Quartet among the medals at masters meeting
FOUR masters athletes from Stratford Athletic Club were part of a 32-strong GB squad who competed in the latest of the International Speed Masters challenges held over four days in the Olympic Stadium in the historical city of Shkodra, Albania.
The GB squad was up against athletes from countries including India, New Zealand, USA, South Africa, Ukraine, Germany and Sri Lanka and the Stratford contingent consisted of two seasoned internationals in Phil Brennan and Paula Williams alongside Dave Wilson and David Jones, both of whom were making their debuts for their country.
Their combined medal haul of four golds, four silvers and two bronze medals was testament to the fact that they enjoyed a thoroughly successful meeting.
The opening day saw Williams, fresh from her efforts at the recent World Masters Championships in Florida, power her way to bronze in the 100m with a time of 13.86. She then went on to win gold in both the 80m hurdles with a time of 13.62, edging out Janelle Quinn, her close friend and rival from Rugby and Northampton AC. In the javelin, her best throw of 35.60m saw her comfortably secure first place.
Making his international debut on day one in the 100m, Dave Wilson took bronze in a time of 13.27. He then bettered this in the 200m where he won silver with a time of 29.85, finishing just behind the Polish runner Marek Widel but well clear of Jeffrey Grier from the USA. This was despite Wilson struggling with a tight hamstring.
International veteran Phil Brennan returned with an impressive haul of three silver medals in the 400m, 800m and 1500m. He unfortunately lost out to Muhamet Rama from Kosova on each occasion.
David Jones, another debutant, claimed two gold medals. In the 800m he posted a time of 2.57.43, breaking the three-minute barrier for the first time in a couple of years. It was also an improvement of seven seconds on his season’s best achieved just four days earlier at the Warwickshire County Championships and gives him a ten second cushion on top of the UK rankings in his M75 age category. His time for the 1500m was 6.24.08.
