David Spencer
There was frustration and joy for our three Brighton & Hove AC representatives at the European Masters Championships in Jesolo, Italy.
In the W45 400m hurdles final for a moment it looked as if Jo Wilding’s graceful hurdling style would enable her to chase down the third place runner, only for her adversary to find another gear, after clearing the last hurdle and secure the bronze. A sub-14 personal best run of 13.98s in the 80m hurdles was Jo’s reward for battling injuries throughout the championships and for tackling five tough races in six days.
M35 Paul Howard was rewarded with a season’s best of 2:01.77 for sixth in a highly competitive 800m heat.Frustratingly M70 David Spencer had to skip the 400m due to a hamstring niggle. However he recovered enough to place seventh in the 200m, just 0.26 seconds off a bronze medal.
Returning for the anchor leg of the GB 4x100m relay team, Spencer began closing down the leaders and just missed out by 0.14 seconds on the silver, bringing the team home to bronze. In the 4x400m the GB he changed the colour of the medal to silver.
W45 Jo Wilding
80m Hurdles Final 13.98 4th PB
400m Hurdles Final 1:15.24 4th
200m Heats 29.86 4th
200m Semi 29.86 8th
400m heats 1:08.59 4th
M35 Paul Howard
800m heats 2:01.77 6th
M70 David Spencer
200m Heats 29.13 2nd
200m Final 29.03 7th
4x 100 Final GB Bronze
4x 400 Final GB Silver
by David Spencer