Boxall continues rapid progress at Midland Masters Championships
STRATFORD AC fielded their strongest ever line-up in the Midland Masters Championships at Nuneaton last Sunday and they returned with some sensational results.
John Boxall, in his first championships in only his second season of competitive athletics, recorded personal bests in the 100m, 200m, 400m and javelin, with his javelin throw good enough to win first place in his age group.
Meanwhile, Paula Williams showed her preparations for the British and European Championships later this summer are on track with championship best performances in both the shot and the triple jump, and a massive improvement in her personal best in the 80 metres hurdles.
In the 100m, she had her stiffest test, lining up against former Commonwealth sprint medallist, Michelle Thomas.
Right from the gun, it was a close competition, with Williams pushing Thomas right to the line, missing out on gold by just one tenth of a second.
In the longer distances, John Butler joined the familiar trio of David Jones, Phil Brennan and Roger Wilson in his first ever championship, to record his best times in ten years.
In the 5,000m, Brennan and Butler recorded first and second place finishes in the M70 category, a result which they then repeated in the 1500m.
Wilson cruised a comfortable win in the M75 5,000m, while Jones battled against a tough field in his M65 race to finish just outside the medals.
Earlier, Jones had matched his personal best to win the high jump, while Peter Coote spent a busy day sprinting, jumping, and throwing preparing for the upcoming British Pentathlon Championships.
Meanwhile, three members from Stratford AC journeyed down to London to compete in the Vitality 10k race.
First to finish of the three was Maria Haslam, who ran a superbly-paced race to finish in 1,567th place, in a time of 45.27, a massive four-minute improvement on his previous best.
Haslam is recovering from a lengthy period of injury, so to be able to run such an assured race was a huge achievement. David Jones (1,619th, 45.41) was just 14 seconds behind Haslam and he had hoped to be able to catch her but despite a 6.59 last mile that proved impossible to achieve.
Despite being 50 seconds slower than last year, Jones was delighted that he was able to finish fourth out of 94 in his age group.
Emily Adams (2,884th, 50.09) took the unusual decision to celebrate the night before the race, as opposed to the night of the race and her time suffered as a result.
