Richard Blackwell has just turned 60 and he doesn’t mind who knows it.

He’s not one of those people who gets coy about their age as they get older; far from it, he actually embraced reaching the big ‘six-O’.

Mind you the chairman of Gloucester Athletic Club, who is still very much an active runner, has a special reason for celebrating the start of his seventh decade.

“It means I can move up an age group,” he said. “I’m looking to do the masters indoor season this winter I will be one of the younger ones competing in the 60-plus age group.”

And Blackwell, a sprinter, is certainly aiming high because he wants to run in the World Indoor Masters Championships in Poland in March.

That will be over 60 metres – “If there was anything shorter I’d go for that,” he laughed – and he is looking to run it in around 8.35 seconds.

“That’s what I did last winter and I’m hoping for the same this year,” he added.

And there’s every reason to believe that he will achieve his aim because Blackwell is a seriously good athlete.

Born and bred in Gloucester – he still lives in the city – Blackwell, who went to Chosen Hill School, was interested in athletics from a fairly young age.

“It was school sports days that first got me into it,” he said. “We didn’t do much athletics although we had a couple of inter-school matches and I found I was quite a good sprinter.”

Being quick meant he was also an asset to the school’s rugby teams – naturally enough he played on the wing – and he continued to play rugby for a period after school, firstly for Chosen Hill Former Pupils and then Longlevens.

He was good enough to get into Chosen Hill FP’s 1st XV but as time went on he found he wasn’t big enough to make an impact in what is a very physical game.

“Athletics was always my number one sport,” he said.

And it still is and for most of that time Gloucester AC has been his number one club, although he did spend 12 years with Severn Athletic Club from 1995.

“I first joined Gloucester 41 years ago,” said Blackwell, who took over as chairman at the start of the year.

And the young Blackwell made a pretty quick impression, running for Gloucester and also for the Midlands on a couple of occasions.

“I competed against internationals,” said Blackwell. “I competed against Allan Wells three weeks after he’d won gold in the 100 metres at the Moscow Olympics.”

So how did he get on?

“I let him have it,” laughed Blackwell, who also ran against Linford Christie in the AAA Championships at Crystal Palace.

“I also ran against the Great Britain 4x400 metres runners – Phil Brown, Derek Redmond and Garry Cook. There were a lot of big names around at that time.

“It was pretty much an amateur sport back then. Athletes weren’t travelling the globe all the time, they were representing their clubs. They were great days, I loved it.”

Those days were from 1980 to 1985 and it was in 1980 that Blackwell set his personal best for the 100 metres – 10.6 seconds. His best time for the 200 is 22 seconds, set at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.

That time of 10.6 for the 100 remains the fastest recorded by any runner at Gloucester AC although the time is not officially recognised.

“It was wind assisted,” said Blackwell, “but no one has run any faster, windy or not.

“I started off as a 100 metres runner but my 200 wasn’t shabby although the 100 was always my first love.”

But even though he was an out and out sprinter, Blackwell, who competed “two or three times” in both the AAA Championships and the UK Championships, was always more than happy to put the team before personal glory.

“In about 1983/84 we had a decent class of 100 metres runners at Gloucester so for team competitions I moved up to 400 metres,” he explained.

So how did he get on in his new event?

“I found I could last the distance reasonably well,” he said, “but I’d never say I enjoyed it even though it was a great event.

“We had a very good squad in those days, one of the top squads in the country with the likes of Warren Robins, Roy Duncan, Humphrey Euwin and myself. We were seriously competitive.”

And while 400 metres is the longest that Blackwell has ever run competitively, he has done 800 metres in training for strength and conditioning and has also run a bit of cross-country.

Gloucester Athletic Club offer something for everyone when it comes to athletics, of course, and Blackwell says the club are in “rude health”.

“We’ve just had a very successful season and the senior team won promotion in the Midlands Athletics League,” said Blackwell, who still occasionally runs for the club’s 4x100 relay team. “That’s the flagship competition for our club and we’ve won back-to-back promotions.

“That’s very healthy. We’ve just won Division Three and we’ve got some great athletes.

“We’re very strong in the field events – Tim Williams in the hammer and Gareth Winter in the shot and discus, they are massive points winners.

“In the jumps Joel Townley is a good talent – he does long and triple jump. He’s a pupil at Crypt School and won silver at the England Schools triple jump.

“On the track Steve Millward does a range of events although he is mainly a steeplechaser and Harry Wells is a young middle distance runner who had a very good season.”

And the picture is just as encouraging in the ladies.

“Thrower Chloe Jones and multi-eventer Kate Davies both did really well as did sprinters Sophie Rowe, Ellie Wheeler-Smith and Sophie Temple,” said Blackwell.

Those ‘star’ performers are part of a 220-member club, which includes a thriving junior section.

The club’s youngest members are aged seven but they still have athletes at the other end of the age spectrum as well.

“Chris O’Carroll and Dave Spackman are both in their mid-70s,” added Blackwell, “they both still run around.”

Club president Lorraine Shaw is another who, says Blackwell still “gets out and does a bit of running”.

Shaw of course won Commonwealth Games gold in the hammer in Manchester in 2002 and also competed at two Olympics.

Now 50, Shaw took over as president of her home-town club some 18 months ago and Blackwell is delighted that she has taken on such a high profile role.

“She epitomises everything the club should be about,” Blackwell said. “We wanted someone who would be the embodiment of the club and she fitted the bill perfectly.

“She still coaches and has got a very committed hammer and discus coaching group. They’re out in all weathers. She sets high standards and she demands the same from her athletes and the club.”

Shaw, a one-time British record-holder, originally joined Gloucester AC in the mid-80s.

“I was there when she signed on,” said Blackwell. “She spent a couple of years with Sale Harriers when her career took off but she has always been a member at Gloucester. She worked hard for all the success that she got.”

And hard work will be the key if the club are to improve their performances at cross-country this winter.

“We’ve got big plans for our cross-country teams,” Blackwell said. “The aim is for our senior team to win promotion from Division Three of the Gloucestershire Cross-Country League and we’re running a women’s team in the Midland Cross-Country League for the first time.

“Track and field, cross-country and on the road, we offer competition for everyone from age seven to mid-70s.”