The National Masters track and field championships was held on 7th and 8th March at Lee Valley. More than 600 athletes took part travelling from as far away as Inverness, Cornwall and of course Brighton.
With four of the five Brighton and Hove athletes having completed their events, it was M35 Paul Howard who stole the show winning his first National Masters title in the M35 800 metres category. But it was close. In fact his victory was measured in thousandths of a second, both athletes running 2:06.66.
There was no such luck for David Osman our M85 new boy. Competing for the first time he was unfortunately disqualified in the 400 metres for a lane infringement.
F45 Jo Wilding scooped up three medals in her events but with World class Diane Norman (sister of our own elite coach and athlete Julia Machin) in the same age category the gold was inevitably only going to go to one person.
Chris Winter’s first time clearance of 1.70m earned him a fine silver medal in the M45 High Jump.
M70 David Spencer won both the 400m in a Championship Best time and the 200m by large margins.
Our former athletic great Nigel Gates, now of Westbury, was also in fine form winning the M65 3000m by more than a minute in a fantastic 10:26.83.
Nigel Gates wins the BMAF Indoor M65 3000m by over a minute in a solo 10:26.83 pic.twitter.com/hmNKdfbmtw
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) March 8, 2020
Paul Howard M35 800 metres 2:06.66 – 1st
Jo Wilding F45 60 hurdles 10.56 – 3rd
Long Jump 4.04 3rd
High Jump 1.35 – 2nd
Chris Winter M45 High Jump 1.70 – 2nd
Triple Jump 9.26 – 8th
David Spencer M70 400 metres 67.38 – 1st
200 metres 29.13 – 1st
David Osman M85 400 metres – DQ