SLOW's Diane Leakey takes 4th Place at Veteran World Championships
A select group of 7 SLOW members have travelled to the World Masters Championships around Pecs in South West Hungary.
Saturday saw the Sprint Qualification races taking place amidst the old world streets, courtyards and castle walls of the UNESCO heritage city of Pecs, featuring challenging route choices and surprisingly high height climb. Best results on the day were Diane Leakey and Christine Robinson in W55 to qualify for their A Final, and Don McKerrow and Alan Leakey in M55 to qualify for their A Finals
The Sprint Final on Sunday comprised dramatically different terrain featuring communist era flats on a series of steep hillsides in the mining town of Komlo. A start at the top of the hill ensured much of the courses resembled a downhill slalom course, requiring rapid map reading skills and a commitment to running ‘on the edge’. A strong run with only one mistake saw Diane Leakey move up from a seeded start of 5th to take 4th place in W55, whilst Christine Robinson finished 37th despite a twisted ankle.
Meanwhile a clean run saw Alan Leakey finish 13th on M55A, just over one minute down on the leader for his highest ever placing at the World Masters, whilst Don was only 2 minutes behind but found himself at the wrong end of incredibly tight packing to finish 55th.
Summary of Results
W50
B Final 18th Maggie Roach
W55
A Final 4th Diane Leakey
A Final 37th Christine Robinson
M55
A Final 13th Alan Leakey
A Final 55th Don McKerrow
B Final 45th Andy Robinson
C Final 38th David Roach
M65
A Final 49th David May