Yowza! This record might last 50 years, or until Edwin Moses puts on spikes again. World champion Howard Moscrop of Britain has chopped his own M50 world record in the 400-meter hurdles to an ungodly 56.56 at the British Masters Championships at Alexander Stadium, Birmingham — running solo and alternating lead legs in the latter stages. (See results here.) Jon Tilt reports: “In less than ideal conditions, Howard made his intentions clear from the gun, powering away from the field. Hitting a strong headwind in the home straight (it measured up to -3 m/s in the 100s) he kept his form to finish in 56.56 seconds, clubbing over a second off his April record. Howard’s family were there to witness the feat.” And here is the race:

Jon continues:

Howard is planning to compete in the European championships in Slovenia later this month. It’s a frightening prospect to speculate how much quicker he can go in decent conditions. Although we Brits tend to be conditioned to the rain and wind 🙂

On the Age-Graded Tables, Howard’s performance of 56.56 corresponds to an Open (ages 20-30) equivalent of 45.542. Unthinkable.

400m Hurdles M50
FINAL
1 Howard Moscrop 50 SWVAC 56.56 ?wr
2 Ian Broadhurst 53 NVAC 62.60
3 Tennyson James 50 EVAC 62.75
4 Brian Slaughter 50 SCVAC 65.25
5 Simon Pugh 50 NVAC 77.15
Here’s an article that appeared in Howard’s local paper:

ATHLETICS: Moscrop is a record breaker
By Gareth Moorhouse
SWINDON Harrier Howard Moscrop shaved more than a second off his own world record at the British Masters Track & Field Championships in Birmingham on Saturday.
Moscrop clocked an incredible 56.56 seconds for the M50 (over 50s) 400m hurdles to obliterate the competition in far from ideal conditions at Alexander Stadium.
It was the second time in three months Moscrop had broken the record, smashing his previous best time of 57.68 set at Walton in April.
The maths teacher from St Josephs now holds the two fastest times in Masters history, ahead of American Jack Greenwood, whose old record of 58.10 had stood for more than 32 years.
“I thought I was in shape to run 57 seconds, so to dip under that time was very pleasing,” said Moscrop.
“It was quite blustery so the conditions were not ideal. I had to play around with the stride pattern a fair bit.
“My family was there so I wanted to put on a good performance for them. My enthusiasm levels went up a notch.
“I thought in April when I first broke the record that I was capable of going faster.”
Moscrop’s performance was an exercise in technical perfection, the 50-year-old bounding out of the blocks to take a stranglehold on the race.
With a combination of slick hurdling and a strong stride pattern he entered the home straight well clear.
Unsurprisingly, his run was later declared performance of the meeting.
With the European Seniors Championships in Slovenia just three weeks away, Moscrop will be among the favourites for the gold.
But the man from Old Town is determined not to put too much pressure on himself, and enjoy his major championship swan song.
He said: “I don’t want to overtrain before the Europeans, I think it’s just a case of fine tuning now.
“The difference is that this is not a one-off race. There are heats to come through, so you can’t use up all your energy too soon.
“It’s difficult because the nature of the 400m hurdles dictates how quick you are going to go.
“I’m in reasonably good nick though and I’m really looking forward to it. I think this will be my last major championships so it would be nice to go out with a bang.”