South West Veterans Track & Field Championships - July 2008, Joan Burns

In July I spent a weekend in Exeter and competed as a guest in the South West Veterans Track and Field Championships.

The first person I saw when I arrived at the track was the ubiquitous Mary Wixey - now in the 85-89 age group and still competing in field events.

It was nice to see ex-Bromley Lady Fiona Argent, now living in Guernsey, and to catch up with David Lord, one time membership secretary and founder member of SW Vets.

Exeter track is in the lucky position of having 10 lanes in the home straight so all the lady 100m runners lined up together - from 35 up to 70 years old.  The race finished, predictably enough, with the 35s coming in first and me coming last, although we were all running in our own age groups of course.  I managed 19.00 secs, not too bad, and 41.00 for the 200m.

Later in July I traveled up to Birmingham for the National Championships held over two days.  We had a mixture of sun and torrential rain.  Again, there were faces from the past that older members of Bromley Vets will remember.  Ex Bromley Vet Vilma Thompson was competing in the Hammer and another ex member Emily McMahon was in the long jump.  Rosemary Chrimes, now 75, achieved a world record in the Discus.  Molly Mills and Jackie Charles were in the 200s and I had a long chat with Tom Morris of Birchfield Harriers who wanted to be remembered to all Bromley Vets who used to travel up to the Midlands many years ago to compete in their Vets Track and Field  League.

In my 100m I was beaten into 2nd place (19.81) by Dorothy Fraser and in the 200m, same outcome (41.40). I learned later that Dot is the World Record holder in our age group for both events! Oh well, something to aim for.

It would be nice to see more track and field people having a go at the Nationals, usually held in July.  There were more than 600 competitors this year, of all standards.  It is very well organised, and generally runs like clockwork.  Maybe next year?

Medway Mile, 27 July 2008- Ashley Smith

Following on from my first full season of track since leaving school a couple of years ago I was lucky enough along with Ray to be invited to take part in an elite race of the Kent counties top runners over a measured and timed one mile course as part of Medway Councils preparations for the Olympics in 2012.

Three races were held on the day, a senior race with some super fast winning time of 4.01, a Master race (the one I was entered into) and a Fun Run for the whole family. Entry was free and all registered competitors were given a free T-shirt. 

Having seen some PBs on the track and feeling strong I thought it would be worth having a go to see if I could break the six minute mile marker which I had bordering around for some time in other events

The day was warm, the crowds great and the course mainly flat but with a slight uphill slant on uneven ground in the final 800m.

I set off with the main pack in sight and kept a nice steady pace just behind a Paddock Wood AC until about 800m from the end when I overtook him only to be overtaken by him about 300m from the end. I kept him in my sights though and in the final 150m I put on a sprint, Whether this was enduced by the crowds cheering, the desire not to be beaten by a place or the fact that the finish line clock had just ticked from 4:59 to 5 minutes I don’t know.  I beat him by a full second in the end finishing in 9^th place with a time of 5:16.

Full results: click here

Southern Veterans League - 2008

Congratulations to both mens and ladies teams on promotion to division one of the Southern Counties Veterans Athletic Club league (Kent Divisions) after very successful seasons.

The men won the division two title with an emphatic win in the final meeting when leading the table but under intense pressure from Invicta and Medway & Maidstone. Some terrific results saw a win for Phil Greenfield (triple jump), three seconds for Ray Chapman (at 50+ in 400m, 3000m and hammer) and seconds for Ashley Smith (400m) and Chris Marshall (3000m). Ashley also returend a personal best at 3000m with 10:52.9 and it was great to see Mike Turner back from injury. Colin Pope completed the excellent team performance as Tony Unseld was not allowed to jump in the extreme wet weather without spikes!

The ladies confirmed their overall second place for the season with wins for Anne Unseld (at 50+ in 400m and 3000m) and Helen James (walk). There were a string of seconds for Maureen Farish, Barbara Pope and Katrina Patching while Jan Lenton ran a strong 3000m. Great all round perforamce ladies, well done!

The season took place over the Summer on Monday(3)/ Friday(3) eves, starting this year at 6.45pm and ending around 9.15pm.

League tables

Fixtures

(*denotes 60+ event)

Javelin (JT), Discuss (DT), Shot (SP), Hammer (HT), Long Jump (LJ), Triple Jump (TJ), High Jump (HJ), Pole Vault (PV)

Age Groups: 35-49, 50-59, 60+

T&F Manager and men's organiser - Phil

Organising the ladies T&F - Barbara Pope