NEMAA #5 2014 Track and Field

Monkton Stadium, Jarrow, Monday, July 21, 2014

3000m, Shot Put

Alister Robson

Having seen Jacquie dominate the competition in the previous NEMAA meeting, and in the recent 2014 Championship meeting I was keen to give this a go myself, especially as my NEMAA membership had just come through. (You need to be an NEMAA member (over 35) to take part). You can enter up to 3 events for a single fee of £3 on the night, although sometimes it speeds things up to pre-register. I chose the 3000m, Shot and High Jump.

First up was the Shot and the 7.62Kg weight felt very heavy in the hand. Jacquie kindly ran through the basics with me and I managed to get all three allotted throws away, improving bit by bit to 5.86m which was enough to win my age category, MV40. If I’d met some other higher standard I could have had another 3 throws.

Buoyed by this it was off to the track for a brief warmup and my first track race in excess of 25 years. I had a great run, knocking 40 seconds off my previous 3Km best, but this was only enough for plum last in the race of about 11, and which was made up mainly of older runners. I got lapped by the leaders and to be honest most of the field 🙂

It also meant I missed the start of the High Jump competition and had to come in at a height of 1.35m, which I stood no real chance of clearing.

Jacquie meanwhile convincingly won her Shot and High Jump, having gallantly dropped out of the Discus in order to make sure I was OK in the Shot.

Still all great fun, and held in a great spirit. This is something any Strider over 35 can have a go at, you do however need to join NEMAA first, however this has other fringe benefits as other races throughout the year have an NEMAA championships within them exclusively for NEMAA members. I was astonished but happy to find I’d won a Silver medal for my age category at the Saltwell Fell Race.

Anyone interested in taking part in Masters or indeed Seniors Track & Field Athletics please speak to myself or Jacquie, who has a wealth of experience in this regard. It would be fantastic to put out a full squad for this next year – imagine if we could take on the likes of Durham City Harriers at Track & Field too!

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