Harrier hoping to make it into team for Dublin event
Sunderland Harrier Michael Barker will have international selection on his mind when he competes in the England Masters’ Cross-Country Championship in October.
Barker will be bidding to catch the eyes of selectors for the over-40 team competing in the British and Irish Masters’ International in Dublin in November.
He has got off to a good start, having run the fastest lap in the North Eastern Counties Over-40 CrossCountry Relays Championships at Thornley Hall Farm last month.
He just missed out on England masters’ selection in 2019 after competing as a reserve in an open race at Merseyside’s Aintree Racecourse and ending up winning.
He was looking forward to 2020 as his breakthrough year going into the V40 age group and hoping to gain an England masters vest but athletics, like all other sports, was brought to a standstill by the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier, he had competed in Cheshire’s Helsby HalfMarathon and clocked a useful 72:47 in only his second outing over that distance.
A couple of weeks later, he ran heavy-legged in the North East Masters Cross-Country Championship, finishing a disappointing eighth, having crossed the line second the previous year.
“I ran a 5K personal best in a training run in April 2020 when the first lockdown happened, but as I had been running through an Achilles injury, I decided take a rest after that,” he said
“I kept fit by cycling each day, which I started to enjoy, but the Achilles injury lasted longer than I expected and I was out for six months.
“With rest and daily rehab exercise, I was able to start running again in October 2020 and I have slowly built my mileage back up to 60 miles per week.”
Barker joined the Harriers as a minor colt in the early 1990s as an 11-year-old with his elder brother Stephen.
He said: “We were both fit lads doing a bit of boxing training at Lambton Street
Boys’ Club when my Uncle Kenny entered us into a fun run at Silksworth.
“I loved it and must have done okay as my uncle took us to the Harriers.
“We joined at a time when there was an abundance of talented lads training at the club. David Clark, Andy Barker and Matty Knowles were a few names out of a very strong group.
“I was told to stick at it by my uncle and Ken Jefferson, who was a fantastic coach. He had every athlete’s training schedule meticulously planned out for them and he got the very best from us.
“It wasn’t until my training started to click and my uncle offered me £5 incentives for beating team-mates that I started to push on.
“I was in the under-13 age group and I began to see improved results in finishing third in the North Eastern Cross-Country Championships and 13th in the InterCounties.
“Unfortunately, in 1994 I had an accident while out playing which resulted in surgery and a period of rest, but surprisingly I managed 23rd for Durham in the English Schools Championships. The following year, as an under-15, I finished third again in the North Easterns.
“I gained some form over the next few months and,
representing the North East, I finished 17th in the Inter-Counties.
“I believe I was the first from the Harriers to have represented the North East in all age groups at U13, U15, U17 and at junior level.
“I recently finished 15th in the senior championships at Alnwick. The race was celebrating 25 years since it was last run there. Ironically, that was when I finished third a year down as an under-15 boy. To mark the occasion, I had the honour of presenting the U15 boys with their medals.
“I had many highlights as a youngster, winning individual medals and national team titles, but my most memorable runs were winning a silver
medal in the Scottish Championships 3,000m and running 15:58 mins in the Saltwell 5K when I was 16.
“I also won the InterCounty Schools Cross-Country at Carlisle Racecourse, then going to the English Schools’ aiming for an England vest. Sadly, that didn’t work out as planned as I was in a lot of pain during the race and finished around 60th. I later found out I had a kidney problem which required an operation, so that meant another year on the sidelines.
“I then moved into the seniors, being coached by Richie Tough, and that was a shock to the system. I had only ever run 35 miles per week, mainly track sessions, and then to go out with men like Brian Rushworth hitting the roads for their tempo runs was very hard.
“In 1999, I gained my last North East Inter-Counties selection before adult life took over and running wasn’t as important to me anymore. I had a very long lay-off, only returning as an unattached athlete to do odd local 5K and 10K races.
“After becoming a bit overweight and fed up with gym routines, I pulled on my running shoes once again in 2011 to train for the Sunderland 10K and Great North Run. I did 43min and 90min respectively. That encouraged me to have another go at the sport and rejoin the Harriers.
“It wasn’t until I turned 35 in 2015 that I decided to stop training on the track and began to self-coach and train on my own. I have tinkered with 90-mile-per-week training, but I found I can run well and injury-free doing around 65 to 70 miles per week.
“I have learnt a lot over the years, and now with the coaching advice of clubmate Mark Hood, who is now planning my schedules, I am training smarter.
“I have reduced my 10k time to 33:17, which isn’t the fastest in the world, but all my PBs are getting quicker with age!”