North East duo achieve Gold standard in Commonwealth warm-ups

WITH the start of the Commonwealth Games just over six weeks away, two North East Gold Coast-bound athletes started their preparation with outstanding performances.

Former Wallsend Harrier Sonia Samuels and ex-Jarrow and Hebburn athlete Sarah MacDonald are in the Team England squad in the marathon and 1500 metres respectively. Both athletes were having their first competition of 2016 – Samuels a half-marathon in Spain, MacDonald a metric mile indoors in the US.

In Barcelona, Samuels was first non-African to finish in seventh place in a time of 72min 39secs, which is her quickest half-marathon since 2013 when she ran three seconds faster in Berlin. Samuels’ last race before heading off to Kenya for four weeks’ warm-weather training was the North East Counties Cross-Country Championships at Redcar back in December, when she lifted the senior women’s title.

After returning to the UK Samuels, who competes for Sale Harriers Manchester, said she was pleased with her performance, adding: “It was a good run on the back of altitude training in Kenya.

“That sets me up nicely for my next race which will be over the same distance in three weeks’ time when I line up in the Big Half in London.

“Then it’s off to Australia to the England holding camp in preparation for the Commonwealths.’’ Meanwhile, MacDonald took in the IAAF World Indoor Tour fixture in Boston and, like Samuels, was first Briton home in a highly competitive 1,500m – and was rewarded with a World Indoor qualifying time when finishing fifth in 4min 07.62sec, the fastest indoor time by a British athlete this winter.