Stratford's masters athlete Brennan takes first in his age group at Chichester

STRATFORD Athletic Club international masters athlete Phil Brennan finished first in his age category at the Chichester 10k at Goodwood last Sunday, gaining an England vest in the process.

The race was held over public roads for the first six kilometres and finished with a complete lap of the Goodwood Motor Circuit.

The country roads were undulating and all hard surfaced, but it was a unique opportunity to race around the Goodwood Motor Circuit.

Brennan is currently in peak training mode for the forthcoming World Masters Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Toruń at the end of March.

His other reason for competing in Chichester was that this was a qualifying race for the England Athletics International team for the Birmingham 10km in May.

The qualifying time for Birmingham for the M75 age category is 57:00, a time he absolutely smashed by finishing in a superb 48:06, placing him at the top of the current UK 10km rankings in his age category.

His time, together with both his first place in his age group and his first place the UK rankings, leaves him fairly confident that he will be selected to represent his country in Birmingham.

Brennan’s initial reaction when starting the journey to Goodwood, with the thermometer showing -7C, was to jump back in to bed.

He freely admitted that this would have been a big mistake, as the journey down was trouble free and at the start of the race the temperature had risen to 0C.

His determination was well rewarded with a superb performance.

The race was won by William Mycroft in a time of 29:32.