Double gold for 50-year-old after she tackles longest races
IT is not rare an athlete attempts the 10,000m and 5,000m double at a championship fixture - but to tackle the two longest track races within an hour and a half is certainly out of the ordinary.
However, that is what Crook’s Kirstan Farquhar did last weekend when she lined up in the North East Masters Championships at Jarrow’s Monkton Stadium.
At the end of the day the 50-year-old was celebrating winning a gold medal in both events.
First up was the 10,000m – 25 laps of the track. Competing against young and some older competitors, Farquhar crossed the line in 43min 20.14secs.
Ninety minutes later the Beamishbased athlete was back in action over half the distance and again she made it to the top of the podium, recording 21:29.27.
After her exertions, a tired Farquhar still had enough breath to say: “It probably surprised many people I ran both the 10,000m and 5,000m but I wanted to do the shorter race as I had not done one all season and that was going to be my last chance. With that in mind, though, I did not push myself too hard in the closing stages of the 10,000m just in case.
“I expected it to be difficult and it was, but naturally I am delighted to have done it - and to win two gold medals is unbelievable.’’
Around eight years ago Farquhar took her first steps on the road to joining thousands of others by signing on at a local athletics club, first linking up with Durham City Harriers before moving on to join Crook this year. She added: “I did not have an interest in running at all before I was asked to run with some friends in a local Race for Life and after that I was smitten.
“Parkruns week in week out quickly followed, more as a fairweather runner, though, but then I joined the local athletics club.
“Like many others who come to athletics late in life I just wished I had done it many years ago.
“The sport is so friendly, everyone cheers everyone. It is just magic and I am enjoying myself so much.”