Harry Thompson has been at it again, winning gold medals and breaking track and field records, all at the age of 88.
At the Canadian Masters Indoor Athletic Championships in Kamloops held recently, Thompson won four gold medals as a solo runner and a further gold in a relay.
Competing in, winning and setting the world record for the four x 400-metre relay, Thompson described the race as the highlight of the event and the highlight of his near 20-year career as a Masters athlete. Thompson had no intention of running in a relay but while at the championships some other athletes asked him if he would join them for the race. Relays are divided into 10-year age groups so Thompson said it was great to be running with younger athletes, the other men being all either 80 or 81 years old. The men came in at 6:34.65, a new Canadian Masters Athletic Association record.
As a solo athlete, Thompson ran the 60-metre, 200-metre, 400-metre and 800-metre sprints. He took gold in all four events although no one else competed in Thompson’s age group of 85 to 89. Thompson didn’t break any of his own Canadian records that he holds in all the events he competed in but he shaved time off his results from an invitational event a month earlier. Thompson’s son, daughter and daughter-in-law all attended the event to cheer him on.
“I’ve always run and I’ve always been competitive,” said Thompson. “I just enjoyed running and I still do. If I wasn’t competing I would still go out and run.”
Such a desire seems to run in the family as both of Thompson’s granddaughters will be competing in a half-marathon in Sechelt next month.
Next for Thompson will be competing in the BC Masters Championships in Langley in June.
