British record broken by Westbury runner

WESTBURY runner, Fiona Price, has achieved a British age record at the South West Vets Athletic Club Championship.

The mum-of-four, took part in the championship on Sunday 16th June, where the best in the region pit themselves against each other on the Exeter Arena athletics track, in order to become champions.

The event Fiona entered was a double header where the 10,000 metres and one hour track are run simultaneously.  The one hour track is an unusual event where the athletes run around the track for one hour and when the gun stops, the run the distance covered is measured.  After 42 minutes 12 secs, Fiona crossed the 10,000 metre finish line in first place in front of all the men, but she was not targeting that.  She continued for a further 4,089 metres until the hour was up and had achieved a British age record in the W51 category – 14089 metres.  

The British record has been verified by British Masters and will appear on the website alongside the W46 record which she achieved at Brecon, Wales in 2014 – http://bmaf. org.uk/british-age-best-per formances-for-the-one-hour-track-run/

It is very difficult to achieve a high level of success at this specific event as it is only held a handful of times in the UK each year.  The record Fiona beat was set 20 years previously at Leamington Spa, by Pauline Dable of Sphinx AC.

The Avon Valley Runner did not take up running until she was 40 and soon joined the Trowbridge-based running club AVR. Her natural ability for the sport became evident, but her dedication to train six or seven times a week was key to her success.  Fiona suffered illness and injuries, including stress fractures for two years in 2016/17, and started to believe her best achievements were behind her, but with the help of many amazing members at AVR, she came back stronger.  Fiona has represented England and Great Britain in international competitions, European championships and World championships.

Fiona is fortunate to be coached by Bradford on Avon-based Martin Rush, who is head of coaching and athlete development at England Athletics, and she believes he has been key to her success.

She is now looking forward to the European Masters championships in Venice in September, where she will run the Half Marathon representing her club and country.

The ex-foster carer for Wiltshire Council is also a community volunteer stalwart within the running community and you can join her at 9am this coming Saturday (6th July) at Southwick Country parkrun where she is run director and has held that role since the inception of the free weekly timed event set up in 2011.

Avon Valley Runners has an impressive array of elite athletes, especially in the veteran female category, but it also caters for those starting off in the sport, no matter what your age. Check out their website for the next beginners’ programme if you are inspired by Fiona’s story or just fancy getting fit.