Masters in world record-breaking form at Lee Valley

World records from W60 Clare Elms, W75 Sarah Roberts and M60 Rob McHarg at the British Masters Inter Area Match in Lee Valley

In an astonishing week for world records, British masters added to the record-breaking with three marks at Lee Valley on Sunday (Feb 16) after three earlier ones on Wednesday at the Ayo Falola mile, Steve Smythe reports.

This time it was W60 Clare Elms, W75 Sarah Roberts and M60 Rob McHarg who added world records to those set by McHarg and Andrew Ridley at the mile and Kojo Kyereme at 800m at the same venue a few days earlier.

Elms was first to run with the W60 dropping down age groups to represent Veterans AC W35 team at 1500m. After a slow start she followed the leaders through 800m in 2:40 and looked well on course for breaking her own indoor world record of 5:05.44 set a year earlier but was wary having been balked in her two previous indoor races late on while on record schedule.

On the closing lap, the leaders, led by Roanna Vickers, pulled away with Vickers timing 4:54.3 with Elms recording 5:03.1 for a two second improvement. The electronic timing had failed during the race but there was sufficiently qualified timekeepers to get the mark ratified.

Not long after it was Roberts’ turn in the W70 race. Her target was 6:47.04 by Austrian Melitta Czerwenka-Nagel from 2006.

Roberts had run 5:56.08 in the outdoor Inter Area match in September and she looked on course for a sub-six here but running entirely solo had to settle for 6:05.90 and a mere 41-second improvement on the world record.

Following her home were Olympian Yuko Gordon (a W70) and previous British record-holder and all time great Angela Copson who just missed her previous UK  best with 6:56.71.

Roberts also won the 800m in 3:05.22.

The third world mark fell to Scot McHarg. On Wednesday he had broken the M60 mile world mark for it to be beaten in the very next race by his friend and rival Andrew Ridley.

Ridley was absent here but McHarg knew that the 2:11.20 by American Anselm LeBourne in 2020 was within his range as he had run European and UK records of 2:11.52 and 2:11.46 this winter.

With no one to push him he knew it was going to be a solo effort and he pushed through halfway in just under 64 seconds though as he hit the bell in 97 it looked like the lack of opposition was going to cost him but he kicked well on the last lap to run 2:09.11 to take over two seconds off of the American’s mark.

He won by over 13…