Masters Athletes Update – A Successful Track & Field Season

Who are our Masters Athletes?

All athletes over the age of 35 may be considered as ‘Masters’. There are some Track & Field meetings organised specifically for Masters athletes. These include the London, British and World Masters Championships, where our athletes won several medals. Additionally, P10 and runbritain websites show club, regional and UK rankings of all athletes’ performances at all licensed events, including league and open meetings. Their Masters’ rankings bracket these performances into five year age categories for Men and Women: V35, V40, V45… etc.

Ten of our athletes currently rank in the top 10 in the UK in eighteen different track and field event age categories. Showing our increased strength in depth, at least twenty five athletes currently rank in the top 100 in over seventy different categories. This compares with twenty athletes ranking in fifty five categories in 2023. This year, almost all of our ranked athletes represented the club in the Southern Athletics League (SAL). And nearly half of all their ranked performances were achieved at SAL meetings. Whether competing as a scorer or a non-scorer, SAL meetings can provide great opportunities to try something new, to hone skills for championships, to achieve Personal and Season’s Bests and move up the rankings!

Our Medalists at Masters Championships

Three of our club’s SAL squad competed in the World Masters Champs in Gothenburg in August, with one picking up a silver medal. Another squad member won gold at the UK Masters Champs in July, while two more won two golds and a silver at the London Open Champs.

Samantha Lamb – competed in the V50W World Masters 800m in Gothenburg, only very narrowly missing out on qualifying for the final. Later in August, Sam also ran in the VAC London Masters Champs, winning V50W gold in both 800m and 1500m. Sam’s 1500m time of 5:19.25 was a Season’s Best (SB) and confirmed her top 10 ranking in the UK. Over 800m, Sam ran even quicker at Watford on September 4^th, with an SB of 2:34.89, moving her up to 7^th ranked. Demonstrating her range, Sam also ranks top 50 over the Half Marathon.

David Shortridge – is one of our SAL stalwarts, missing only our final meeting because he was in Gothenburg. He competed in four different events at the World Masters Champs:100 and 400m hurdles, 200 and 400m. David is top 10 ranked in the UK for V50M in both hurdles events, 37^th over both 100 and 200m and 32^nd over 400m.

Steve Garrett – competes as a 2nd claim member for us in the SAL. At our first meeting, at Dartford, Steve’s fine win over 400m Hurdles earned him the male athlete of the match award. Having recently turned 35, Steve won the 400H silver medal at his first World Masters Champs in Gothenburg. His winning time of 53.29 in his heat means, unsurprisingly, he’s ranked 1st V35M in the UK.

Rebecca Williams – was another Dartford SAL winner for us, over 400m. Rebecca also recently turned 35 and while she didn’t go to Gothenburg, she won gold at the British Masters V35W 400m in 56.74 (in Derby, in late July). Her winning time currently ranks 2^nd V35W (having initially ranked 1^st) and in the Top 100 for all UK women over 400m. Rebecca also ranks a very impressive 6^th over 100m and 4^th over 200m.

Keithly Mussington – competed as a non-scorer at three of our SAL meetings, over 1500, 3000 and 5000m. Keithly’s race fitness then helped him run a 1500m SB of 5:53.36 at the VAC London Champs. This earned him a V65M silver medal and 24^th ranking in the UK. Keithly’s 5000m time of 21:19.44 at the Mile End SAL, once confirmed with P10, should lift him to 24th ranked. His 3000m at the Stevenage SAL ranks 38^th and he ranks 77^th over the Marathon, with a time of 3:42:59!

Our Other Top 10 Ranked Masters Athletes

Paul Martelletti – regularly features at the top end of UK Master’s rankings. Paul’s SBs of 8:41.80 over 3000m and 14:58.42 over 5000m, run in May and June, currently rank him as high as 4^th and 3^rd V40M in the UK respectively. Having since turned 45, Paul’s 3000m victory at our Hemel Hempstead SAL means he’s also ranked 3^rd fastest V45M. His 5000m time of 15:00.77 at Wimbledon in August ranks him 2^nd this year and remarkably, 7^th fastest ‘All Time’ V45M. And away from the track, his time of  14:45.5 at Battersea is the 4^th fastest road 5K of All Time by a V45M in the UK (just a second behind the 2^nd fastest)!

Joe Dale – achieved top 20 V40M rankings over four events with his SAL performances. His 3000m Steeplechase at Mile End currently ranks 12^th. In the less frequently run 2000m SC, Joe’s Hemel Hempstead run ranks as high as 5^th. Over the super-competitive 5000m, Joe’s non-scoring Mile End run, a PB of 15:30.99, would rank him 11^th (once confirmed). Joe ranks 34^th for his Pole Vault at Hemel Hempstead but while an important contribution to our points, it’s fair to say the bar wasn’t set quite so high for that ranking! Joe also currently ranks 79^th over Half Marathon.   

David Jones – also ran 2000m steeplechase, at both Hemel Hempstead and Stevenage SALs. His PB at the former ranks 10^th V40M. His performance over the similarly grueling 400m Hurdles at the Mile End SAL ranks 16^th. On the flat, David ran multiple distances for the first time since 2017. His 2:10.9 800m at Hemel Hempstead currently ranks 48^th. His times of 4:29.40 over 1500m and 9:48.05 over 3000m at the Highgate Late Open Meeting are currently ranked 61^st and 80^th.

Sam Hitchings – threw the Hammer 40.91m at Hemel Hempstead, his longest throw since 2019. This ranks him 7^th V35M and 93^rd among all athletes in the UK. Our main man in the heavy throws, Sam also ranks 25^th V35M for the Shot Putt and 33^rd for the Discus.

Our Other top 100 Ranked Masters Athletes

Kyalo Burt-Fulcher (V35M) – 28^th 1500m.

Andre Dahlkamp (V50M) – 32^nd 800m 35^th 1500m; 84^th 200m, 69^th 400m, 71^st 3000m, 35^th High Jump, 69^th Long Jump, 41^st Triple Jump, 33^rd Shot Putt.

James Foley (V35M) – 23^rd 400m Hurdles.

Omar Elhag (V45M) 67^th Hammer.

James Hirst (V35M) – 57^th High Jump, 63^rd Javelin.

James Hotham – 18^th Mile, 20^th 3000m, 39^th 1500m, 69^th 800m.

Faye Jeacocke (V45W) – 25^th 5000m.

Andrew Jones (V50M) – 14^th 400m.

Jason Kojo Dwah (V35M) – 26^th 100m, 23^rd 200m, 24^th 400m.

Alan MacDonald (V55M) – 6^th 800m, 9^th 1500m.

Tony MacDowall (V35M) – 23^rd 2000SC, 26^th 3000SC, 36^th 400H, 34^th Pole Vault.

Tiago Mendes (V35M) – 71^st Javelin.

Aoife Murray (V35W) – 13^th 400H; 69^th 400m, 55^th Discus.

David Prosser (V35M) – 22^nd 5000m.

Valerie Wong (V35W) – 20^th Mile.

  

This round up doesn’t include the marathon. Although officially a Track & Field event, away from international championships, the marathon is invariably run separately. Highly ranked Masters Marathon performances this year (so far) include the amazing Katrin Flikscuh – 2^nd V60W in 2024 (and 5^th of All Time!); Coach Steve Hobbs – 18^th V50M; Valerie Wong 53^rd V35W and Casper Wuite 58^th V40M.

Our Masters athletes can look back on the 2024 Track & Field season with pride. They can also look forward to 2025 and the chance to explore and push their personal boundaries all over again!

Links to P10 and runbritain Rankings and Masters Fixtures

To look up more details of individual athlete’s performances (including your own!) you can click on the link to P10 here.

Additional details of Master’s age category UK rankings (for Road as well as T&F) on the runbritain website here.

You can view our club rankings for 2024 and prior years here.

Our club website also has a link to a regularly updated spreadsheet of all club athlete’s P10 performances here.

You can find information about regional, national and international Masters fixtures on the BMAF website here