The venue of these championships was ‘Jesolo’ but in fact the events were spread over 3 tracks in 3 different towns, quite far apart. This meant some travelling but also it made it hard to watch some events. My events were spread over all 3 stadiums, plus cross country which was close to the most distant track. I was lucky that my 70th birthday was just a month before the championships, so I was at the bottom of the new age group (W70-74). I was very happy to come away with a medal from each race: 1500m gold, 400m and cross country silver, 800m bronze. I was also in the 2nd team for the W70 cross country, and in the gold medal winning W65 4 x 400m relay team, where we set a European record!
Altogether the championships were very enjoyable with time for sightseeing in Venice, and even a parkrun (Treviso)!
Ros
I was pleased to come away from Jesolo with 2 bronze medals having arrived with a pain in my left foot. This was due to an accident with the furniture before leaving home. A sightseeing trip walking around Venice turned out to be a good foot massage, so I was able to do the 300m hurdles and finish with a bronze.
Lack of training took it’s toll and this was evident in the 80m hurdles. I was unable to maintain 3 strides all the way, a far cry from the win last year in the world championships, and so I finished last. That was a wakeup call looking ahead to the next world championships in Toronto.
Usually, the championships are held in more than one stadia, but unusually on this occasion, the time table of the sprints for men and women did not allow us to support one another as they took place on different tracks.
The 4×100 relays for all were held in Jesolo on the penultimate day. Whereas last year I ran the last leg, this time I ran the first leg for the M75 team. We won bronze behind Germany and hosts Italy, and improved by some 4 seconds, the British record we set last year.
This was yet another occasion in which we were able to experience the competition, see some great performances and catch up on the friendships made over the years.
Barry
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