AFTER breaking the British M40 marathon record in Valencia this month, Andrew Davies plans to spend next year enjoying off-road races before returning to the roads to try to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, writes Jason Henderson.
The Welsh runner, who turned 40 on October 30, clocked 2:14:36 in Valencia on December 1 to break Steve Way’s national masters mark of 2:15:16 which was set in Glasgow in 2014. Before that, the legendary Ron Hill held the veterans’ record from 1979 for 34 years.
Not only did Davies break Way’s mark but he improved his own PB by more than half a minute and took down a 32-year-old Welsh masters record held by Eddy Lee.
“We’ve planned it for quite a few years ago now and Valencia seemed potentially to be the first good one to do shortly after I turned 40,” says Davies. “I heard good feedback about it from other runners who said it was a fantastic marathon so I’ve been eyeing it up for quite a while.”
AW spoke to Davies about the record target during London Marathon weekend in April 2018. Looking back, he says breaking the record was not easy, though. “It was a pretty tough ask. I was at the Commonwealth Games when Steve Way broke the record so it’s quite nice that I know him quite well, and I was there when he did it.
“I knew I was in quite good shape because I’d equalled my 5km PB in August (14:33) and also got a half marathon PB in September (64:46), but it was still a case of nailing it on the day.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 12, 2019 من Athletics Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 12, 2019 من Athletics Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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