Golden girl Paula is the Midland Master

PAULA Williams claimed a remarkable haul of four golds and one silver at this year’s Midland Masters’ Track and Field Championships in Nuneaton.

The five Stratford Athletic Club athletes taking part won a total of 12 medals between them, with an on-song Williams leading the way.

Williams competed in the 80m hurdles, a decision she came to regret and despite running what she termed a “rubbish time,” she claimed the silver medal and is still ranked fifth in the UK in her age group.

In the shot put, Williams threw a superb personal best of 9.96m, to claim gold and consolidate her UK ranking of fifth.

The javelin saw Williams throw 25.55m, to take top spot again in an event where she is ranked third in the UK.

Finally, a triple jump of 9.96m was enough for her to secure yet another gold.

Team-mate David Jones was competing in his first high jump competition and despite coming equal first he was disappointed with his jump of 1.10m, having jumped higher than that in his final practice a few days earlier.

Next up was the 5,000m and in extremely hot conditions Jones managed a bronze medal in a time of 21.34.5.

He was then unsure if he would run in the 1500m, held a mere 45 minutes after the 5,000m but was pleased to have when he won the gold in a season’s best time of 5.52.4.

Phil Brennan followed his recent medal-winning performances for Team GB in Portugal, with a brace of gold medals.

His winning time for the 800m of 3.02.3 was a six-second improvement on his time at Lee Valley in February.

His winning time in the 1500m was slower than Lee Valley, but in both of these events he is ranked seventh in the UK in his age group.

Roger Wilson ran the 5,000m in 22.34, to win gold despite sustaining a hamstring injury a few days earlier. Wilson has a UK ranking of second in the event.

Probably the biggest smile of the day was Brian Gravelsons’ upon learning that he had been awarded a bronze medal in the 100m, with a time of 13.5 seconds.

Gravelsons had finished fourth in the race but the third-placed runner was a guest, therefore enabling him to clinch the bronze medal.

Gravelsons has recently broken in to the top 50 in the UK for the 100m, in what is a hugely competitive age group.

In the 200m, he finished in fourth place with a time of 28.2, fractionally slower than his PB of 27.9.