Harry Thompson continues to win gold medals and set records in competitive running for his age group.
Thompson turned 90 years old only six weeks before he travelled to Kamloops to compete in BC Masters Indoor Championships, also known as the Van Ryswyk Indoor Invitational Track and Field Meet, held at the Tournament Capital Centre February 15 to 17. At the meet he set five Canadian records in the men’s 90 to 94 category.
He has been running all his life, self-described as “a young man in a hurry,” and competitively since the late 1980s when he entered the BC Seniors games held in Courtenay.
In Kamloops, he was the oldest runner on the lanes and the only runner in his age group. “The only one I was competing against was myself,” he said. “And I beat some of the younger guys.”
He broke the record for indoor 60-metre running by three tenths of a second, which he ran in 13.35 seconds. “I’m really pleased with that,” he said. “It’s really a substantial amount.”
No records existed for the other four events before he ran them. He set records in the 200-metre (48.38), 400-metre (2:03.84), 800-metre (5:04.61) and 1,500-metre (10:33.10) events.
The only comparison he could make about his performance in his age group was outdoor records that had been previously set. He said he was surprised by how well he did because indoor running records tend to be slower.
“My times are all quite a bit faster,” he said. Thompson broke the outdoor 200-metre time by approximately 18 seconds.
