Author: Bridget Cushen
Ageing is an ineluctable genetic fact but it varies according to the lives we lead, evidence all our members compared with the proverbial man in the street in the same age band. Octogenarian Douglas Milsom VAC, who has a pretty high mileage in those legs, is hardly even slowing down as he turned out for his Club in all the Southern Counties Veterans Leagues tackling events from 800-3000m. On 19 July he used his track speed to set the roads of West London alight scorching around in the Ealing Summer Series 1-Mile race in 7min 36sec, leaving some youngsters in his wake and erasing Edmond Simpson 7.38sec Best from Cardiff in 2017 from the books.
W75 Eva Osborne, EMAC, managed 8.40.5sec for 8th overall in the Norfolk Senior Women’s County Mile Championships in May and has now followed that up with an 8.40.85sec clocking in St Ives on 17 July.
The inspirational Julia Machin, SCVAC, who coaches 18 ranked athletes down on the South Coast, and who herself represented Great Britain & N. Ireland in the European Championships, European Cup, competed in the Commonwealth Games and has six UK Championships Medals in her trophy cabinet; is still soaring high as the W45, who will soon be moving up an Age Group, cleared1.66m in the Sussex County Championships at Crawley in May. Lead by example.