After a week’s worth of rain, the course around the picturesque Roundhey Park, just north of Leeds was ready for some of the top Masters (Over 35s) runners in the country last weekend in the British and Irish Masters International. Over a muddy, hilly 8 kilometre course that offered very little let-up from start to finish, Holland Sports athlete Chris Blackburn, formed part of a chasing group of four over the first three laps of the four lap course before not quite being able to hang on over the final kilometre or so as the silver and bronze individual medals were decided.

Part of an England Team Gold, Chris has now come second and fifth in consecutive years in the V50-54 category. Part of the training group at Holland Sports under the guidance of Neil Danby, Chris returned to running after lock-down and has since represented England on the road and over the country, competing against some of the best ‘older’ talent that the UK and Europe has to offer. If you ran previously, and would like to get back into it, or you would like to join a training group with like-minded people, have a look at the ‘Coaching Groups’ pages of this website and pop along on a Tuesday or a Wednesday evening.