Progress Report on Vets League
The club has entered the Eastern Masters track and field league this season as a composite team along with Corby AC. The club is obliged to provide athletic competition for all members irrespective of age, nationality, etc. We are in the Central West Division along with Milton Keynes, Bedford, Luton & Biggleswade and Fairlands Valley from Stevenage. There are three age groups 35-49, 50-59 and 60+.
Support has been good for this new venture. At the first match six athletes from the club took part and at the second match, eight took part although three had to withdraw so there should have been 11. There is one athlete per club in each event, but anyone can take part as a non-scoring competitor.
In the first Men’s competition Behrooz Moniri represented the team in the 400m and 1500m, winning the former in a superb 58.8 seconds, and then running a 4:50 in the 1500m. Mark Turner and Adil Zbirou took part, competing as non-scorers in the 400m and 1500m respectively. The three of them teamed up with Keith Lok from Corby to register 3:06 for a unique relay – 400m/200m/200m/400m. At the second match we had four men. Adil was not able to make it but was replaced with Andy Green and Olly Pearson. With four athletes from Corby too, the men finished in 4th place (beating Luton & Biggleswade). Behrooz finished second in the 3000m with an excellent 10:05, Olly competed in both the 800m and triple jump while Andy finished second in both the 60+ races over 800m and 3000m, securing valuable team points. Mark did a non-scoring 3000m race. This time the relay was a 4x400m event with Behrooz and Olly joining Keith and Sean from Corby to finished third in 4:10, just behind Milton Keynes and Bedford.
In the Women’s, we also had three club members taking part in the first match. Vanessa Keen won the 400m in 72.2 and just lost out in the 100m, running 15.9. She also did the long jump. Adriana Melczynska finished second in the Shot with a throw of 6.90m and ran 16.6 as a non-scorer in the 100m. Ali Wood ran a non-scoring 400m. In the 400/200/200/400 relay the three girls teamed up with Gemma from Corby to finish second in 3:42. For the second match, the two Corby girls withdrew at short notice, leaving the team with our four athletes. This time, Adriana, Ali and Vanessa were joined by our illustrious treasurer Barbara Willison. Adriana racked up the team points by winning both the Javelin and Triple Jump with 15.55m and 7.13m respectively and also finished second in the 200m with 34.7. Vanessa finished second in the 800m with 2:49 while young Barbara won both the 3000m and Javelin the 50-59 age group events. Ali took part in the non-scoring races over 200m and 800m, while our four girls teamed up to finish second behind a strong Bedford quarter in the 4x400m relay. Sadly the girls finished fifth, although not far behind both Luton & Biggleswade and Fairlands Valley. The two Corby girls may well have secured enough points to challenge for third place.
The next match is our ‘home’ fixture at Corby on July 2nd, so we hope for a good turn out of athletes. As word spreads around, we are hopeful that more club members will come along and have a go. The standard is not particularly high except for one or two quality athletes in a few events, with the emphasis on fun and camaraderie. Any other club members who are 35 or over (on the day of competition) are encouraged to contact team manager Jim Elder if they would like to have a go, but please do not attempt to do any technical throwing or jumping events without having some basic tuition from a club coach first.
Full results for match 1 are here: Results Match 2 results will be available on the Power of 10 soon.
PHOTO CAPTION – The women’s 4x400m relay team at Bedford
