Richard-have-a-go-Hawes can certainly not be accused of being a one-trick pony. He has been running competitively for less than 2 years and during that time he has had a crack at racing on about every surface going and over distances ranging from 100m sprints to the endurance challenge of the half marathon. On this occasion, he lined up in the 10'000m track race and, over a difficult and mentally demanding distance to run on the 400m rubber circuit, he maintained his concentration superbly. This resulted in him recording a best ever time over the 10k distance of 38:29; more than 2 minutes faster than the track time he recorded in September last year and giving him the silver medal in the 40 - 44 years category. Just a few weeks before he had put his sprint legs on when he had a bash at some rather shorter distances at the Exeter Harriers open meeting, posting times of 13:74 and 27:79 for the 100m and 200m respectively. A new nickname is born for this man who is up for having a go at anything the running world has to offer!
Super-vet MV70 athlete, Les Turner, was in action on the track in the 100m, where he posted a time of 19:31. This is a superb time by a man of this age group, as the fast twitch muscles needed for sprinting, like everything, tend to twitch rather more slowly with age; but unfortunately, it was just 0.31 of a second shy of being of medal standard, even though Les finished 1st in his category. Les then lined up for the 200m where he finished just shy of a category podium place, in 4th, with a time of 41:36. His third and final outing of the day was in the 1500m, where he finished 2nd in a time of 7:41:71. He was also in action in the triple jump, where he recorded a best distance of 5m93. In total, he competed in 7 events, 5 of which counted towards his pentathlon score. Although his 100m and triple jump performances were well down on last year, his overall pentathlon points were up on 2012. Les clearly found it difficult to stay warm between those seven events and maybe it was that physical discomfort that led to him losing concentration in the late afternoon, resulting in him losing count of his laps in his last event of the day, the 1500m, making a mad dash for the line a lap early, though he recovered from his embarrassment to complete the race and gain his valuable points. 7 events in one day: a lot for any athlete, but our super-vets are clearly made of stern stuff!
In his 75th year, Mick Allen recorded 54:28 for 10,000m and just short of 11km (10,941) for the 1 hour run which was incorporated within the 10k race. (What it says in the tin: run for 1 hour, cover as much distance as possible). This placed him 1st in the MV70 age group and easily within the medal standard, which was set at 1h05 mins for the 10'000m.
The ladies were more than adequately represented in the form of former G.B. athlete and Harriers star, Cathy Newman. Having raced sparingly this year (Bideford Half in March and a couple of parkruns), Cathy was raring to go and had plenty in the tank to draw upon. She lined up in the 3000m and produced one of the best performances for some time by an Exmouth Harrier. Despite inclement weather she won the Women’s 3,000m outright, fending off some much younger competitors, and the gold medal in her 50 - 54 age category. Her time was 10:49.70. This was a new SWVAC Championship Record, obliterating the previous mark by over a minute. It is also believed to be the second fastest time in the country in that age group this year. A fantastic achievement Cathy, we are very proud of you!
All the athletes performed well in their respective events and showed the great spirit of 'having a go' and trying new things, often being rewarded for their efforts with some PBs and shiny silverware!
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