S A Racewalking Number 3: June 2016 Issue 3 1 June 2016 The SAMA championships held in Pretoria on the 13 th and 14 th of May where a great success. On the Friday morning the conditions were excellent for the 5000m walks which where particularly eventful. For me the most exciting of the walks was the womens under 55 race in which my training partner had a role to play. Lauren Phillips had a great start and was clearly in the lead in the early rounds of the race. However it was clear to me that Rhoda Willemse lying second was taking it easy, and since she does a lot of distance walking, she has huge reserves to call on. Lisa Patterson and Ronel Viljoen were dicing for the third position. But then the entire lead group bunched up and Lisa streaked into the lead with Ronel following. Lisa built a lead of about 30m ahead of Ronel. Then Rhoda put on the pressure, quickly passing Ronel and catching a tiring Lisa. Once Rhoda took the lead there was no stopping her! However it was Frances Kichenbrand coming back from injury that put in the best age group performance on the day with a time of 31:42.31. Welcome back Frances, we have missed you! Lauren also had a great result with a time of 30:34.65. The race begins! Photo: Dewald Klein The womens >55 race saw the most impressive walking of the day with Elsa Meyer finishing in a brilliant 30:23:47! Annatjie Greyvenstein (W74) also put in a stunning performance finishing in 31:49:20. Other excellent age group performances were walked by Barbara Nell (W61), who finished in first place in 28:49.86, Hildegard Vey (W74) and Winnie Koekemoer (65). Watch these women in Perth! Elsa Meyer and Annatjie Grevenstein Photo: Dewald Klein In the (M>55) 5000m event Jan Bester (M56) took an early lead and stayed there with Ray Patterson (M60) just behind. I was in third place for a short while but was overtaken by Jaap Willemse (M59) and Marius Bosman (M59). Johannes van Zyl (M67) was hot on my heel at the finish. However the real heroes of the M>55 race were Jurgen Spencer (M76) who walked an excellent 31:25.78 and Gerard van den Raad (M72) with a 31:08:36. I overheard Jurgens complaining about the low oxygen conditions! The Mens<55 event only had 8 participants and the M50 group lead the way from start to finish! Kevin Phillips (M52) took and early and demanding lead which he held to the end with a great finishing time of 26:11.61. Frans Oosthuizen (M54) took the silver in 27:38,44 with Chris Britz taking the bronze in 28:05,85. Kevin Phillips in the lead Photo: Dewald Klein The 10 and 20 km races on Saturday 14 th took place outside of the stadium on the south side. Well done to Gerard van den Raad for his efforts in organising it! Although later in the race the traffic was a little annoying I don’t think that it disadvantaged anybody (even though a bus did at one point cross the route and a truck came half way over). Unfortunately it did start to rain, and although the rain was light and may not directly have influenced the walkers, the road did get very slippery which caused problems in balance (especially around the corners) as well as “wheel -spin” on every step. Without the rain I think we may have had some even better results on the day. The outstanding performers in the 10 km race were Annatjie Greyvenstein (W74), Hildegard Vey (W74), Winnie Koekemoer (65) and Barbara Nell (W61). Amongst the men it was Jurgen Spencer (M76) who showed his mettle regardless of the lack of oxygen! In the 20 km race Elsa Meyer (W69) was by far the outstanding performer! Full graded results are given in another section. SAMA Championships, Pilditch, Pretoria 13-14 May 2016
8
Embed
S A Racewalkingracewalking.letlapa.com/data/documents/Newsletter-June... · 2016-06-01 · S A Racewalking Number 3: June 2016 Issue 3 3 June 2016 Vincent Siphesihle Nhlapo was born
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
S A Racewalking
Number 3: June 2016
Issue 3 1 June 2016
The SAMA championships held in
Pretoria on the 13th
and 14th
of May
where a great success. On the Friday
morning the conditions were excellent
for the 5000m walks which where
particularly eventful.
For me the most exciting of the walks
was the womens under 55 race in which
my training partner had a role to play.
Lauren Phillips had a great start and
was clearly in the lead in the early
rounds of the race. However it was clear
to me that Rhoda Willemse lying
second was taking it easy, and since
she does a lot of distance walking, she
has huge reserves to call on. Lisa
Patterson and Ronel Viljoen were
dicing for the third position. But then the
entire lead group bunched up and Lisa
streaked into the lead with Ronel
following. Lisa built a lead of about 30m
ahead of Ronel. Then Rhoda put on the
pressure, quickly passing Ronel and
catching a tiring Lisa. Once Rhoda took
the lead there was no stopping her!
However it was Frances Kichenbrand
coming back from injury that put in the
best age group performance on the day
with a time of 31:42.31. Welcome back
Frances, we have missed you! Lauren
also had a great result with a time of
30:34.65.
The race begins!
Photo: Dewald Klein
The womens >55 race saw the most
impressive walking of the day with Elsa
Meyer finishing in a brilliant 30:23:47!
Annatjie Greyvenstein (W74) also put
in a stunning performance finishing in
31:49:20. Other excellent age group
performances were walked by Barbara
Nell (W61), who finished in first place in
28:49.86, Hildegard Vey (W74) and
Winnie Koekemoer (65). Watch these
women in Perth!
Elsa Meyer and Annatjie Grevenstein
Photo: Dewald Klein
In the (M>55) 5000m event Jan Bester
(M56) took an early lead and stayed
there with Ray Patterson (M60) just
behind. I was in third place for a short
while but was overtaken by Jaap
Willemse (M59) and Marius Bosman
(M59). Johannes van Zyl (M67) was
hot on my heel at the finish. However
the real heroes of the M>55 race were
Jurgen Spencer (M76) who walked an
excellent 31:25.78 and Gerard van den
Raad (M72) with a 31:08:36. I overheard
Jurgens complaining about the low
oxygen conditions!
The Mens<55 event only had 8
participants and the M50 group lead the
way from start to finish! Kevin Phillips
(M52) took and early and demanding
lead which he held to the end with a
great finishing time of 26:11.61. Frans
Oosthuizen (M54) took the silver in
27:38,44 with Chris Britz taking the
bronze in 28:05,85.
Kevin Phillips in the lead
Photo: Dewald Klein
The 10 and 20 km races on Saturday
14th
took place outside of the stadium on
the south side. Well done to Gerard van
den Raad for his efforts in organising it!
Although later in the race the traffic was
a little annoying I don’t think that it
disadvantaged anybody (even though a
bus did at one point cross the route and
a truck came half way over).
Unfortunately it did start to rain, and
although the rain was light and may not
directly have influenced the walkers, the
road did get very slippery which caused
problems in balance (especially around
the corners) as well as “wheel-spin” on
every step. Without the rain I think we
may have had some even better results
on the day.
The outstanding performers in the 10 km
race were Annatjie Greyvenstein
(W74), Hildegard Vey (W74), Winnie
Koekemoer (65) and Barbara Nell
(W61). Amongst the men it was Jurgen
Spencer (M76) who showed his mettle
regardless of the lack of oxygen!
In the 20 km race Elsa Meyer (W69)
was by far the outstanding performer!
Full graded results are given in
another section.
SAMA Championships, Pilditch, Pretoria 13-14 May 2016
S A Racewalking
Number 3: June 2016
Issue 3 2 June 2016
Lesley van Buuren won the SAMA ‘Best Female Athlete of the
Year 2016’ award with her brilliant performances at the World
Masters Championships in Lyon, France in 2015.
Lesley was born on the 4th April 1962 and took up racewalking
in 2004. In 2007 she started training under Barbara Nell’s
coaching. She has a talent that is truly outstanding and in the
past few years she has excelled both locally as well as
internationally. Her 20 km PB (1:47:57 – W50) was walked in
Stellenbosch on the 11th April 2013.
WMACs Lyon 2015, 14 August W50 20km podium, Annick
Le Mouroux, Lesley Van Buuren, Irina Kokorina
Photo: Emmanuel Tardi
In Lyon, Lesley walked away with three gold medals as well as
the 20 km team challenge silver (for the W35 age group,
together with Ronel Viljoen and Winnie Koekemoer). Lesley
walked a 26:40:56 in the 5 000m (W50) on the track at Lyon.
According to the WMA World Masters Ranking website
(www.mastersrankings.com), this remains the third best time in
this age category in the world in this event in 2015. However,
Lesley remains as the top ranked athlete for 2015 in the 5 000m
W50 race walk with her time of 26:07:13 at the SAMA
championships in Port Elizabeth on the 15th May 2015.
WMACs Lyon 2015, 10 August W50, 10 km race
Photo: Dominique Guebey
Three days after her 5000m win, Lesley again took the gold in
the 10 km road race (W50) in a time of 54:12:00. This remains
the third ranked time in the world last year for this distance and
age group (as per www.mastersrankings.com). Lesley’s superb
effort in the 20 km race in Lyon (1:51:14), however, remains
uncontested as the best time in the world for the W50 20 km
category in 2015. To put this time in context, the second athlete
at Lyon was 1 minute 37 seconds behind Lesley whilst the
bronze winner finished 5 minutes 34 seconds after the race was
won.
Leading the world rankings is not new to Lesley van Buuren. In
2013 she set a new South African W50 10 km record of 52:26
at Oudtshoorn on the 27th April. In 2013, she was ranked first in
the world with her best 5000m and 10 km times (W50) whilst
being ranked second for her 20 km (W50) time
(www.mastersranking.com). Two months after returning from
Lyon, Lesley walked a 54:19 10 km (W50) at the ASA Road
Walking Championships at Youngsfield on the 10th October
2015, winning, the gold, and took the Best Female Masters
Walker award at this event.
Lesley leading the pack at Brazil 2013
Photo: Kevin van Buuren
Having now competed in 3 WMA Championships, Lesley sports
11 Gold and 3 Silver WMA Championship Medals.
Lesley is a lovely character, smiling and friendly and is always
willing to pass on her knowledge at walking clinics in various
places as well as at the monthly CGA training session at the UJ
Soweto campus on a Saturday morning.
Lesley explaining technique at a RWFL clinic in 2014
He is a courteous and friendly young man that quickly finds a place in the heart of all that know him. Vincent was born and living in Cruywagen Park, Germiston, when a friend (Whitney Matseba) encouraged him to go along to CGA’s one hour walking challenge four years ago. After a while he stopped going, because without a coach to guide him he was getting nowhere. Later he was spotted by Brenda Wakfer and for a short while Carl Meyer gave him some coaching. Brenda encouraged Vincent (who was in Grade 8 at Princess High in Witpoortjie) to go to trials for acceptance to the High Performance Centre (HPC) school in which he had to walk 1500m in 2014. Later that year Vincent represented the CGA at the SA Walking Championships at Youngsfield Military Base where he walked 3000 m in 17:40 for 7
th place. After the
Championship he heard that he had been accepted into the HPC.
Vincent Nhlapo and Dimakatso Msheba in pace
Vincent, whose family now lives in Bram Fischerville, is a full time boarder at the HPC School and progressing well with his studies and his sport. Chris Britz assisted by Corli Swart coached the walkers at HPC until Corli moved. Since then Mthunzi Mnisi has been working with Chris to train these young walkers. Vincent walked a 28:13 5 km at the SA Racewalking Championships at Youngsfield Military Base to take fourth place. He also walked a 28:38.55 at the ASA U16, Championships at Germiston Stadium on the 31
st March 2016.
Vincent walks 6-10 km on at least 4 days of the week and trains in the Gym on Mondays and Wednesdays in the afternoon after school. He also trains on the 2km loop at the HPC on Tuesday Afternoons and on the track on Thursdays. It is a full and tough Programme but Vincent enjoys the challenge and the way one moves in articulating the racewalk style. Vincent also has some interest in swimming as well as gymnastics.
When asked about school Vincent replied philosophically “School is school!” Classes at HPC are quite small, and Vincent enjoys, in particular, life orientation and life Science (Biology). Vincent dreams of being able to take part in racewalking at an international level, but acknowledges that he still has a lot of work to put in to achieve the times it will take to qualify for a junior event. Next year he will start racing 10 km and then the real challenge begins. Qualifying standards for the World Junior championships are 44:20.00 for the 10000 m! Vincent is a very courteous and personable young man and is well liked by his fellow racewalkers. At this stage he is uncertain where the future will take him but he may study further in the humanities after school.
Vincent, keep working towards your goals, you have the whole racewalking community rooting for you!
Source: Interviewed by Chris C.
Racewalker of the month Vincent Siphesihle Nhlapo – a rising star!
S A Racewalking
Number 3: June 2016
Issue 3 4 June 2016
Wow – What a Comrades – certainly one of the most exciting that I have watched – and the first time since I completed my second comrades in 1985 that I could watch the start without tears – although they almost did come while watching the end of the women’s race. I certainly think that in essence there were two clear winners in that race. Although, really every person starting the comrades is a winner – the mere fact that you have got to that start line is a tremendous achievement – well done to everyone that made it to the start and a special congratulations to our walkers that walked every step and finished in their planned time – you are a tough bunch indeed! I continue to be encouraged by the great reception of the newsletter from the walking community! Remember the website for back issues (http://racewalking.letlapa.com) and please contribute to the facebook page (South African racewalkers). I have put the resources in place it will also be up to you to ensure that they are used to the best to build community in the sport. Please send me race reports, photos suggestions and articles that you write. Make this YOUR newsletter rather than mine – be a part of the fabric of South African Racewalking.
Source: Results
In my first article actually giving some open statistics, I give the results of the SAMA championships. I have given the actual times achieved as well as the corrected (decimal) time taking out the age factor according to the WMA tables. The percentage given is the percentage of the world open record. In the case of the men’s record (18:05.49) it was set by Hatem Ghoula of Tunisia on the 1st of May 1997 in Tunis. The women’s record of 20:02.60 is held by Gillian O'Sullivan of Ireland and was set on the 13th July 2002 in Dublin.
This shows the tremendous strength that we have in our female masters athletes, who we know are amongst the top in the world. Lesley van Buuren is notable by her absence – she was not competing. I understand that Elsa Meyer will be 70 for the next Masters Games in Perth. The current world record for the 70-75 year age group is 29:16.0 held by Britta Tibling of Sweden. The record was set at San Diego, USA on the 21
st of
July 1989. The age of the record gives some idea of how difficult it will be to crack but if I were a betting man I would bet that it will be broken in Perth this year.
The same procedure was carried out for the 10 km road results. The world Men’s record of 37:11 was set by Roman Rasskazov of Russia on the 28th of May 2000 in Saransk. The women’s record of 41:04 was set by Yelena Nikolayeva of Russia on the 20
th April 1996 in Sochi.
Our top performer here is Annetjie Greyvenstein. The woman’s 70-75 age group world record is held by Britta Tibbling and stands at 01:00:18. It was set in Verona, Italy on the 2
nd of June 1988.
Both the 10 and 20 km races suffered from slippery road conditions due to the rain, otherwise times may well have been considerably better.
The men’s 20 km record of 1:17:21 was set by Jefferson Pérez of Ecuador on the 23rd of August 2003 at Saint-Denis in
France. The woman’s record of 1:24:50 was set by Olimpiada Ivanova of Russia on the 4th of March 2001 in Adler, Russia. Elsa Meyer is again the star performer in this group. Remembering that Elsa will be 70 in Perth, it is notable that the W70 world record is held by Louise Walters of the USA. It was set at Surprise in the USA on the 7th of February 2010 and stands at 2:12:27! Dave Ingram writes an interesting walking blog and has just started a Comrades facebook site – a mutual friend says this of him: “without doubt Dave must be the top endurance walker in the country today. I've never seen somebody walk like him. The hills and mountains didn't stop him on Sunday! He's like a machine on any incline.” Here is Dave’s Comrades report (shortened – for the full story go to http://daveawalker.blogspot.co.za/ ) : What a day.. So we drove the route, as we did Kypie's eyes got wider and wider, fortunately we stopped just after halfway we decided a craft beer was in order to calm our nerves poor Kypie only had a diet coke!! These hill are something else, let no one kid you that this is a down only race....
We caught the bus to the start to alleviate stress, except our bus was so slow it was almost in first gear most of the way. Once in Maritzburg the traffic was so bad we abandoned the bus and walked to the start. Instead of being in the front of H (the last batch) we were pretty much in the middle. The atmosphere is awesome, as we move forward when the ropes come down, batch by batch we edged forward. We got to where E batch started off which is about normal. Out of the blue Heather popped up behind us so great to start with friends around us. I spent much time analysing times vs hopes and expectations. Eventually I worked out that if each 30km leg took less than 4
Full Name Province M/F ~Age Act Time Corr. Time % of WR
Annatjie Greyvenstein GNMA F 71 01:04:09.00 64.150 97.9%
Hildegard Vey WPA F 74 01:12:08.00 72.133 91.6%
Winnie Koekemoer GNMA F 65 01:03:27.00 63.450 90.0%
Barbara Nell CGMA F 61 01:00:45.00 60.750 88.6%
JURGEN SPENCER WP M 76 01:04:05.00 64.083 86.8%
Ann Stead WPA F 69 01:11:27.00 71.450 85.1%
Retha Knoetze GNMA F 61 01:04:54.00 64.900 82.9%
Avril Coats CGMA F 59 01:03:28.00 63.467 82.5%
Ray Patterson GNMA M 63 00:58:16.00 58.267 81.5%
Susan Smith KZN F 60 01:05:26.00 65.433 81.1%
Johannes Van Zyl WPA M 67 01:00:47.00 60.783 81.0%
Margaret Norten WPA F 76 01:25:07.00 85.117 80.5%
Jan Bester GNMA M 56 00:55:49.00 55.817 80.0%
Lorraine Zehmke SWD F 66 01:13:03.00 73.050 79.4%
Gerard Van den Raad GNMA M 72 01:05:49.00 65.817 79.2%
Carol Van der Walt GNMA F 66 01:13:31.00 73.517 78.9%
Carol Rothero CGMA F 59 01:07:10.00 67.167 77.9%
Lauren Phillips CGMA F 51 01:02:45.00 62.750 75.1%
Shiela Pellew KZN F 64 01:15:34.00 75.567 74.4%
Moira King KZN F 60 01:11:47.00 71.783 73.9%
Caroline Jacobs CGMA F 55 01:07:10.00 67.167 73.8%
Celeste Ruck GNMA F 51 01:04:01.00 64.017 73.6%
Marius Bosman GNMA M 59 01:02:30.00 62.500 73.3%
Fred Clements GNMA M 72 01:11:13.00 71.217 73.2%
Les Williams KZN M 65 01:06:40.00 66.667 72.5%
Danie Labuschagne GNMA M 60 01:04:15.00 64.250 72.0%
Susan Katrakazas GNMA F 49 01:03:59.00 63.983 71.8%
Frans Ossthuizen GNMA M 54 01:01:20.00 61.333 71.6%
Lisa Patterson CGMA F 34 00:58:21.00 58.350 70.8%
Ronel Viljoen GNMA F 37 00:59:25.00 59.417 70.3%
Joseph Appel GNMA M 46 00:59:22.00 59.367 69.4%
Bronwyn Lendrum CGMA F 42 01:03:28.00 63.467 67.7%
Teboho Thwahlaka NWNA M 51 01:03:28.00 63.467 67.5%
hrs we were fine... I started my stopwatch as planned at the gun, and my Garmin at the mat. It took 8 minutes to cross the line. We settled in to a comfortable pace and went through 30km in 3:46 from the mat in 7:33/km pace add the 8 minutes in and we were on about 7:40. The 12 hr bus passed us at about the 5 km, I knew they were going too fast but let them go. At around 25 km just before Camperdown we caught them. My biggest bugbear on comrades is these busses, they block the road and make it "impossible" to pass. We went on the grass to overtake, We hit a downhill through Camperdown so upped the pace to get away. A few km later we met up with Mavis Morris another walker albeit without Ws. She walked with us for quite a long way just fading a bit on the hills. I knew we had to maintain a good pace so kept going on the uphills and allowing Kypie to catch up on the downs. I am much stronger on hills. We settled in to a rhythm and plodded along.... and along.... my but it’s a long way. I try and maintain hydration to a level that I never need to stop.. Kypie was not so successful, but still managed to keep up. We passed 1000 hills chef school but they were not handing out beers for tasting! We went through 60 km in around 3:53 on my Garmin so we had a few more minutes in the bag. Going up Cowies the last major hill Kypie fell back a bit, but I had told him about the downhill, except for another damn bus, dawdling down ... then they jogged a bit till the road narrowed and they slowed to a crawl. We went off passing on the grass again then they started jogging. Kypie confirmed that sub 8:30/km would get him to the end, and I extricated myself from the bus and shot in front, this was around the 70 km, I kept looking back but never saw Kypie. I got into a nice rhythm and just kept going. Those last few kms just drag on and on and on ... and on. I was hoping to at least get a 11:3X but just missed out, 2 years ago I did 11:45:03 now 11:40:06 . Job done for me! Kypie (11:50) and I finished as planned. I got my down PB, I maintained my pace the whole way. I am very happy. My awesome wife did an amazing 9:33 so now has her green number. Now to plan the rest of this years races..
Source: http://daveawalker.blogspot.co.za/ Sunday 24th July has been confirmed as the date for the CGA Provincial Trials at FNB stadium. These will determine the team for the Inter-provincial Competition in October.
Source: Bernard Donelly
A GOAL is a statement describing a broad intent, state or condition. Note that a goal has no specific requirement about what you must do in order to achieve your goal. You should perform a goal analysis by listing performances and actions that would cause you to agree, the goal has been achieved. So, let’s do it, starting with your goal. MY GOAL I WANT TO RACEWALK FASTER, BE STRONGER, APPLY PERFECT TECHNIQUE AND POSTURE AND REACH A PERSONAL BEST PERFORMANCE AT THE OCTOBER 2016 SA RACEWALKING CHAMPIONSHIPS. Typical performance assessment to achieve your goal: 1. I will gradually increase my LSD total weekly km’s by between 10 and 15 km. I will then maintain 60 km/week until it is time to taper for the event. 2. Complete every week’s training schedule to the letter exactly how stated. 3. During the next 3 months I will incorporate into my workout a second “speed session” of 25 min. to improve my anaerobic threshold and VO2 max. This only applies to weeks without races. 4. I am checking every morning my resting heart rate, which indicates signs of possible over-training. I also check at monthly intervals MHR and perceived level of fatigue at that level. 5. I am going to increase and give more attention to detailed warm-up, flexibility and core strength exercises and stretching sequences after warm-up and at the end of all my workouts. 6. I will listen to my body. I will remain calm and focused, and will not panic if I cannot start or complete a session for whatever reason, work, family, weather, discomfort or injury. 7. I am reducing my weight to 75 kg during the month of June 2016. I will weigh myself daily, record and keep stats. Once target reached, I will monitor and make necessary adjustments to maintain ideal. 8. I am to eat healthily; I avoid junk food, take daily 1000mg vitamin C and other recommended supplements, and maintain good immune system. 9. I reduce and maintain my alcohol consumption to one beer, one glass of wine daily and I make no exceptions. 10. I inform my family about my goal and ask them to put up with my commitments towards achieving this goal and where possible give me their best possible support.
If you are in agreement that doing/having done and achieved 1 to 10 will attain your goal, the analysis in completed and you are ready for action and getting started. If you are not convinced it will do it for you, you must go on analysing further, make changes and then start with application. Make yourself three copies, keep one next to your bed, read it in the morning to remind you what you are going to do that day. Put a copy on your fridge for when you come home as a reminder. The third copy for your handbag or briefcase as a constant reminder of your goal and the commitment you have made. What you have written is not written in stone. You can make alterations, improvements whenever you feel the goal could be perfected more. Enjoy.
Source: Jürgen Spencer The 47th Naumburg international race took place on Sunday 22 May. Besides the German walkers a good contingent of other nationalities made up the participants. This included a strong Mexican mens 20 km team. The laps were 1 km in length with half of in the shade, which was fortunate since it was a hot day (over 30°C by 10 am).
Nava leading Linke in the 20 km
Photo: Philipp Pohle.
In the mens race Eder Sanchez (Mex) led in the early rounds but the victory, went to Horatio Nava (Mex) in 1:20:56. Christopher Linke (Ger) was second in 1:21:14 and Eder
Sanchez (Mex) third in 1:21:31. Linke won the German title ahead of Hagen Pohle (1:22:34) and Andreas Janker (1:27:04). The Pole Agnieszka Dygacz was the first woman over the finish line in 1:30:27, Claire Tallent (AUS) 1:33:23 and Laura Polli (SUI) 1:34:27 took second and third in a race where the top five women bettered the 1:36:00 required by the IAAF Olympic standard. Lea Dederichs took the German title with 1:42:13, ahead of Maria Unterholzner (2:11:23) and Franziska Spanner (2:14:02).
Womens results
Source: Various
Source: Stefano La Sorda (Facebook) In masters Internationals are no time entry standards and they are open to all. Competing in 5 year age groups means that whatever your age you don't have to dream of past glories you can still enjoy them for real today. What a motivation the 70 and 80 year old are to us youngsters, they clearly demonstrate the immense pleasure racewalking offers regardless of age Brilliant first race over 10k. The weather here is beautiful with cloudless skies but with temperatures in the 20's and humidity over 60% so not perfect for racing (sounds perfect to a South African – Ed). It was raced on a 2km lap starting on the sea front in the town with a straight out and back with a little loop around a car park at the end of each lap. The first race combined M60 and above age groups with all the women age groups and started at 8.30 am. Not surprisingly a small group of younger women went straight into the lead pursued by Ian Richards (M65) and Patrice Brochettes (M60) from France Ian's main rival. Ian picked up a few yellows and backed off deciding not to make a race of it and keep in mind that there was a 30 k on the following day. He finished 44 s Patrice in 54:41 to take the first English gold of the day. Steve Allen (M60) finished in 57:47 just ahead of Kate Donaldson in 57:52 a fine performance as she is only just back from an injury. Malcolm Martin (M60) also back after a recent injury recorded a 59:09. Colin Turner (M70) dropped down 2 age groups to complete the team and secure silver behind the French. Colin, in a class of his own, took gold in 1:00:02. Roger Michel (M65) finished in 1.03.13 and Dave Kates (M65) in 1:05:56 to continue the dominance of the GB M65 team securing another gold.
Anne Wheeler (W60) was the next lady home in 1:04:22 chasing an individual bronze and team medal. Cath Duhig (W60) finished in 1:.04:47. They were able to combine with Angela Martin (W50) finishing in 1:08:47 taking bronze as a W50 team. Finishing the British contingent was Fiona Bishop (W55) in 1:09:55. The 35 to 55 men's race started at 10.00 am when it was getting much hotter. Francisco Reiss (M55) put in his usual powerful and consistent performance to win his age group by almost 5 minutes in 50:20. In the same race was newcomer Ian Torode (M55) who finished in 1.13.02. It would be good to see more newcomers joining us in these masters internationals. Arthur Thomson has just moved into the 80 age group where he won yet another gold in 1:04:59 striving all the way to beat the youngsters. Norbert Will (M80) from Northern Ireland continues to grace these international championships thoroughly enjoying the experience. He finished in 1.18:18 and together with Arthur and Ed won gold in the M75 team competition. Ed Shillabeer (M75) completed the race in 1.10.34. There were excellent performances in W20k and M30k in Monte Gordo, even though it was 26
oC with 52% humidity. Ed
Shillabeer (M75) takes pride of place for his 3:37:17 gold medal performance beating Mexico Olympic 50 km winner and race walking great Christoph Hohne (3:40:04) into second place in the M75 race. Norbert Will (M80) was determined to finish, win a medal and support the team he was walking for, despite a shortage of training as a result of ill health. Norbert won the silver and closed in the M55 age group team for a bronze in 4:07:03. For the M65 group it was business as usual with Ian Richards taking gold in 3:01:55 and with backing from Roger Michel (3:27:33) and Dave Kates (3:37:43) for the gold team medal ahead of Latvia where racewalking seems to be finding a new lease in life. The M60 team was a composite team of Steve Allen (M60), Malcolm Martin (M60) and Ed Shillabeer (M65) and good enough to take the gold. Malcolm was first home in 3:11:22 (5th position). Steve didn't have such a good day but still managed 6th in 3:20:46. This was Francisco Reis's (M55) last race representing GB has he has decided to switch his allegiance back to Portugal. He finished with a gold win in 2:44:04 to add to his 10k win. Newcomer Ian Torode, who has recently started walking and has a marathon running background, finished in a satisfying 4:02:59. Star of the ladies 20 km was Marie Jackson (W55) from the Isle of Man following up her fine performance at the recent National 20 km to take gold in 2:04:32. Marie was joined by Ann Wheeler (W60) in 2:24:51 and Fiona Bishop (W55) 2:31:24 two regulars at these internationals to make a W55 team and win the gold. The two to miss out of being in a women's team were Angela Martin (W50) in 2:24:11and Cath Duhig (W60) in 2:20:04, who took the individual silver. It is a shame that we didn't have an extra lady racing as I am sure we could have structured another team to win another medal. Angela put in another solid performance to finish in just a minute slower than at Hillingdon recently where the conditions were far easier. Overall these championships have been both successful and very enjoyable. Monte Gordo holds memories for many walkers and has become both a favourite holiday and winter training destination with many GB walkers and runners. I am sure this trip will add a few more to their number. All the walkers apart
from Ron Penfold came home with at least one medal. Ron walked well but unfortunately we didn't have enough walkers to make up a team in which he could compete. Next up is Perth.
Source: Ian Richards (facebook) - edited Join other AGN Racewalkers on the track on the third Thursday of the month and experience the new Tuks track!
Source: Chris Britz
Grace Wanjiru from Kenya Defence Forces clocked 1:34:09 to retain her national title for a 15
th time at Kasarani on Friday.
This is also within the Olympic qualifying time Source: Ayumba Ayodi,http://allafrica.com/