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MASTERS ATHLETICS SUMMER 2013.

before climbing 600 feet to the half-way point at 50km at Sweden’s Kasja Berg took gold in 7hrs 38min 52 sec

the hilltop town of Sarlat. Dropping down after that the with Russia's Irina Antropova taking silver in 7.42.52.
route crossed over the Dordogne to the opposite bank and Sue's bronze medal winning time was 7.48.12, some
eventually the athletes were left with a killer mile long climb 40 minutes faster than her only previous 100km race
time. All three ladies had smashed the existing
to finish back in the town of Belves. The route passed course record of 7.52.14 set back in 2000.
through many picturesque small towns and villages and Additionally, such was the quality of Sue's time that it
was overlooked by several 'fairy-tale' Chateaux for which moved her straight to 6th on the U.K. 'All-time' 100km
the area is famous.
ranking lists. Also a W40 British best.
Athletes from 15 European nations, including previous

World and European Champions lined up at the start on an

unseasonably cold and grey morning. Leamington’s

Harrison had a pre-race plan which involved a strong but BMAF 5k
steady pace, as well as a pre-planned food strategy.

This was very necessary as in her only previous 100km CHAMPIONSHIP
race Sue's lack of experience in these areas had taken Horwich June 16th

their toll on her body. 2013
She commented, "The first 20km passed very quickly as I
was concentrating on sticking to my plan". Pre-race Words: Dave Beattie.
favourites Marija Vrajic from Croatia, Kajsa Berg from
Pictures: Carl Balshaw.
Sweden and Russias Irina Antropova soon moved away
from the group Sue was running with and at the 40km mark
Vrajic was already 8 minutes ahead of Berg with Antropova
another 2 minutes behind with Sue running with a group of

three Russians another two minutes back.

The hardest part of the course up to this point began with Horwich Festival of Racing incorporates many
the long climb up to the half way point at Sarlat followed by running and cycling events, within a unique Carnival
the long 5km downhill slope to return to the Valley floor. By atmosphere. We had a new race organiser for 2013,
now Sue's group had split up and she found herself back in Carl Balshaw, who worked hard to provide British Masters
7th place. Sue said, "I went rhough a bad patch around half with a good 5k championship. I had a post-race review with
way when my quads started to tighten up down to the long Carl, and we are aiming to further improve the race in 2014
downhill section". At no stage did her mental determination (for example, re-introducing accurate kilometre markers).
weaken and she stuck to her pre-race plan. It is a widely
held belief that in 100km races the real competition only Following the normal schedule, the race walkers lined up
starts when runners have safely got the first 70km behind for their championship a few minutes before the runners,
them. and were addressed by Eric Horwill, who led those present
to observe a minute of silence in remembrance of Jack
This proved to be the case as at 75km Sue moved into 6th Fitzgerald.
position overtaking one of the Russian women who was
forced to walk. At 85km she realised that the long time
early race leader, Vrajic, had also paid the penalty for her
strong early pace and Sue overtook her moving up into 5th
place. G.B. Team Managers kept Sue informed of what
was happening in front of her and was encouraged to hear
that it looked like two more of the Russians in front of her
were starting to struggle. Sue just concerntrated on her
own pace and with just 5km to go she passed them to
move into 4th position. Sue said, "I could see the third
placed girl way up the road. I was told she was still 3
minutes in front of me.
The gap didn't seem to be getting any smaller and I was
just concentrating on moving forward and covering the last
4km as fast as I could"

At the 98km marker the gap was down to just 60 Guy
seconds. Then 500m later came the start of the 'killer Bracken
climb' back up to the finish line in Belves. Sue said, "I
could see she was struggling and the Russian
coaches were screaming encouragement to her. This
only served to motivate me further! At the 99km
marked I came alongside her and went straight past.
I was now in bronze medal position and nothing and
no-one was going to take it from me. As I
approached the finish line I could hear the announcer
saying, "Troisiemme place - Sue Harrison - Grande
Bretagne". I was elated but both physically and
emotionally drained as I crossed the line. I was
immediately interviewed for French television and I
have no idea what I said!"

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