Number 1 What an incredible moment to highlight as my first choice—the 4x200m mixed relay at the World Indoor Masters Championships in Torun, Poland. Competing on the world stage is a rare and exhilarating experience, and securing a medal in such a prestigious event is undoubtedly the highlight of my athletics career to date. Being part of an exceptional relay team with Paul Guest, Christine Anthony and Janice Pryce adds a layer of camaraderie and shared achievement. Taking home the silver medal, just behind the USA team, marks a remarkable feat. The fact that this event was part of an inaugur ..read more

The moral of this story can be summarised in four key points: I allowed my race schedule to dictate my fitness, leading to short-term gains but significant long-term consequences. I failed to be true to myself and others, racing despite the risk of injury to avoid letting people down. I neglected to listen to my body, a cardinal sin considering my usual advice to others. Miracles don’t happen; while the British Medical team is excellent, they don’t possess superpowers. Here’s a detailed account of my journey: The injury that ultimately ended my European Championships started taking root two ..read more

The European Championships loom just three weeks away, and my body is a chaotic assortment of pain and discomfort. Frequent visits to physiotherapists and sports therapists become routine, coupled with a daily regimen of bending and stretching exercises. A glimmer of relief arrives a week later as my back starts to feel better. Encouraged, I decide it’s time to test the waters with a gentle track session. Heading to the track, I follow my customary warm-up routine of drills, stretches, and strides. However, the first attempt at easy 50m sprints reveals unwelcome pain in my right leg’s adductor ..read more

My next event, scheduled for September 2nd and 3rd, was the British Masters Championships, giving me a tight three weeks to recover from the Inter-Counties. During this period, I consulted with two physios, a sports therapist, and received valuable assistance from fellow M60 athlete Mike Vassilou. Training was nearly impossible as the back relief was replaced with the persistent groin pain. Despite not being in optimal condition, I persisted until the British Championships. Though I should have withdrawn, prior commitments and hopes for a miracle from the British Masters Medical Team led me to ..read more

It was great to meet up with my fellow M60 athlets from around the country at the annual Inter-counties competition. Attached is some evidence of our participation. Some cracking performances in less than ideal conditions … long may it continue. Top tip, getting up at 5am and driving 4 hours isn’t the best preparation for racing … if you want to avoid the feeling you’re running on wooden legs stay over the night before Sadly, and although I didn’t know it at the time this would be my last competitive 200m race, and my last race without pain for 2023. First Place Michael Vassilou, Second Stua ..read more

Tough conditions at the local athletics meeting with field events canceled due to heavy rain and a -1.2 headwind. Despite the challenges, our resilient spirit prevailed. Spare a thought for the officials enduring over 3 hours in these conditions—huge thanks to all. Let’s aim for a summer schedule next year, shall we ..read more

Another fantastic North East Masters Athletics Association Track and Field Championships, made even more special by sharing in the triumphs of this incredible group of friends and masters athletes from North Shields Polytechnic Club. Thrilled to secure three championship in the M60 category – 100m, 200m, and 400m sprints, and setting a new championship record in the process. Participating in three events within a mere 90 minutes certainly challenges the body, yet strangely, all the times were more than respectable. A massive thanks, as always, to the officials and organizers; none of this wo ..read more

And just like that the Road to Torun training plan is complete. The past 4 weeks have focused heavily on adding the speed element to the seemingly endless winter strength and speed endurance sessions. I can’t lie, its been a physically demanding month, as the training has been focused on very high quality (mostly short and fast) sessions with some special endurance thrown in to keep the speed endurance topped up. The body has survived the intense sessions, albeit at times it felt I was dancing on a fine line between tipping over the edge. So thats it, I feel ready for my first ever world champ ..read more

Here we are with less that 4 weeks to go until my first 400m race in the World Indoor Championships. My formal racing schedule is complete and the last 4 weeks of my training plan are focused mainly on conditioning, i.e. adding speed to the strength and endurance platform that I have been working on over the winter: To give you an example, last weeks sessions were: Tuesday – Speed Endurance – 60m, 80m, 100m, 120m, 150m at 95% race pace. Thursday – Special Endurance – 2 x 300m @ 90% race pace. Saturday – Simulator – 4 x 120m @ 400m race pace. Sunday – Technical/Acceleration – 8 x 40m block sta ..read more

Is how the training plan is building my performance so far. For example, in the three 400m races I’ve ran this year I have clocked 63.0s, 62.31s and 61.38s. Over the past two weeks I’ve competed at the Scottish Masters Indoor Championships and the British Masters Indoor Championships. There are updates on the site covering how I performed at both of these championships, and in short I was delighted with my form at the Scottish Championships, and whilst I felt in great shape for the British Championships, unfortunately I missed out on a podium spot by 2/10ths. Choosing the wrong race strategy c ..read more