Date Wed 22nd February 2023
Jed Turner and I thought we should make a special effort for our first event since joining Striders. Two years ago our attempt to beat the M60 4 x 800m world record came to nothing when our star runner injured themselves warming up on the night. A further attempt was required so last Wednesday evening Jed and I travelled down to Lee Valley in London for a go at the slightly less challenging indoor 4 x 800m relay record. We were joined by two other over 60’s, Russell Parkin from Derby and Colin Ridley from Colchester Harriers, forming a GB team.
We competed alongside two other GB masters teams in the M55 and M70 categories, all of us targeting world records. Our M60 target time was 9.50.9, set by an American squad in March 2018. On the night we were always ahead of schedule, and Jed went into the final 200m lap needing to complete it in a fairly leisurely 55 seconds to beat the record. He stormed round in a sprightly 36, meaning we took a full 19 seconds off the existing time. The other age group teams also set new world record times making it a very special evening. In the end our overall time of 9.31.19 was a tantalising 0.2 seconds behind the world outdoor best – an attempt for another day maybe?