Dean Jackson

Sunday 9.55am Sydney Olympic Park Blacktown

Australian Masters 5000m Championship 1st 15m58.31

Still feeling bunged up but had a better nights sleep. Lots of prescription drugs paying benefit.
Felt OK in my warm up with Shawn Claydon. Conditions were warm and calm which made a difference from the previous couple of days. A big field toed the line including all age groups from M35 through to M55. Must have been 30 of us.
I set off quickly (as ever!) 200m in 32 and first K in 3.01/2. As last year my tactic was to run hard to make anyone who wanted to beat me run it themselves rather than tag onto the back of me. So I was a few yards clear of Jamie Harrison and then a gap to next group. John Jago said he went through the K in 3m06 and he was 3rd running with Shawn Claydon.
Jamie went past me and opened up a gap that I was never going to close. Jamie runs with such bounce in his stride and such speed that I'm afraid the writing is well and truly on the wall for my 3000m record when he turns 45 in Dec!!!
I put my head down and kept the pace comfortable. By 3K I was about 100m behind Jamie and about a 100m in front of John and Shawn. I went through 3K in 9m30. Nothing much else happened in the race other than I lost sight of Jamie, then I heard the Announcer saying he was coming up to the bell and i thought Crickey he must have blitzed it to be about 200m in front of me. As I hit the bell in 14m40 I felt comfortable , and then heard the announcer say Jamie had a lap to go! I was thinking they've ballsed up this!! I ran through the line clock said 15m53 so don't know how I ended up with 15m58.31! Jamie finished next and I was thinking he could have nearly lapped me!! But in the end it turns out he had pulled up around lap 9 or 10 feeling out of sorts and walked for a while as he felt bad. He saw me go by and later started again as Shawn and John went passed him!
So I beat JAMIE HARRISON!!!!!! (don't think that's gonna happen again!!). Jamie finished second over the line in 16m19 (1st M40-44), John Jago ran about 16m20 for 2nd in my Category (Revenge for the 1500m!) and hats off to Shawn Claydon who ran brilliantly for 16m38 (a seasons best by far).
tomorrow we have 8K CC at UpJohn Park in Parramatta. 4 X 2K Laps long grass undulating,
should be fun!
The images above are the photo finish shots of the 10K and the 1500m.