400m pb for Joe

Saturday 26 February 2011

Cardiff's Joe Thomas set a best ever (indoors or out)personal time for the 400m of 47.94sec when winning his event for the Cardiff Dragons composite team at today's McCain City Challenge at Cardiff's NIAC indoor arena.

This speed work perfectly completes Joe's preparation for next weekend's European Championships in Paris where he will contest the 800m, his specialist event.

Joe was not the only Cardiff AAC athlete in the Dragons team to shine as Gareth Hopkins won the men's 200m (21.85) and took third in the 60m (7.01), two good performances from him to continue his excellent run of form.

After his event, Joe said: “I thought I’d started well but it was my first time in blocks and going down the back straight I had a bit of work to do. I went for the gap down the home straight on the first lap and just went for it. It’s difficult coming down from 800m, I only did one session with starting blocks during the week so I wasn’t very confident it - I normally do a standing start.”

“I’m excited for the European Indoors, I’m probably in the best form of my life so I want to just get to the final. Indoors anything can happen and the fastest guy doesn’t always win.”

Fifth place seemed to be the order of the day for four other Cardiff athletes as Adam Bitchell was 5th in the men's 1500m (3:53.12), Emma Peters (unlike Joe, stepping up a distance) was 5th in the women's 800m, Gareth Wiltshire was 5th in the men's 800m (1:53.90) and Jamie Leigh-Bowen was 5th in the women's 200m.

These performances helped lift the Cardiff Dragons team to third place in today's match, a big improvement on its 8th, and last, place in the first of the two match series. The Dragons finished in sixth place overall.