Karen speeds to gold medal

Speedy Karen Hindle struck gold at the British Masters Athletics Championships, held in Birmingham at the weekend.

The Tivetshall St Mary athlete, who is a member of Diss AC, won the 200m on Sunday after gaining silver in the 100m in a personal best time of 13.56 the previous day at the Alexander Stadium.

Masters athletics is for those aged 35 and over - or, as Hindle, 42, jokes 'for the old and wizened'.

'It was fantastic. I was really, really pleased,' she said. 'It's a funny thing - it takes a while to sink in then you have this smile on your face.'

She won the gold in the 200m in a 'bad time' of 28.02 (her pb is 27.7), running into a headwind.

'I ran like stink and I had to work rather hard. There was a bit of a headwind when we were running round the bend - but it slowed everybody down.

'I thought I was going to run out of steam. I always wondered what I would do when I needed that extra something, I think I started yelling,' she laughed.

This weekend was her first experience of the outdoor British Masters Athletics Championships, though she has competed indoors.

'Some of the performances were absolutely phenomenal,' she said. 'There was an athlete called Anne from Wymondham, who is the world record holder in the steeplechase.'

Hindle, a journalist, said she had tried many times to return to athletics after showing great promise as a youngster before succumbing to the 'teenage agenda'.

'This is my first year of competitive athletics since I was 14. I finally got into it and stuck at it. That's largely due to Reg Wright - Mr Diss Athletics Club - he has always pulled me back in and said I could still do it. I have always appreciated that.

'And I have been coached in the last year by Ian Foster, who despite being injured came with me to Birmingham. He cajoles me and trains me. He has been fantastic.'