Pescara, Italy 21 Sep - 1 Oct 2023
Ros Tabor, Barry Ferguson and Wole Odele were the three club members to make the journey to Pescara in Italy to compete at the European Masters Athletics Championships. They were rewarded with a total of 7 medals - 4 silver and 3 bronze. The championships also included cross-country races, in addition to the standard track and field events.
Ros Tabor was the first Harrier in action, competing in the W70 6km cross-country on the first day, finishing third in 28:48 and also winning a W70 team silver medal. Ros went on to claim another bronze medal in the W70 1500m (7:04.67) on the 3rd day, and finished 5th in the 5000m on the 5th day of competition. Ros wrapped up her participation with another bronze medal finish in the W70 800m with a season’s best time of 3:27.01 on the 9th day of the championships
Barry Ferguson was the next on the track from the second day in the M80 200m hurdles. Despite hitting the first hurdle and nearly running out of his lane, he finished a close 4th in 46.07s [-1.7m/s], an improvement on his club record for the event. The M80 100m was after the hurdles and a tired Barry finished 8th.
With not enough GB M80 athletes available to form a relay team, Barry stepped down an age-group to compete in the M75 4x100m relay on Day 6, but his team were just edged out of the medal positions into 4th place.
Barry’s final event was on Day 9, in the 80m hurdles, where he just missed out on the gold medal by 0.07s, finishing in a time of 19.45s [+2.0m/s] to set an inaugural club record. Unfortunately, Barry chose to take advantage of a free massage slot after his race, and missed the official medal presentation for his race.
Wole Odele started off on Day 5 in the heats of the M55 400m where he finished first in 57.72s. He improved on this in the semifinals on the next day finishing 2nd in a season’s best time of 56.89s. The final was about 5 hours later and a tired Wole ran his slowest race in the championships to finish 5th in 57.90s. His earlier time in the semis would have been good enough for bronze medal in the final.
Wole’s next involvement was on the penultimate day of the championship, running the 3rd leg in a mixed 55 4x400m relay team. Relay legs have to be in the order male-female-male-female. The team finished 2nd in 4:12.44 to claim a silver medal.
Wole got a second silver medal on the last day of competition, anchoring the men’s M55 4x400m relay team to another second-place finish in 3:53.10.
Wole was also entered in the Triple Jump competition, but chose to withdraw from that as the timing clashed with the mixed relay.
Results
Day | Event | Athlete | Performance | Placing | Comment |
21-Sep | 6k Cross W70 | Ros Tabor | 28:48 | 3rd | Bronze |
21-Sep | 6k Cross W70 Team | Ros + 2 | 1h32:38 | 2nd | Silver |
23-Sep | 1500m W70 | Ros Tabor | 7:04.67 | 3rd | Bronze |
25-Sep | 5000m W70 | Ros Tabor | 27:17.29 | 5th | |
29-Sep | 800m W70 | Ros Tabor | 3:27.01 | 3rd | Bronze, SB |
22-Sep | 200m Hurdles M80 | Barry Ferguson | 46.07s | 4th | Club record |
22-Sep | 100m M80 | Barry Ferguson | 20.09s | 8th | |
26-Sep | 4x100 Relay M75 | Barry +3 | 1:05.12 | 4th | |
29-Sep | 80m Hurdles M80 | Barry Ferguson | 19.45s | 2nd | Silver, Club record |
25-Sep | 400m M55 heats | Wole Odele | 57.72s | 1st | |
26-Sep | 400m M55 semifinal | Wole Odele | 56.89s | 2nd | SB |
26-Sep | 400m M55 final | Wole Odele | 57.90s | 5th | |
30-Sep | Relay 4x400 Mix 55 | Wole + 3 | 4:12.44 | 2nd | Silver |
1 Oct | 4x400 Relay M55 | Wole + 3 | 3:53.10 | 2nd | Silver |