E.M.A.A. Outdoor Inter Area Challenge Corby September 7th 2024
E.M.A.A. Outdoor Inter Area Challenge Corby September 7th 2024
It’s hard to know how to start to describe the amazing team effort that NMAC produced last Saturday.
NMAC want to say a big well done to all those involved. You should be proud of yourselves.
Every single athlete (and there were at least 40) put their utmost into gaining every single point possible , with the result that we finished 2nd out of 9 area teams in the combined men and women’s rankings. That was without some notable World class performers and some last minute injuries. You know what I am thinking…….
The scores are on a separate post. We are always at a disadvantage over Eastern and Midlands Masters as we have further to travel. With that in mind, well done to everyone for all the miles you covered to get to Corby, including our team manager Paul who lives in Devon.
There are many things that contributed to this impressive result. We had 3 people who willingly moved down age groups to help get more points and we had many people doing events that were out of their comfort zone. We also had people willing to take on multiple events and others who were willing to forgo their best event for the good of the team.
Let’s start with the simple facts of those that gained 1st places, 9 points. James Taylor M35-49 gained 3 1sts in Discus, Hammer and Shot. Real class and the top points scorer of the day.
Scott Whittle M50 and Tom Grantham M35-49 got the meeting off to a great start with stylish 1sts in the 400m hurdles. Tom later did the 400m (5th) and the long jump(4th).Valuable points.
Other 1st were gained by Anita Saunders in the W50 Long Jump, whilst she also got 2 2nds in the sprints, a whopping 25 points,
Julie Hicken W60 400m(not her usual event),John Wright M60 400m,Caroline Marler W70 shot put (plus 3rd in Long Jump and 5th in 100m), Steve Linsell M60 High Jump (plus a 3rd in the Shot Put), John Twiddle M50 Shot Put (and 3rd in the Hammer), Jeff Prest in the M50 3000m – a thrilling race to watch, and the W60 and M50 convincing wins in the 4x100m relays.
Looking at the valuable 2nds places that gained 8 points- we had Andy Hunter W60 sprinting to 2 sprint 2nds with season’s bests in both and Amanda Potter copying that splendidly in the W35-49 sprints.
Liz Duke got 2nd in the W35-49 sprint looking strong, Julie Wilson got 2nd in the W50 Discus and competed in all the other throws, amassing 23 points. A busy day.
Greg Pell got valuable 3rd points in the M50 Discus and Javelin.
We were grateful that Richard Higson- Blythe not only ran the 200m (4th) 100m (5th) and the relay but filled in at the Javelin at the last moment. Always a stalwart member.
Nick Johnston-Davis was part of the sprint group gaining points and having fun I hope!
Ilse Hemming W60 always gains many points and this time it was in 100m 4th, 200m 6th,, Long jump 3rd and relay 1st
We gained valuable points from the women middle distance runners. Stephanie Robson 3rd in W50 800m and 4th in the 3000m, Helen Wilkinson, Dot Kesterton and Hilary West 4th s in their 800ms, Louise Rowley 6th in W70 800m in her first track race.
The male distance runners were held together by the NMAC glue of Simon Oak, Chris Ireland, Jed Turner and Graham Webster-always solid runners who gain valuable points. They are also willing to do extra events for points- Simon a 1500m as well as an 800, Chris the 300m hurdle, Jed the Long Jump and Graham the Shot put.
I really want to mention Robert Walsh. Not only did he run the 800, 1500 and 3000m he dropped down from his M50 age to run with the M35-49 for the good of the team, gaining 16 points. Think he ran in the relay too! Phenomenal.
Our jumpers and vaulters worked hard, Andrew England 3rd in M50 HJ, 5th in LJ, 6th in PV, Sue Richardson, ex Olympic Long Jump medallist 4th in W60 HJ ,4th in the Shot Put and in winning relay. John Ward, 3rd in the Long Jump after running in the 100m(6th) and 400m(4th). A good day’s work.
We are very lucky to have decathlete Rick Cordwell in the team as he can cover almost any event- this year it was Triple Jump, High Jump, Pole Vault , 2000m walk and the relay.
I mentioned at the start that several people moved out of their comfort zones to do unaccustomed events.
One was Carol Beattie who came along with Louise Rowley and Dot Kesterton from Sheffield Steel City, never having run on a track before- she took on the W70 400m for us and did well.
Here I can think of Anthony Burniston who is a top class 100/200 runner but was willing to do the 400m. Debra Casson doesn’t usually run further than 200m but she did the 400m and also the high jump and relay. Likewise Julie Hicken who excelled in running further than usual!
We had female athletes doing distance races instead of their usual sprint races- Carol Holt 2 5ths in W35-49 1500m and 3000m (also did the long jump!)and Afroditi Kalambouka 5th in W50 1500m. Afroditi did the 1500m straight after doing the 2000m walk where she also got a 5th in her first race walk ever. Later on she also competed in the Triple Jump and the relay. Quite a day!
Paul Barlow and Alex Rowe also took on hard challenges- the 2000m walk. Heroic and no DQs.
Wendy Valentine has to be mentioned as definitely an athlete who moved out of her comfort zone. Not only agreeing to move down an age group she ran the very challenging 400m hurdles for the first time ever. Then she did the 2000m walk and the Triple Jump all in the younger age group. It is worth mentioning too that Wendy helped officiate between her events as she was needed as a Level 2 Field Judge. In fact without her and another member Jennifer Ibbitson the meeting may not have happened as there was a risk at one time of there not being enough Level 2 judges.
Jennifer also moved down age groups, actually 2, from W60 to W35-49! She competed in the Pole Vault(3rd), Discus(4th),Shot Put (7th),Javelin (8th, slipping away from Judging the Men’s Shot Put ), gaining 22 points. When not competing she was Judging Field events non stop.
I hope this report reflects the commitment, enthusiasm and talent of our team. I forgot to mention, our Chairman Phil Lee was there raking the long jump pit all day and when he wasn’t in the 2000m walk our Committee Member Alex Rowe was sorting out results on his laptop.
Lastly, a HUGE thank you to Paul Barlow for taking on the truly onerous job of getting this team together. Without him, we would not be coming as high as 2nd. Next year…..1st??! What do you all think?
Caroline Marler
Hon.President
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