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Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

The morning of the first relay 4 x 100m I wake up and test my leg, it feels okish. I am more optimistic than the day I tweaked it and I have agreed with the physio team to get some early treatment on it again that morning as the relay is not until 4.30pm.

Neil and I split up, its not a long term thing, he just wants to get a bit of parkrun tourism in and I want to get some treatment. I will let Neil blog about his running experiences in Aarhus and his own ups and downs....

I arrive in the stadium quite early around 10.30am and the Physio takes a look at it, it feels a lot better just a bit sore. They work their magic and suggest I warm up early later on and see how it feels in warm up.

I agree to meet up with the team at 2.30pm, at this stage we already know one of the team has had to pull out of both the relays as she has pulled her hamstring in the 200m final. The lady in question is a fellow Welsh Masters athlete and friend Michelle Thomas. She is an awesome athlete and I am disappointed for her. On the plus side for her she has picked up bronze medals in both the 100m and 200m. She still comes over to the warm up area to show her support :)

The team now has me on leg 1, Jacqui Hodgson on leg 2, Paula Thomas on leg 3 and Amanda Wale on the final leg. We are all quite nervous as we don't want to let each other down. The pressure is different in the relays and you are somehow bonded as a team in this moment.

I take my time with my warm ups, at each stage expecting my lower calf to break down but whilst there is a bit of soreness it's fine as I keep upping the warm up levels it responds well. Worse case scenario for me is I take a place of someone who is fit and then I breakdown in the race so I need to be sure and I am more confident it will be fine.

We are trying to keep the whole thing relaxed and not put too much pressure on ourselves we know we have a decent team. We decide not to practice any exchanges but talk through how each of the handovers will work...

I have my headphones and I am blasting 80s tunes in my head and having a bit of a bop to make the girls laugh. We all take a turn with the head phones and show off our moves - luckily no footage of this exists lol

We walk over to the call room together listening to Frankie goes to Hollywood 'Relax' and Spandau's 'Gold' again!

We try to relax in the call room and keep up the fun. We are then led out by the officials into our places. There is music blasting over the tannoy, the atmosphere is electric and I am buzzing!

We are called to our blocks and I am keen to get a great start to get the team off to a good start. I go on the 'B' of bang charging round the bend for all I am worth. I am in lane 7 and the bend seems to go on forever. Despite the live facebook feed commentary, the baton change is good. I scream at Jacqui to run and she storms it, running a great leg, she's fast, next she hands over to the talented Paul Williams who runs a magnificent bend we are in 3rd place. She has a slick change over to Amanda Wale who runs an awesome final leg. Her legs are pumping and she holds off the 4th place team with ease.

I initially embrace Amanda convinced we have got 3rd and bronze only to gasp and wait for the official result. It comes through fairly quickly and it's confirmed we have only gone and done it - Bronze it is. We celebrate together it's an amazing feeling and can't stop smiling.

An hour or so after the race is our medal ceremony, its all sooo cool. I am pinching myself at this point. Friends for life :)

The next day we are back again to do it all again in the 4 x 400. The race is a little earlier but I have been up early to watch Neil totally smash his half marathan pb - NICE!

The calf is still sore but with a good warm up I am confident it will be fine. Just one more race as don't want to let the girls down.

The team is similar to the 4 x 100 but Paula doesn't do 400m so Clare Constable comes in. She has more sticky tape on her than Woolworths! She has had her fair share of ups and downs in champs with injuries. She is a great 400m runner and has come through a 800m final the day before. Her achillies is sore but she is confident she can race.

We are talking pre race about our chances. The race has 2 German teams, one though is a W40 team so we don't have to worry about them! The other teams are strong with the Germans, Italians and the Spanish all having had 400m ladies in the final.

Jacqui has spotted that the fastest for each team is on last leg and she feels she will not be able to overtake anyone on the last leg. I have to say we are all talking down our individual chances but collectively we decide we have to give it a go. I think we are all doing this to take the pressure off.

This time round Amanda Wale is on leg 1 she has strapping and so cannot start off blocks. We can't switch the race order as Amanda is Mchelle's replacement and we had Michelle on first leg.

Amanda runs a fabulous first lap its a seasons best time and hands over to me. I am in 3rd place picking up the baton, I chase down the Spanish lady and pass her as we break and I can move into the inside lane. I am now after the Italian lady, this is just racing no tactics just eyeballs out racing!

I am trying to close in on the Italian lady but she holds me off and I hand over to Clare. Despite being held together with vinegar and brown paper Clare gets right after the Italian lady and passes her putting us in a great position as Jacqui on last leg picks up the baton.

She runs her fastest ever time and whilst she is passed by the Italian on the final leg (the winner of the individual 400m) she has secured bronze for the team as she easily holds off the fast finishing Spaniard.

I am super pleased for the team and Clare in particular who has come in and done a great job :) The team for both relays was amazing, I could not have asked to be part of a better team, wow 2 bronze medals for Pocket- happy days.

EMACS 4  x 400m Gold to Bronze Teams

I am writing this final blog of my EMACS adventure, hopefully sharing my experiences in the hope that inspires others to follow their dreams not matter your age or goals.

I am soo motivated for next year for the Indoor European Masters in Madrid in March and the World Masters in Malaga in September. I will turn 50 in January and will aim for even greater success in 2018 but not at the expense of enjoyment. This is just the BEST sport and I LOVE IT! :)

Us

Meet the team, Pocket Rocket, Trail Blazer and Insane Bolt here

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