By Gail Duckworth (which is why it's so modest) 

 

World Masters Indoor Championships

Jyvaskyla Finland April 3 – 8 2012

 

Having won the European title last year in the 3000m I was sure I could give a good account of myself in a World event. So, at a late date I decided to not only enter the 3000m but the 1500m as well and travel to Finland to take part.

 

I left home early Tuesday morning to fly from Heathrow to Helsinki. Jyvaskyla is a further 3 hours north so as you can imagine on the cold side! I didn’t have to worry about the snow – which there was a lot of – running indoors, but the first event at these Championships are the 8K cross country races and because of an unusual amount of snow they had for the time of year the course needed clearing!

 

Wednesday was a day of rest and getting over the journey. I made my way to the Stadium to register and declare for my races. It’s good to wander around the stadium and familiarise yourself with important things like the call room where you have to be 20 mins before your event or you get disqualified, and see where the warm up facilities are located. It also gives you an idea about the track and how you will feel when you are lead out for your event. This is really nerve racking!

 

It is also good to get used to seeing so many people around as there were over 3000 entrants from around 63 different countries. I’m glad to say not all in my events!

 

My 3000m was on Thursday at 4pm so a long day waiting for the start of a huge race! It’s good not to run too early but by midday I really did just want to get on with it! I already new I was favourite as times are published before hand and having run even faster than my recorded time it did add to the pressure. Silly things worry you like will I trip up or not see the lap counter but all did go well and I won my first World Gold medal 1 minute ahead of 2^nd.

 

The 1500m was on Sunday so a couple of days to recover and relax. Some of the other girls were in a cabin out of town and had a car so picked me and my friend Jane Clarke up to go on a husky sleigh ride which was great fun. We all had huge snow suits on and looked like Sumo wrestlers joking about how much weight we had put on in such a short time and how sorry we felt for the dogs pulling us fatties!!

 

Sunday arrived and I was definitely much more relaxed I had my Gold medal so anything else would now just be a bonus. My race this time was at midday and again I had posted the fastest time. I decided to run from the gun again and ended up 37 secs in front of the silver medallist. Unfortunately as we had flights to catch that evening and the 3 hour journey back to Helsinki I was unable to stand on the podium for the 2^nd time! Hearing the National Anthem is quite moving so am glad I made the most of it for the 3000m.

 

It was great to get home and say I’m a Double World Champion!