TONY BOWMAN, 86, of Guiseley continues to defy belief after claiming yet another award for his running endeavours.

The veteran began running at age 42 and has continued till this day- competing in a wide range of athletic events such as 100 M, 200 M, hurdles and pentathlons.

In doing so, Bowman has broke a number of records including the 200 M British record for ages 35+ in Stretford, April 2021, where he ran a 36.67 race, shaving four seconds off the age group’s previous record set by Duncan McLean in 1972.

He also continues to chase the British 100 M record for the same age category.

But his most recent accomplishment was confirmed around ten days ago when he was named ‘European Masters Sprint Champion of The Year’, another mind blowing achievement for the 86 year old.

He said: “If you break world records as a sprinter and/or hurdler in Europe, you get considered for this great award and thankfully the European Committee decided to award me with it.

“I’m absolutely over the moon about it. Breaking records and winning awards like this one is the main reason I stay motivated. I get a real buzz out of it.

“I also love the publicity that comes with it, for example speaking to the Telegraph and Argus, or being invited onto Look North. It’s all great and I love it.

“I must be one of the most fortunate men in the country or Europe for that matter. To be doing what I am doing at my age is really astonishing, but I just love it and I want to continue to try and break more British, European and world records.”

It has not all been plain sailing for Bowman, with the Guiseley man confirming another two heart failures since he last spoke to the T&A in April.

He said: “The last event I did was the pentathlon in Sheffield in June, and the next day I was rushed into hospital with heart failure. They managed to pull me around and discharge me, but a week later the same thing happened again.

“At the time I said to myself this is getting too dangerous, so I'm not going to take a chance at running anymore, but now a few months have past and I've slowly been getting back into training, I'm going to start competing again.

"I've had heart failure three times now, so it is a bit of a risk continuing. But I plan to return to action next Sunday in Sheffield where I'll be doing a pentathlon.

"If that goes okay, I will do the heptathlon in Glasgow the following week.

"A lot of people ask me about what the doctors say to me continuing, but the doctors are really supportive about it and leave the decision to me which is a good thing really.

"If they were to say it's getting a bit dangerous now, and you need to give it up then I might think twice about it. " "They've never said that, so it means I can continue pushing the boundaries and continue doing what I love."