Paul Ward, the Shrewsbury runner who keeps getting better with age, admits he was so overjoyed to receive his first England call that he did five laps of his house in celebration.
The 42-year-old athlete has been selected to represent the England over-40s team in an international cross country race against Wales, Scotland and Ireland in Swansea on November 15. He admits it will be the pinnacle of his running career and he’s really looking forward to representing his country in the 8km race.
Selection for the England team, he says, could not have been further from his mind when he tore a calf muscle in February. He was unable to run for four weeks and didn’t feel he was fully back in his stride until May.
He’s not looked back since, though, and having finished fifth in the National Masters 5k Championships in June, he surpassed that by coming in second in the National Masters 10k at Loughborough in a time of 32:50.
He’s continued to run at a consistently high standard, doing enough to catch the eye of the national selectors.
“When I received the letter saying that I had been selected for the team, I was elated and did five laps of the house,” he said.
Ward, who lives in the Column area of the town, stepped up his preparations for his international debut by finishing sixth overall and the first over-40 runner home in the Cardiff half marathon last Sunday, clocking 71:17.
“I’m running probably better than ever,” he added. “I’m running personal bests which is probably unheard of at 42.”
Ward trains with Shrewsbury Athletic Club and is also an active member of Wrekin Road Runners and Telford AC.