Weekly Update - 11th Feb. 2026

Ayo Falola Dream Mile, Lee Valley (Wed. 4th Feb.)

Meredith Cummins produced a brilliant nine-second personal best of 5:20.59, running a tactically astute race to win the Women’s C Mile by six seconds.

Kyle Hurst also impressed, clocking 4:49.02 in his indoor mile debut.

Cambridge Harriers Club 10 mile Cross Country, Joydens Wood (Sat. 7th Feb.)

The Woodland Trust have decided that the narrow winding path that we have been using to climb up from the bottom track to the top track for the last 80 years of these races is not a path after all and have blocked it off at both ends reports Clem Dixon. Thanks go to Christine Bond who not only forewarned us of this but also found an equally narrow, winding and steep path to take its place. However, although the new route made the initial short lap longer it made each of the subsequent four long laps somewhat shorter and those that ran with GPS watches put the distance at somewhere between nine and a quarter and nine and a half miles, something that we will need to look at for next year if the old path is not to be reinstated. 

This means that comparisons with previous year's times don't mean much but, as this year's winner James Macdonald was keen to point out, the woods were at their muddiest and that has to count for something. James led from the start and won by a margin of two minutes from Gavin Hows who has been close to an ever present this season and looks a shoe-in for the Cottrell Cup. A further minute back in third place was last year's winner Jonathan Sargent, one of many getting their new Soar vests dirty for the first time.

For the women Julie Backley was taking on the longer version of these races for the first time and took home the gold medal and the Glynis Penny trophy. Second was Kate Fry whose running has improved markedly of late and is one of a few Greenwich Tritons who have joined us as second claim recently giving her £2 off her entry fee and, more importantly, a club silver medal. Olesya Golovina, winner of the 7.5, was third.

We also presented the Joydens Wood Trophy which each year goes to the individual with the best performance over all three races who has not already won a trophy for one of them: this year it went to James Floyd.

Thanks to Mark Newell, Graham Maynard and chatGPT our database of results for these races now goes back thirty years, during which time Dean Lacy is the only man to have recorded a "grand slam" of winning all three races in a season (although Amelia Lawrence has matched this recently for the women). But now James Macdonald joins him with a "career grand slam", his wins in the 5 and 10 this season going with victory in the 7.5 in 2017. (Results)

EA Indoor Age Group Championships, Sheffield (Sat. 7th / Sun. 8th Feb.)

A number of the club’s juniors travelled north to compete at the National Indoor Championships at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, returning with an impressive haul of personal bests and four medals, writes Mick Bond. The standard of junior athletics across the championships was exceptional, with the top-ranked athletes from across the UK in attendance. Qualification was determined by the narrowest of margins, underlining the depth and quality of competition. The event attracted close to 800 athletes representing more than 230 clubs nationwide. Sixteen Cambridge Harriers competed this year — a notable increase from eleven in 2024 — highlighting the club’s growing strength at national level.

Sprints: Danielle Agyemang Tolbert shaved 0.1 seconds off her personal best in the U20 women’s 60m to reach the semi-finals. She then produced an outstanding run in the 200m, taking nearly 0.4 seconds off her PB to clock 24.67, narrowly missing out on a place in the final. Emily Cadman went one better in the same U20 women’s 200m, progressing through to the final where she claimed bronze in an impressive 24.58. In the U17 men’s 200m, Zavier Brathwaite won his heat in confident fashion. However, despite running 22.60 to finish third in his semi-final, he missed out on a place in the final by the agonising margin of just 0.01 seconds. Over 400m, Elijah Olaleye ran just outside his personal best in both his heat and semi-final, narrowly missing out on qualification for the final.

Throws: Kendrick Onolememen produced an excellent series in the U15 boys’ shot put, throwing 16.43m in the second round. That mark secured him second place and the silver medal. Miya Cook, who missed much of her winter preparation due to a broken finger, showed great resilience to compete strongly. She finished fifth in her competition with a best throw of 10.50m, not far off her personal best despite the disrupted build-up.

Jumps: We had three high jumpers in action, finishing third, fourth and fifth in their respective competitions. Elazar Adejinmi led the way, claiming bronze in the U15 boys’ event with a personal best clearance of 1.74m. Ryan Lynott was left slightly frustrated not to clear a greater height, but his 1.85m was enough to secure fourth place in the U17 men’s competition. Phoebe Folarin finished fifth in the U17 women’s event, clearing 1.64m, just shy of her personal best. In the U20 men’s long jump, Jack Jones recorded a best of 6.77m to place tenth overall.

Hurdles: Three members of the hurdles squad progressed to their respective finals, underlining the strength and depth of the group. Hans Nmaju claimed bronze in the U20 men’s final, running a personal best of 7.95. In the U20 women’s equivalent, Lily Gayle finished fifth with a PB of 8.69. Tess Hepple also produced an excellent performance in the U17 women’s event, finishing sixth in 8.71, having recorded a lifetime best of 8.67 in the semi-finals. Ekene Ogbonna delivered a superb run in the heats of the U20 men’s competition, smashing his personal best with 8.20. That time would have been enough to secure a place in the final had he been able to replicate it in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Elijah Olaleye narrowly missed out on another final, clocking 8.29 in his semi-final.

Dymchurch 10k (Sun. 8th Feb.)

Fresh off a bronze medal at the club 10-mile cross-country championships, Jonathan Sargent followed up the next day with a 10km road PB of 35:03, finishing fourth.