A year ago he smashed a longstanding provincial record. Now Mark Pinckard is a world champion.
The 62-year-old Boundary Bay resident captured the 800 metre event in the men’s 60-64 age class at the recent World Masters Athletics Championships in Tampere, Finland. He also added a bronze in the 1,500 race.
It was last summer when Pinckard shattered a 19-year-old Canadian record in the 800m at the B.C. Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Bear Creek Park. The former record belonged to renowned B.C. Athletics Hall of Fame Harold Morioka. It was a performance that instantly made him a podium favourite nearly a year later in Finland.
“It was an unusual place to be for me and there may have been a little bit of pressure for sure,” said Pinckard.
He was fortune enough to comfortably qualify out of his semi-final heat then had a strong finishing kick in the final to out-pace competitors from Great Britain and Denmark and finish in a time of 2:13.75.
“The three of us broke away from the rest of the group and the guy from Denmark was running on his own for the first 700 metres,” recalled Pinckard. “I was able to pass him with about 100 metres to go and the British guy couldn’t match my pace.
“The whole thing about Masters track and field is getting to the competition healthy. I’ve been close before but have run into injuries prior to getting to the championships and that has hindered my performances. This time I have been healthy all year and my training had gone really well. I felt strong going into it and my training times were going to lead to a podium finish.”
Pinckard had four days rest before competing in the 1500m.
The trip to Europe initially got off to a rough start when his suitcase was lost somewhere among the three flights required to get to Tampere. The luggage still hasn’t been located. Pinckard was fortunate enough to pack his track shoes in his carry-on but he did have to borrow a Canadian jersey top from another competitor.
At home, he regularly works out with the South Surrey-based Ocean Athletics Track and Field Club where many of his training mates are decades younger than him.
He did some sprinting as a young teen but then turned his attention to rugby before his career and raising a family. It was in his 40s he began running again, initially doing a marathon then shifting to the track.
