fit and ready for those pesky extra 6.2 miles. It’s scenic, pleasantly undulating, well-marshalled and two laps instead of the four of Finchley. You start with the 10-mile racers, say goodbye to them at the halfway mark, and then you’re on your own. This Sunday, the weather was chilly and a bit windy but not too cold.
"I was coming back from a week out from an over-training-induced groin strain, and, having taken the marshalling option for Ally Pally, wanted to give that adductor a vigorous test. After a 6:08 first mile I settled into 6:20 pace, but couldn’t sustain it and went through the half at 1:04. After that the wheels came off and I ended up with a recent years’ PW of 2:15.50 – but at least my adductor felt not-too-sore."
Results (14 February unless stated)
BMAC Indoor Championships
M65 400 Metre Finals
1 David Spencer 65.45
M65 200 Metre Finals
1 David Spencer 28.76
Pentathlon
Total60mhLJSPHJ1000mM65 1 Adrian Essex349411.29; (752 pts)4.27m; (693)8.57m; (586)1.40m (749)03:51.39 (714)M40 1 Ivan Ross265910.42;(566)5.23m; (523)7.23m; (369)1.58m; (504)03:05.26 (697)M50 7 Tony Killilea242111.68; (463)4.00m; (365)1.31m; (406)7.39m; (404)03:12.32 (783)
Worthing Half46 Rebecca Bunting 1:24:48 (2nd woman)53 Henry Hamilton-Gould 1:25:40
Barcelona Half1044 Kelly Thorneycroft 1:28:052324 Beatriz Lafuente 1:35:26
Bramley 20
89 Gavin Evans 2:15:50 (2nd V55)164 Joseph McKeown 2:24:38
Harrow Hill 10k
18 Trevor Wilson 41:18
Deal Half
3 Tom Stephenson 1:15:11
157 Rosaire Gray 1:57:58
Love Welwyn 10k
1 Adam Kirk-Smith 32:58
3 Andrew Brooker 35:39
33 William Wall 44:13
Newham Athletics Network 60m Open Series (10 February)
Race 1.4
4 Jordan Glaze 7.12
Race 1.9
5 David Ayre 8.05
Race 2.4
1 Jordan Glaze 7.04
Race 2.10
1 David Ayre 8.04