A BLAST from the past returned to help Hampshire senior women finish a close second to Surrey in The Army representative match at Aldershot's Military Stadium.

Linda Staines who, under her maiden name of Keough, was the long-time British number one over 400 metres, proved she can still teach the youngsters a thing or two with a highly respectable 55.62-second victory.

Married to Great Britain marathon man Gary Staines, the 1990 Commonwealth silver medallist gave birth to her first son, Thomas, 16 months ago.

Ironically, her return to competitive running coincides with the unavailability of fellow Basing-stoke & Mid-Hants sprint international Tracy Joseph who is herself preparing for motherhood.

"Tracy is eight months pregnant and Basingstoke got in touch because they were desperate for a sprinter. It sounded like a good idea at the time," laughs 35-year-old Staines.

"The next thing I knew I had Hampshire team manager Sheenah Fitmaurice asking me to run for the county and suddenly I'm running two 400 metres (individual and relay) in the space of an hour. You want to see the state of me now!"

Joking apart, Staines is somewhat appalled that Hampshire had to resort to selecting "someone as old and past it as me."

Young Sarah Butcher (Team Solent) continued to make giant strides with a personal best of 58.78 seconds in the B-string but Staines's very presence underlined the dearth of female, one-lap talent coming through.

Still heavily involved in schools' coaching, Banstead-based Staines is taking a YMCA fitness instructor course specialising in ante and post-natal fitness. She trains at the Basingstoke track once or twice a week and may even be tempted to put in an appearance at the AAA Championships in Birmingham later this month.

"I've sent an entry form off, so it's an option," she says. "I doubt I'm capable of running any faster than I did for Hampshire but I might just go up for the hell of it."

Despite Staines' efforts, Hampshire paid the price for lack of a high jumper when the overall points were totted up at Aldershot. Antonia Bemrose and Sharon Woolrich were both injured and Southampton City's Jenny Reader unavailable, leaving them with no-one to compete.

In the men's match Hampshire played second fiddle to The Army for whom Team Solent's Rod Finch, a 5,000m finalist at last year's European Championships in Budapest, easily won the 3,000 metres in 8.24.90.

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