Two national Masters champions for Mansfield Harriers

First off was Stefan Wilcockson in the M35 60m hurdles. Leading from the gun Stefan ran a technically sound race as he crossed the line in 8.93 seconds, not only taking the gold medal but also breaking the nine second barrier for the first time as a masters athlete.

It was a busy weekend for Stefan who also placed a creditable fifth in the 200 in 24.36 and 400m in 54.04 sec. Both times were indoor personal bests performances with the latter being his fastest time for 10 years.

Mansfield's second gold medal of the day was in the M35 800m.

Having missed a significant amount of training due to a knee injury, the normally relaxed and confident Paul Wright looked unusually nervous.

However, he tracked his competition for the first three laps before unleashing his devastating sprint speed to leave the opposition in his wake, crossing the line in an outstanding 1:58.68 sec which also puts him at the top of the M35 UK rankings.

Also saving their best for the championships were Mansfield Harriers sprints coaches, Martin White and Donna Aplin, both running their fastest times of the season.

Martin finished fourth in both the M50 60m and 200m, missing the bronze medal in the 60 by an agonising 3/100ths of a second.

However, he can take encouragement for the outdoor season with two age group personal bests, 7.91 and 25.35.

Donna, competing in her first indoor championships, picked up three fifth places in a very competitive W35 age group.

She ran season's best performances of 8.86 sec for the 60 and 29.93 sec in the 200, breaking the 30 sec barrier for the first time indoors.

In her final event of the weekend Donna ran a strong first lap in the 400m before fading in the last 100, finishing in a time of 74.60 seconds.

Finally, rounding off a very successful weekend, Conrad Watson took another fifth place in the M55 800m, again in another season’s best time of 2:30.90.