With entries closing shortly, let’s look ahead to the British Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships. Over 40 British record holders are entered for the event at Lee Valley on the 5th and 6th of March.
Here we take a look at the women’s entries.
Recent Record Holding W40 Entered
British record holder in both the W40 hammer and W35 weight throw, Lucy Marshall is entered for both. Marshall’s hammer record mark came earlier this year in Hull, a throw of 50.59 well within the abilities of an athlete who threw 58.68 for UK #16 last year.
Zoe Doyle only set her British record in the last week, covering a mile indoors in 5:03.96. The Veterans AC athlete is due in all distances from 400 to 1500 metres, with a strong chance of securing the British title in all three.
Norman Leads W45s
Entered for eight different events at the championships, Diana Norman is unsurprisingly a well-decorated multi-eventer. Holder of five British records in the pentathlon and heptathlon, as well as further European and World marks, Norman is the top-ranked W45 in the 800, 60 metre hurdles, long jump, and shot put this season.
Andrea Jenkins is entered for both the hammer and the weight throw in the W45s. W40 weight throw record holder, the Eastern Masters athlete is second W45 all time in both events.
Race Walkers Entered in W50s
Grazia Manzotti and Melanie Peddle are British record holders over the 10,000 metre and 3000 metre race walk respectively outdoors. The pair will duel over the shorter distance indoors.
Sprinter Sharon Wilkinson is in a new age group this year, and her most recent indoor outing saw her secure the British W50 400 metres record. Running 60.33 in Sheffield, Willkinson may hope to better Maryvonne Icarre’s European and World mark of 60.17.
Willoughby Leaping for W55 Titles
Horizontal jumps are the order of the championships for Jo Willoughby. The Midland Masters athlete is in the W55 long and triple jump. Already European and British record holder in the triple jump in the age group, Willoughby is opening her season at the championships.
Matheson Leads W60 Entries
Susan Frisby already has a British title to her name this indoor season, winning the W60 pentathlon in Sheffield. A dual W55 British record holder, the Midland Masters athlete is due in four events, including the 60 metres.
Also in the 60 metres is Kirstin King. First breaking the W60 British record with 8.66 in Sheffield, King looks since to have broken the European and World records indoors at Eltham, in a time of 8.52, both pending ratification.
One athlete who has plenty of world records this indoor season is Fiona Matheson. A W60 for less than a year, the Scot has a clean sweep of British outdoor W60 records from 1500 to 10,000 metres.
Indoors, the Falkirk Victoria Harrier has broken world marks at both 1500 and 3000. The latter occurred at the British Championships in Sheffield, and Matheson will go again over 1500 metres at Lee Valley.
A quartet of jumping events face Teresa Eades at the championships. W60 British triple jump record holder indoors and out, Eades has been vaulting this indoor season, a best of 2.35.
Deep Fields for W65s
Eastern Masters athlete Alison Bourgeois is entered for a middle distance double. That includes the 800 metres, where she holds the indoor British and outdoor European records.
Sue Yeomans is a European record holder in two age groups for the pole vault, and a British record holder in three, and you would be hard pressed to find a different favourite for the W65 pole vault title.
The Southern Counties Veteran is entered in both that event and the high jump; she won both at the British Outdoor Championships in 2021.
Helen Godsell holds four British records across three distances, with the majority coming in her current W65 age group. Running for SCVAC, Godsell will look to make the British titles her own in the 60, 200, and 400 metres.
Jennifer Ibbitson will enter a new age group just prior to the championships. When better to break a British record? A Northern Masters athlete, Ibbitson holds the W50 British hammer throw record. She may look to add to it in her hammer/shot/weight throw combination at the championships.
Joylyn Saunders-Mullins is the last, but by no means least, British record holder entered in the W65 category. Holder of the British javelin record in her current age group, the Southern Counties Veteran is entered in that event and the 60 metres.
Hurdles to Overcome for W70s
Emily McMahon is a long hurdles British record holder, in both the W65 and W70 categories. With no such events at the championships, the Eastern Masters athlete will go in six events, including the 60 metre hurdles and 200 metres.
Also entered in the W70 60 metre hurdles are Jean Fail and Sally Hine . That entry is not the only thing they share, as both have a time of 12.19 over the distance to hold the British record.
The pairing both additionally hold British records over the 80 metres outdoors, with Hine holding the W65 record and Fail the W70.
The vastly able Hine is also in four other events, living up to her pedigree as British record holder in the W65 indoor pentathlon.
Wide W80 Field
Four British record holders are due in the W80 category, although with very little overlap. British W75 record holder over 200 metres Dorothy Fraser, and holder of seven British indoor records Iris Holder go head-to-head over 60 metres.
Holder is additionally entered for both horizontal jumps, where she holds all but one of the British indoor and outdoor records from W65 to W75. Having broken the outdoor W80 records last year, the Welsh Master could be a sure bet to take both indoor records as well.
In the longer races, British W80 indoor 3000 metre record holder Betty Stracey takes on a middle distance double, perhaps with half an eye on Kathleen Stewart and Anne Martin’s British indoor records.
A cursory glance of the Power of 10 should tell you all you need to know about Evaun Williams.
Holder of 26 British, and 14 European and World records, the Southern Counties Veteran will contest the javelin, hammer, and shot put in her final indoor championships before she gets a chance at rewriting the W85 section of the record books.
A Crack at W85 Records for Anne Martin
The evergreen Anne Martin is the oldest British record holder in the women’s field. Entered in the long, triple, hammer and weight, for which she holds the outdoor British records, the Eastern Masters athlete is getting her first chance at the indoor records after the lack of a 2021 indoor season.
If you want to get a piece of the action, get yourself to Lee Valley by entering below.
For a look at the men’s entries, click here.