World indoor title for golden girl Williams
PAULA Williams will certainly remember her time at the 10th World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships which were held in Gainesville, Florida - an eight-day competition that produced 38 world records and 120 championship records with more than 3,700 athletes from 97 nations competing.
The Stratford AC star was one of those and her challenge began wary before she made it to the track. Due to fly out of Heathrow on Friday 21st March, her plans were thrown into turmoil by the power station fire that closed the airport. Undeterred, Williams and her friend and fellow competitor Janelle Quinn, from Rugby and Northampton AC, headed north and booked a flight from Manchester to Florida via various stops and connections in France, Germany and Canada.
Their flight from Manchester left late which left them stranded in Frankfurt overnight with no baggage. The following morning, they managed to book a flight from Frankfurt direct to Orlando only to learn that their luggage was in France.
Williams added: “At Orlando airport we dashed to a sports shop and ran around getting a pair of trainers, joggers, socks and training tops. I had a set of GB kit, my spikes and throw shoes - Janelle had nothing. We drove from Orlando to Gainesville - two hours - and arrived at nearly midnight.
“We then drove to a local 24hr store and bought eggs, milk and basic toiletries before going onto our accommodation where we were stared down by a very large raccoon. Five hours later, after very little sleep, we got to the venue and somehow got through our 60m heat and semi-final. Both of us got to the final, Janelle in one pair of borrowed spikes and then in another.”
Williams and Quinn finished seventh and eighth in the final.
The Stratford athlete then took part in the shot put where she knew she was in contention for a medal if she threw close to her personal best.
Her warm ups went well and her first throw saw her move into second place where she stayed until the final round when her put of 13.62m moved into first place and the gold medal.
The result means that Williams, who already held the world masters outdoor shot title as well as the European indoor and outdoor titles, completed the quartet of major masters titles.
It was then onto the 60m hurdles where she got through her heat in second place but her left glute was causing her discomfort and she couldn’t really turn her legs over in the final where she finished fifth.
Williams’ final event was the mixed 4x200m relay, running the first leg. The team to beat were the Americans who fielded a very strong line-up and they took gold with GB claiming a team silver. Those results also meant GB finished second to the hosts in the final medal table with Germany in third place.
The Mini London Marathon is a youth event that began in 1985, just four years after the London Marathon's inaugural run. It is a unique opportunity for children and young people to cross the iconic TCS London Marathon finish line and receive the coveted Mini Marathon medal.
It has been a launchpad for many successful athletes including Sir Mo Farah, David Weir, Eilish McColgan and Keely Hodgkinson and Saturday saw seven of Stratford AC’s talented juniors head to Stourport to take part in the qualifying event with the first four in each race being selected to represent the West Midlands in London later this month.
In the opening race there were five club members competing over the two-lap 2.6km tarmac course - James Day, Dougie Garnett, Tom Fisher and brothers Zak and Sam Lambert.
In an extremely fast race Sam Lambert led from start to finish and was joined in London by Zak who dug deep to claim fourth.
In the final race, run over the same distance, Lucia Ogilvie-Putt and Jasmine Mothershaw took part with the former finishing fourth to earn her place.
