Our very own World Champion.

Paula Williams 

World Champion

The 10th World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships came to a close in Gainesville, Florida last Sunday. Over eight days of competition there were 38 new World Records and 120 new Championship Records with over 3,700 athletes from 97 nations competing.

One of those competing was our very own Paula Williams.

If you read last week’s newsletter report you will know that her adventure got off to a somewhat bumpy start due to Heathrow Airport being closed on the day of her departure.

After the most tortuous of journeys she finally managed barely 5 hours sleep before competing in her 60m heat where she came 2nd to qualify for the final, finishing in 7th place.

At this time her luggage still hadn’t arrived. It arrived a couple of days later.

After a few of days rest it was onto the shot put. 

Going into this event she was nervous but knew she was in contention for a medal especially if she threw close to her personal best. 

Her warm ups went well and her first throw saw her in second place throughout the competition. She threw a big one in round 5 but self no throwed it thinking it wasn’t good. It had been very good and would have put her in the lead.

In the final round she threw 13.62m and moved into first place. The German competitor, who had been in the lead since the first round, didn’t improve her distance and Paula won the gold medal.

It’s definitely worth repeating.

And Paula won the gold medal ! 

She already held the World Masters outdoor shot title as well as the European indoor and outdoor titles and so she completed the quartet of major masters titles. A truly remarkable achievement. 

It was then onto the 60m hurdles where she got through her heat in 2nd place but her left glute was causing her discomfort meaning she couldn’t really turn her legs over in the final, finishing in 5th place. She said she found the hurdles disappointing. Coming 5th in the World Championships…..disappointing…..really…most of us would kill for that.

Her final event was the mixed 4x200m relay, running leg one. Those who know her know how she feels about anything over 100m. It would be fair to say that 200m is somewhat outside of her comfort zone. Understatement.

The team to beat in the relay were the Americans who fielded a very strong team and were indeed the winners but the GB team managed 2nd place and a team silver. 

Paula was understandably delighted with her gold and silver world medals, as well she might be.

Her room mate Janelle Quinn from Rugby and Northampton won 2 silver medals for relay. 

Paula commented that she had learned so much from these World Championships and realised she has things to work on for the future.

She went on to thank Stratford AC for all the support she had received along the way and during the competition.

Paula helped the UK finish 2nd to the hosts in the final medal table with Germany in 3rd place.

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Hello everyone, 

With the summer season just round the corner, it is time to think about the Midland Counties Track & Field league!

This is the main league competition that Stratford AC contests for the Senior age group.

Everyone from the U17 age group upwards is eligible to take part, with 2-3 athletes competing for points across the full range of track and field disciplines for both men and women.

These matches are conducted in great spirit and are always a fun day out with fellow athletes, officials & coaches from all parts of the club.

In recent years we have fielded athletes aged between 15 and 75, so this really is a league for all ages. 

For every match we have 86 scoring slots to fill. We also have to provide at least 6 officials. Thie means we need a big squad and, with matches invariably decided by a handful of points, every performance counts.

This year we will be competing in Division 3 (Southeast), up against Abingdon; Banbury; Coventry Godiva; Daventry; Kettering; Leicester and  Solihull. Most matches will be just down the road in Banbury which should simplify planning. 

There will be four standard divisional fixtures and one pan-divisional “technical events” match. The dates are below – please note that some are Saturdays and some are Sundays: 

17 May (Saturday) – Banbury 

15 June (Sunday) –  Burton (Technical Events only)

13 July (Sunday) – Banbury

02 August (Saturday) – Banbury

30 August (Saturday) – Abingdon

All run, jump & throw disciplines will be contested in the four regular matches but 15th June fixture will feature only Hammer, High Jump, Triple Jump, Pole Vault, 400m; 100/110m Hurdles; 400m Hurdles & 3000m steeplechase. All five matches will contribute points to the overall league competition. 

Younger (& older!) athletes just need to be aware that this league uses senior throwing weights and senior hurdle heights. For these disciplines, our athletes’ participation is therefore always subject to a sense check as to suitability for the individual. 

At this stage, I simply want to establish if you are likely to be available to compete for the club on some/all of these 5 dates, particularly 17 May. You should find all relevant dates on Spond, but please feel free to email me direct if that is easier. Please also let me know if there are particular events you will prefer to contest.

This is a competitive league, so our goal is to field a strong a squad as possible. However, please do not hold back for fear you are “not good enough.”  It is normal for events to feature athletes of  a wide ability range, and more often than not we end up with unfilled gaps in the squad. 

Thanks

Mike Sheppard

sheppardathletics@gmail.com