Hastings AC trio take on the world

Three Hastings Athletic Club members took part in the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships.
Jason Wright with his medal after coming 12th in his age group at the World Obstacle Course Racing ChampionshipsJason Wright with his medal after coming 12th in his age group at the World Obstacle Course Racing Championships
Jason Wright with his medal after coming 12th in his age group at the World Obstacle Course Racing Championships

Barry Buchanan, Martin Watts and Jason Wright competed in two events in successive days at the global championships in Brentwood, Essex.

The trio firstly lined up in the short course event on Friday which involved 25 obstacles in just 1.8 kilometres.

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See also: * No negativity from fans to new stadium plans, says Hastings chairman* St Leonards star edged out in epic English Open final* Bexhill, Common and Sidley all keen on Gullivers siteBuchanan got round in 24 minutes to finish 44th in the 35-40 age group, Wright was 44th in the 40-50 group in 26 minutes and Watts came 54th in the same age group in 27 minutes.

The following day was the main championship, in which competitors had to negotiate 100 obstacles over 15k. There was a good mixture of obstacles, with a lot of carries in weight.

Wright performed superbly to finish 12th overall and second British athlete in the 45-49 age group with a time of two hours and eight minutes.

Watts, competing in the 40-44 age group, finished in 2:15 and Buchanan, in the 35-39 category, had a disappointing result after having trouble with a couple of obstacles.

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Wright, who had trained hard in the build-up to the event, said he was ‘really happy’ with the result in a truly international competition with participants from all over the globe.

And it was just reward for a massive lifestyle change. Only four years ago Wright gave up smoking having got through 40 cigarettes per day for 27 years, and done little exercise to boot.

He has now been doing obstacle course racing for around three years and joined Hastings AC 18 or so months ago.