World Masters Indoor Championships - Finland - April 2012

This report is edited from a press release sent to Nottingham Post by Fred and Jane Pidgeon.

Four Nottingham athletes have just returned from Jyvaskyla in Finland where they took part in early April the World Master’s Indoor Athletics Championships. Once again they acquitted themselves very well indeed, the standard goes up every year and our athletes seem to manage to still rise to the top.

            Mark Dunwell showed that he was once again the best in the world at 60 metres by recording a time of 7.00 seconds when winning the M40 60 metre final after recording a time of 7.23 in the earlier rounds.

Mark was not the only champion from our small group as David Oxland won the M60  3,000metres in a time of 10.08.34 in a hard fought race which involved running in the second Final against the clock as well as competitively because the Russian (who had won the cross country) was put in the first Final and had already posted a good time. Oxland also placed 8th in a brutally cold and snow-covered Cross-country in the M60 8Km. with a time of 33.19 and was 4th in the M60 1,500 metres final with a time of 4.59.27.

            Jane Pidgeon showed her usual consistent good form even though she has missed more training this year than she would have liked. She placed 4^th in the W 45 8Km Cross-Country in the same conditions as Oxland had found; when recording a time of 35.25. Pidgeon also placed 8^th in the W45 3,000m in 11.26.48 and 6^th in the W45 1,500m with a time of 5.10.09,.Pidgeon then went on to show her range by running the fastest leg of the Great British W40 4 x 200m relay team.

Also present at the championships for the first time this year was Martin White who is just coming into some really good form in the sprints. White ran a time of 7.61secs in the heats of the M40 60 metres to just miss out on a place in the final. White then went on to place 6^th in the final of the M40 200 metres with a time of 24.24 after having won his heat in 24.28 and placing second in his semi in 24.33.

We can now look forward to the summer when we should see these four joined by others from the city when they take part in the forthcoming European Master’s Outdoor Athletics Championships that are due to take place in Zittau in Poland.