Another World Champion!

Phil Brennan and the GB XC team on the podium with their World Masters Championships gold medals Pride of place this week surely goes to our International Masters athlete Phil Brennan. He led the Great Britain team home to a glorious gold medal in the XC at the World Masters Indoor Championships. He also finished 6th in the 3000m, with the 800 and 1500m finals to come. Our Tri Club juniors got the season off to a flying start in their opening two fixtures. I erroneously jumped the gun last week by stating that the cross country season was over. So this week we do have the final reports of the season, with some more memorable performances from our junior cross country runners. With the Spring Marathon training season well under way, we had lots of runners competing in both the Ashby 20 and Coventry Half. Pride of place in the latter going to Jen Wharton. Jen is a recent graduate of our Couch to 5k initiative. She's gone from Couch to 5k to half marathon in just seven months. Hugely impressive. While mentioning the Couch to 5k initiative, it's worth stating that most of the latest group will graduate a week on Saturday by taking part in the local parkrun. I can definitely report that this group are truly inspirational. We also have Maria Haslam in the Westonbirt Arboretum Duathlon, Adrian Mason completing the inaugural Notts20, Tomas Horbury in the London Landmarks Half Marathon plus Lisa Dallisson and Lesley Kirk in the Ironbridge Half and finally there was a magnificent performance from Penny Stainthorp in the Weston Super Half. Make the most of the nice weather. Best Regards David Jones. Phil Brennan in the 3000m at the World Masters Indoor Championships. World Masters Indoor Athletics Championships - Toruń. Poland. Brennan Gets Gold. Report - David Jones. Our very own Phil Brennan led GB home to a magnificent team gold in the cross country event at the World Masters Indoor Athletics Championships in Toruń. Poland - although primarily an indoor championship, the cross country was held outdoors. Completing the 6k course in 31.29, Brennan was 7th overall and the first Team GB athlete to finish. With his fellow team mates finishing in 9th and 11th place, the Great Britain team were able to secure the gold medal, with Germany in 2nd and Italy in 3rd place. On Sunday, Phil, who is one of 393 athletes competing for Great Britain at these championships, secured 6th place in the 3000m, finishing in a season’s best time of 13.27.74. He was the second GB athlete to finish, with team mate Victor Shirley finishing in 2nd place overall in a time of 12.28.07. The race was won by the Spaniard Juan Lopez Garcia in a time of 12.18.86. Garcia also won the cross country race. Phil's comments were "Any one when saw me at the end of the Midlands Cross Country Championships would recognise me now - wrecked. The course was only 6k but…