Plenty of action took place on the 5th and 6th of February; let’s look back on the weekend that was. With plenty of athletics across the indoor venues of the UK, plenty of records were to be had!
Incidentally the weekend was also a month out from the British Indoor Championships. Entries are still open at time of writing, so you can still book your place at Lee Valley!
Speedy Records in Sheffield
Sheffield hosted an open and Masters Grand Prix, producing some impressive performances throughout the age groups.
Sprints
In the sprints, Dominic Bradley continued his pursuit of the M45 record over 60 metres. Racing to a time of 7.13, he now has 5 marks this year within two-tenths of Jason Carty‘s 7.01. In the 200 metres later in the day, the Crewe & Nantwich athlete ran 22.84, just 5 hundredths from the time that has him as the third-fastest British M45 all-time indoors.
Further up the age groups, Paul Canning (7.71, M55), John Wright (7.91, M60) and David Elderfield (8.22, M65) put together some very strong age-graded performances to lead their categories.
On the women’s side, W45 record holder in the 60 Michelle Thomas put together a pair of 8.43 clockings, now a W50. In the 200 metres, Thomas was just three-tenths from the W50 British record, running 27.07.
Running as a freshly minted W60, Kirstin King put together a very impressive pair of 60 metres results. First running 8.68, to equal the British record held by Valerie Parsons, King later went faster (8.66) to break the record outright.
The Bracknell athlete also ran 29.11 in the 200 metres to go within two-tenths of Caroline Powell‘s British and European record.
In the two-lap 400 metre races, Sharon Wilkinson broke her own W50 record, going almost a second faster than her January clocking. Her time of 60.33 was only 0.16 away from Frenchwoman Maryvonne Icarre’s European and World record of 60.17.
Middle Distance
In a pair of fast 1500 metre races, recent British M40 3000 metre champion Jonathan Stewart was fastest home in 4:09.92, leading fellow champions Kristian Watson (4:10.09, M35) and Tony O’Brien (4:14.25, M50).
The strongest performance came further down the field, as Paul Forbes ran 4:44.99 to take 2.5 seconds off the previous British M65 record. Breaking Peter Molloy‘s seven-year-old mark, the Scot now holds both the 800 and 1500 records in the age group, having broken the former just prior to Christmas in 2021.
Always good for a record, David Oxland took second in the second heat with a M70 British mark of 5:04.63.
Take a look back at our archives of David’s record breaking exploits here.
Jumps
Steve Linsell neared his M55 record of 1.71, set two years ago, in clearing 1.68 in the high jump.
In the long jump, Craig Beecham (M50) added another strong mark (5.79) to an indoor season that has seen him go within 3cm of Greg Dunson‘s British record 6.09. A position behind, Paul Guest (M60) began a very strong weekend with a jump of 5.27.
Full results from Sheffield are here.
Leaping to Records in Loughborough
After his jump of 5.27 the day prior, Paul Guest extended himself to 5.37. Now the furthest mark by a British M60, Tony Bateman‘s previous record of 5.35 was eradicated by the leap.
In a pair of masters-only hurdles races in Loughborough, Jane Horder needed only the first to break a world record. Lining up alongside fellow hurdles record holder Susan Frisby, Horder obliterated the previous mark.
Edith Graff’s reign as European and World record holder ended just shy of 15 years after it started. The Belgian’s 10.58 was bested by 0.29 seconds, an impressive margin when considering the age of the record.
Full results from Loughborough are here.
Feeling inspired by the action? Get your entries in for the British Masters Indoor Championships now!