Sizzling England performances at the Masters 5k

The Masters Representative 5k race in Shrewsbury is always a keenly anticipated fixture by the athletes. Held within the Shrewsbury Festival of Running, there were three Masters races during the afternoon, with athletes representing England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom Armed Forces (UKAF). The day promised to be a hot one and it certainly lived up to the expectations not only for the temperature but for the drama and quality of the performances.

The first wave was the men's and women's 65+, with Malcolm Eustace (England) looking to retain his title in the M65 category. In an epic battle as the laps unfolded Malcolm was matched stride for stride by David I’Anson (England) and Wales’ Alan Davies (M70). In the final 100m, Alan broke clear to take the M70 category and race win by 3 seconds in 19:08 with Malcolm retaining his M65 title in 19:11, one second ahead of David.

For the women's team, Kathy Taylor (England, W75) was making her debut as part of the England Development Team and was delighted to take the gold in a time of 32:53.

The second masters race was the W35-60 age categories and the W55 category saw one of the closest races of the day. Sarah May (England) won in 20:34. Six seconds then separated the next four runners, with Jeanette McFadzean (England) taking 2nd in 20:44, one second ahead of Sharon Dixon in 3rd. Niki Morgan (Wales) finished a mere two seconds behind and Angela Deeley (England) a further four seconds back.

In the W50 category Lynne Callaghan (England) went one better than last year’s silver to take gold in 19:27, ahead of Emma Crowe (Wales) and Helen Heley (England). Meanwhile Christa Cain (England) returned to her winning ways, storming to victory in the W35 category in a time of 17:04. This was also the fastest time of the day in all the races and ensured she also took the prize for fastest female.

The final masters race was the M35-60 age categories, where the anticipation was high for some fast racing. The race didn’t disappoint as in the hottest race of the day John Beattie (England) stormed to victory in the M40 category, ducking under the 15 minute barrier to take the win in 14:59.  The UKAF Adam Baker took silver in 15:22, with England’s James Connor taking bronze in 15:29. The team spoils were shared in the M35 category with Richard De-Camps of England taking the win in 15:23 ahead of Alastair Campbell of Wales and William Ewens of the UKAF.

Upcoming opportunity

The next representative race is the trail race in the Forest of Dean on 27 September. If you would like to know more about being involved in the England Athletics Masters programme and how you can gain England selection visit our webpage.