The half marathon at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Torun, Poland, was the culmination of a crazy half plan for club member Lisa Finlay that lodged in her mind some time last year, when she started racing again after a long layoff.
After losing their dad last year, Lisa and her sister Sian thought it might be a good idea to do something together with their mum that would allow them to have new dreams during the first winter without him.
Lisa felt she had lost her drive and desire to compete, but as she ran a few races last year, she began to wonder if she could still be competitive for her age.
Training was far from perfect but gradually she built endurance up again, and for good measure, dragged her sister Sian and mother Elizabeth into the adventure, and they competed in the W50 10k and the W85 400m, with her mum winning a silver medal.
The half marathon was at the end of the championships on Saturday, April 1, so Lisa was eager to get the waiting over.
It was cold, wet and windy as athletes warmed up but cleared as the race got underway.
The start was quite congested, and Lisa was well behind several other women in the W50 category at first.
Being patient, Lisa ran as relaxed as possible, tucked in comfortably behind a man who was running at the pace that felt right to her and gradually she started moving through the field and was in third place after about three miles.
Lisa could see one of the very strong Irish runners in the distance and felt confident that she could catch her if she could keep up the steady relaxed pace. She drew level at nine miles, and ran on, feeling optimistic that she could hold on to silver.
At this point, she was scanning in front for a sight of the other Irish athlete who Lisa knew was ahead and she focussed on finishing as strongly as possible and managed to complete the race in 85.48 for a silver medal in the W50 category.
Later Lisa found out she was about a minute behind the gold medal position but felt couldn’t have run a better race tactically or physically with her current level of fitness.
Lisa was delighted with this result and loved the whole experience of the race and being at the championships with her sister and mother.
The level of performance, sportsmanship, and camaraderie of the athletes at these big international Masters events is inspiring to witness, and Lisa would definitely recommend that athletes give them a try if they get the opportunity.
It took a lot of courage for Lisa and Sian’s mum Elizabeth, who is 86, to travel over to Poland, put on the GB and NI kit, and enter the intimidating environment of the championship arena.
Elizabeth ran a steady 400m, and this may turn out to be a British W85 record, as there is no previous time recorded.
She was elated with her silver medal, and Sian and Lisa are extremely proud of her.
Elizabeth said that she felt different about herself after the event, and that she was going home not feeling like an old woman, but like an athlete.
She is planning to go to the athletics track in her home town of Portrush and get some practice in for the next time so she can have a shot at gold.
Sian was also brave to run the 10k after doing almost no running for the past few years, as she had turned her attention to cycling.
New memories were made in beautiful Torun and Lisa knows her dad would have been proud.
