Hi everyone, I asked Brett [WMAL CHAIR] to give us a flavour of the World Masters in Tampera...
I can give you a flavour now ……. Started the trip bumping into Jan Timberlake after registering who was carrying a week’s shopping. Temperature consistently around 30 degrees for first few days until a pour down thunder and lightning Saturday evening taking the temperature down to a more moderate 26 degrees. Trotted round my 800m as stomach bug took my power out, with the fire-up music being Don’t Stop Believing! Watched a new WMAL member Colin Williams compete well in the same race but unfortunately aggravating an existing hamstring niggle when being overtaken by a flying Finn! Met Steve Toogood there who was attending despite injury too watch/holiday and looking forward to returning. Organisation pretty smooth although I did arrive after the registration fiasco of the first day or so. The town is a mix of roads with cars/buses/trams and pavements with cycle lane for bikes and motorised scooters so always need your wits about you. Nice parks and hydro-electric pumped river “rapids”. Have run around by the lake (20 mile long) and lush quiet forest although paid price of multiple bites there. We’re staying just outside the centre self-catering whereas almost everybody else is in town centre hotels where I have heard that given the €25 cost of breakfast some are doing a workaround. Special mention to Eleri Jones, Juliet and Neil Sidney, Nicky Buckwell and Dave Proffitt - the Newport gang. Also managed to fit in a Parkrun with Neil and met one of those taking part afterwards - Paul Forbes who I had seen the night before giving a demonstration of how to win an 800m world title without putting a foot wrong or having anybody remotely near him. Cheers, Brett
