Nate Clarke wins gold in NSW Junior Championships

By Kimberly Grabham.

Nate Clarke has raced home to take gold in the NSW Junior Championships 800 metres in what can only be described as a stellar field of athletes, including National silver medallist Alexander Marshall.

Those of you who watched Nate’s race may not realise it but Nate had already had a jam-packed week.

He raced to a national 400 metre qualifier on Friday, made it to the finals, raced a 1500 metre for a four second personal best on Saturday afternoon, an hour later ran the 400-metre final, and then had to back it up Sunday with the 800-metre final.

To do this and then accomplish a gold medal was an amazing feat.

He went into the race with no expectations, just wanting to put on a good run while battling the fatigue of a heavy race schedule.

For Nate the first 200 metres was the toughest, with his legs feeling the fatigue and not up to their usual pace.

He thought, ‘this isn’t going to be great,’ but his body took over as he relaxed into his stride.

Keeping out of the mess he was able to stride out and relax.

By the second lap, Nate had gathered his second wind and was ready to take charge, pushing to the front and leading the pack into the final 200 metres.

Fighting through the lactic burn, Nate fought hard to keep the lead through the final 100 metres to come home with a very brave win.

This win will give Nate a great boost of confidence heading into the State Little Athletics Champs in a couple of weeks, and the Australian National Championships held at Adelaide in April.

What a fantastic effort Nate! 

Nate Clarke scored gold in the 800 metres in the recent NSW Junior Championships. Image Carolyn Clarke.