Medals from the Police and Emergency Services Games.

2019 Victorian Police and Emergency Services GamesYesterday, I traveled to Croydon in...

2019 Victorian Police and Emergency Services Games

Yesterday, I traveled to Croydon in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs to compete in Track and Field at the Victorian Police and Emergency Services Games. Unfortunately, the weather forecast wasn’t the best, with cold conditions and showers.

On the way down, the weather deteriorated as I headed towards the eastern suburbs. On arrival, it was raining heavily, and the rain persisted for the whole day.

First event was the 100 metres. Despite the weather, I had a very good run. The official time recorded was 11.66 seconds, which seemed a bit quick. However, I easily won the gold.

I immediately went to the long jump, where I won the silver with my third jump of 3.78 metres.

After an hour’s break, the 200 metres was next. Ran a steady race to take the gold with a time of 27.93.

After the 200, we broke for lunch and the medal presentations for the morning events.

After lunch, the high jump and 400 metres got underway. These clashed, because the high jump was postponed from the morning due to rain, and there was a break in the weather after lunch. Due to the clash, I was only able to clear 1 metre, before going to the 400 metres.

In the 400, I raced against mostly younger guys, which ended up being a good match. Started on the inside, which meant I was behind in the staggered start. I passed one of the others by the end of the back straight, and passed the other younger guy in the second bend, where I normally push hard the race finished with a close race for the line, I was beaten to the line by a fraction of a second, but easily won the gold in my age group.

After the 400 metres, I returned to the high jump to attempt 1.30 metres, but that height is right on my limit on a good day, and clearing it after 400m was a bit optimistic. I had to be satisfied with 1 metre and silver.

After the high jump, a thunderstorm forced cancellation of the rest of the program. The final medal presentations were conducted, before proceedings were wound up early.

Another successful Games. Now on to preparing for the Australian Masters in 4 weeks time.

- Tony via Tumblr https://ift.tt/2VdsxUp

2019 Victorian Masters Track and Field ChampionshipsThis past weekend, the Victorian Masters Track...

2019 Victorian Masters Track and Field Championships

This past weekend, the Victorian Masters Track and Field championships were held at their usual venue in the Melbourne suburb of Doncaster.

This year, I entered 6 events - the 4 sprints (60, 100, 200 and 400 metres), plus the 100 and 400m hurdles.

On day 1, I made the 2 hour journey to the track. As I didn’t need to be there until around 1 PM, I was able to take the drive fairly easy. I arrived at 11:45, checked in and had lunch.

First event was the 100 metres. Had a good run, including holding off a last minute challenge to finish with bronze in a season best time of 13.28.

Shortly afterwards were the 100m hurdles. Finished second with a time of 22.02. after the hurdles, I collected the medals for both events.

After a 2 ½ hour wait, my final event for the day, the 400m, was run. Conditions were difficult, with a strong headwind in the back straight and second bend. My race went mostly to plan, except for hitting the wall in the last 50 metres. Finished 5th, in a time of 1:04.30, which wasn’t bad, considering that I lost some fitness due to injury, and was recovering from a cold.

After the 400m, I left the track and checked into my hotel, had dinner and settled in for the night.

Day 2 started with the 400 m hurdles. Again conditions were difficult, with the strong wind from the previous day persisting. Finished with silver in a time of 1:16.80.

The day’s events were in rapid succession. Next up was the 60 metres. Finished 6th, didn’t quite get the start I wanted, and had a slow time of 8.65 seconds.

My final event was the 200 metres. The wind was a headwind for most of the bend, and a slight tailwind in the home straight. Had a strong run in the bend, and held pace well in the straight. By this time, I was in a 3 way race for the minor placings. Managed to push my way to a bronze medal in 27.81 seconds.

Overall, I had a good meet, with a couple of unexpected medals. Next up are the Victorian Police and Emergency Services Games on Saturday, followed by the Australian Masters in late April.

- Tony via Tumblr https://ift.tt/2UV52z5