Fell Running - Masters bronze for Roberts (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Fell Running - Masters bronze for Roberts

9:39am Saturday 13th September 2008 in Sport By Gazette Sports

KENDAL AC runner Craig Roberts (pictured right) finished among the medals in this year's World Masters Mountain Running Championship staged in the Czech Republic.

The 45-year-old saw off competition from over 600 runners and braved 80-degree heat to finish third and take the bronze in the 11-kilometre race.

Craig, who has been competing in the World Masters Mountain Running Championship since he qualified as a veteran runner, admitted he found it tough going at the event, held in Dolni Morava close to the Polish border.

"It was a tough little race, my start time was at one in the afternoon so we got going in the hottest part of the day.

"There wasn't much climbing in the first half, but that meant it was very fast. I actually thought it was too fast for me, five runners shot off into the lead and I just couldn't stay with it," said Craig.

While the AC runner admitted at the time he was annoyed with himself for falling behind, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the Kendal man made up time in the steep second half of the race. "I was saying to myself at the time - you had a chance of a medal, but you've blown it, what an idiot! But I think by not going early on it helped my overall race." Towards the difficult last two-kilometres Craig began to pick up the pace and go past runners but he was still unsure of his standings in the race.

"It was quite difficult as there were runners from all different age groups and I didn't know where I was position wise in my race. There were people watching and I asked them but they didn't know either. So it was only on the last bit of the hill when I saw two runners with the same colour numbers (on their vests) as I was wearing that I realised I must have been in third."

Craig finished on a time just over 52 minutes. Fellow Kendal AC runners Paul and Evelyn Dugdale also had a good afternoon's racing. Evelyn finished third overall in her womans 40 race, while Paul came a respectable 7th in his men's 40th race.