By LIAM TWOMEY
PAUL Thomas is proof it’s never too late to be a world-beater.
After years of dropping his son off at athletics training and sitting in the car reading the newspaper, the 56-year-old decided his time would be better spent getting out on the track.
From there, what started as a hobby to improve his fitness quickly turned into a passion.
Throughout the last year, Thomas has been burning up the track at Williamstown and recently won two gold medals at the Oceania Masters Games in the 800m and 1500m events respectively.
“I did have a small break from athletics for awhile, of about 35 years,” Thomas joked.
“I am still a little bit taken aback that I would have been able to make that much progress in that time.
“I have a really good relationship with my coach who also coaches my son. He is very open to members joining in and he has an incredible age range in the middle distances. I couldn’t have done it without having that coaching and someone to push me along and more than anything, tell me what to do.”
Thomas’s son Ryhan is one of Williamstown Athletics Club’s rising stars and claimed a bronze medal at the All Schools State Championships in the 3000m event late last year.
“We do train together a bit which is good,” Thomas said.
“My son is very committed and it has been great to train with him. There is a bit of friendly competition and we have a few jokes about it.”
Following on from his great results, Thomas has no plans to slow down and is setting his sights on competing at the Australian Masters Championships in March.
He also encouraged anyone who was thinking about getting into athletics after a break to give it a go.
“You only need to drive through the suburbs and see how many people are jogging to see how popular it is,” he said
“To take the next step and see how you go competitively is not really much of an effort. It is great to be in a club as well. It is very family orientated.”
