World Masters Half Marathon, Budapest.

Sian and Lisa Finlay have just returned from a fantastic few days at the World Masters Championships in beautiful Budapest and Lisa sent the following report on their very successful trip...

"We had never entered a big International Masters event before and were immediately struck by how truly multinational it was with competitors from all over the globe. We were proud to wear the Team GB colours and it was inspirational to see competitive spirit and sportsmanship demonstrated by athletes of all ages. The event was extremely well organised despite its large scale.

Sian and I had already made lots of new friends and enjoyed the thermal springs and a cruise on the Danube by the time our half marathon finally came round on the last day of the championships. From the start list we knew we had very strong competition in the V40 category.

The course was six laps of lovely Varosliget Park in which the ground was a little uneven in places, so care was needed, especially at the slightly congested start. The weather was gorgeous for spectating, if a bit hot for running by the end of the race.

I was feeling strong throughout the race and was pleased to find I was keeping pace with a fast Hungarian woman. In the end, I finished in bronze medal position just 6 seconds behind her, and was thrilled with a new PB of 1:18:06.

Sian found the hot conditions tough but showed her grit to hang on for a time of 1:34:19, which was 9th in the age category, and well inside her target time. We both appreciated the great support for Team GB along the course.

After the race we were delighted to discover we had won the team silver medal along with Fiona Price from England. It was a perfect end to a very memorable trip, and we would strongly recommend trying some future Masters events to any other mature athletes in the club".

Lisa.

(Photo shows the 2014 World Masters Half Marathon V40 team silver medalists, Lisa, Fiona and Sian.)