Saunders in race well run

Broome Little Athletics Club contested the WA Little Athletics State Championships earlier this month, sending runner Luke Saunders to the competition.

Luke competed in the under-11s 800m sprint and the 1500m race in front of a packed Perth stadium on March 18 and 19.

His mother Karen Saunders said he had qualified for the events after running a time of 2min. 58sec. for the 800m and 6:21 for the 1500m at a competition in September.

“Luke was very nervous and it was very cold, raining (at the 800m. It was a) very fast race as most of the competitors have just finished their athletic seasons and have been training for the State event,” she said. “Luke struggled to breathe in the cold air.

“His words as he finished were ‘that was so hard, it felt like I couldn’t breathe in the cold weather’ — so different to running in Broome”.

Luke ended the race in 13th place with a time of 3:02 off his personal best on the Saturday.

He then headed for the 1500m event on the Sunday.

“Luke was less nervous and settled into his run nicely (passing several runners on the second last lap),” his mother said.

“He smashed his personal best by 40sec., running the 1500m in 5:40.

“A great result for what was a fantastic weekend — finished in 12th place.”