UK Championships, Sport City, Manchester (Sat. 8th & Sun. 9th July)
Daryll Neita produced a brilliant run over 200 metres clocking a Championship Record of 22.25s, booking her 200m spot for the World Championships in Budapest in the process. (Click here to watch Daryll's run).
Daryll said: “I think the 200m is very wide open and I am still learning it, I am still figuring it out as it is new to me. I am coming out of the races where I want to be – it is a great stepping stone in the right direction towards the Worlds in Budapest. My aim is to go there and to come away knowing I did all I could. I think I am in amazing shape and fine form so I hope I can come away with a medal.”
Four further club members accepted their invitations to compete at these championships. Brandon Mingeli secured a semi-final spot in the 100 metres with a time of 10.50s, but did not progress to the final finishing fifth in his semi in 10.53s. Doyin Aderinto finished fifth in her heat of the 100m in 11.99s.
Luc Legon won bronze in the men's 5000 metre race walk in a time of 22:54.91s. In the women's equivalent Hannah Hopper finished outside the medals in fourth place, recording a personal best of 24:46.53s, going inside 25 minutes for the first time.
Assembly League 5km, Sutcliffe Park (Thurs. 6th July)
The mid-week Assembly League started in the mid 1970’s and Cambridge Harriers has proudly been part of the league since the early days, but we’ve never hosted an event, reports Graham Maynard. With challenges of finding new, traffic-free courses for up to 200 competitors, Dave Reader came up with the idea of using Sutcliffe Park and successfully gained local council approval and a runbritain race permit on behalf of the club. With a bunch of club volunteers to set-up and marshall the course, the event was a great success and reflected the all the hard-work in planning and execution. Being a home race, there was a great turn-out of 16 club runners with Tom Brooke and Christine Lutsch taking the honours of first club runners to finish. We are back over in Hackney (Victoria Park) for the next Assembly League on Thursday 3rd August.
Results: 7. Tom Brooke 15:23, 13. Bobby Babaker 16:01, 14. Luke Ford 16:10, 17. James Macdonald 16:21, 21. Andrew Doyle 16:31, 26. Duncan Hope 16:45, 27. Angus Vosper 16:46, 31. Dan Easton 17:08, 32. Rob Shearer 17:09, 41. James Pitts 17:29, 47. Will Longhurst 17:50, 52 Tom Castle 18:21, 55. Christine Lutsch 18:30, 62. David Reader 18:43, 63. Robert Barns 18:48, 117. Graham Maynard 22:01.
Southern Counties Veterans AC Kent Division 1, Tonbridge (Fri. 7th July)
The match on the 7th July at Tonbridge was the fifth of six league matches. The men's team finished in fourth, again, and remain fourth in the overall league and should retain their position in Division 1. The women, with a number of events unfilled, finished last and now sit in fifth place in the Division and will need a full team for the final match on 28th July (Dartford) to try and avoid relegation.
A-string wins on the night for the men came courtesy of Wole Odele M50 triple jump (10.59m), Peter Wishart M60 hammer (26.88m) and a B-string win for Abdela Kelifa M35 400m (56.9s). For the women Jenny Agyepong won the W50 hammer by over ten metres with a best of 36:02m.
UK Youth Development League Lower - Southern 1B, Crawley (Sat.8th July)
The lower age group of the YDL has been an up and down affair for us this year, writes Mick Bond. After finishing 6th of seven in the first match then second in the next one we were mid table along with every one else. In the third match last Saturday we were initially placed 6th again but the addition of points for providing officials moved us up to 5th and so in with a fair chance of staying up in the Division we got promoted to last year. Our last match is at Tooting in two weeks time where we will need to finish no more than one place behind home club Herne Hill to stay up.
Lakeland Trails 100k Ultra, Ambleside (Midnight on Sat. 8th July)
The Lakeland Trails 100k Ultra is described as the ultimate trail challenge with an iconic midnight start, which takes the challenge to a new, but achievable level for a truly memorable journey encompassing the finest trails the Lake District has to offer.
Two club members, John O'Mahoney and Maggie Illingworth took on the challenge with John winning the event in 13 hours 17 minutes and 6 seconds. Maggie finished in nineteenth place overall and third women in 16:34:58.
Brecon Fans Fell Race Weekend (Sat. 8th & Sun. 9th July)
This year only three Harriers made it to the Brecon Fans race weekend, writes Christian Poulton, described on the race website as “two classic fell races in the Brecon Beacons” the description fits the bill exactly.
The first race on the Saturday is the Fan y Big Horseshoe Race. A classic 10 mile skyline route, starting and finishing in Llanfrynach near to Brecon the route is over the top of Fan y Big (719m) taking in some of the most incredible ridge lines in the Brecon Beacons. It’s a steep start, but then you have around four miles of ridge line running with sensational views all the way until you make the decent back into Llanfrynach.
The weather this year was decidedly mixed with the majority of the race remaining relatively dry until the closing stages of the race when the heavens opened up, rewarding the slower runners with a decidedly wet finish.
The second race on the Sunday is the Pen y Fan fell race taking you up the highest mountain in the Brecon Beacons and packing nearly 2000 feet of ascent into 3.5 miles. The race is another classic up and down fell race where the down bit is a very steep unmarked ‘bonkers' descent over tussocky ground where you can’t relax for fear of catching your foot on sharp stones or falling down hidden gullies.
The weather on Sunday was decidedly wet, reminiscent of a typical British winter cross country event sans the cold. The rain was torrential at the start and on the approach to Pen y Fan turned to what felt like sleet, however it eased off for the remainder of the race giving us a brief interlude in which to ‘fast’ finish on a downward sloping field.
Sadly no prizes this year however after each race you are rewarded with a bottle of beer so no complaints from us on that front.
Fan y Big Horseshoe Race: 12. Christian Poulton 1:36:23, 25. Graham Maynard 1:44:50 & 35. Clem Dixon 1:49:45.
Pen y Fan Race: 23. Christian Poulton 47:53, 46. Clem Dixon 57:05 & 55. Graham Maynard 1:02:30.
Southern Athletics League Division 2 North & East, Stevenage (Sun. 9th July)
On Sunday, we competed in the 3rd SAL match at Stevenage, where we finished second overall, unofficially! With one match remaining, we are sitting in the promotion places to move up to Division 1. Our final match is at Sutcliffe Park on Saturday 19th August. Save the date, as all the gaps need to be filled and we would appreciate as much support as we can get. If you are an Under 17 athlete or above and you can attend the fixture, get in contact with Sophie Fenner (Women) or Omari Markland-Montgomery (Men).
During this match, the women secured many personal achievements, writes Sophie Fenner. In the sprints, Mary Schouvaloff and Viyenze Efadue both came 2nd in their 100m races and both achieved personal bests in the 200m. Inez Rice, our only representative middle distance vents, recorded a seasons best in the 800m. Keziah Olaleye and Gabby Noyce had PBs in the 400m hurdles. Keziah and Cerys Daniels won their respective races in the 100m hurdles, with Cerys also winning the high jump. Katie Marsh and Sophie Fenner both got personal bests in the triple jump. In their main events, there was a season's best for Katie in the javelin and Sophie came 2nd in the hammer. Natalie Mann gained a total of 15 points, competing in all four throws. Our relay teams were a highlight, finishing 2nd in the 4 x 100m and winning the 4 x 400m with ease.
ASICS London 10km, Green Park, (Sun. 9th July)
The ASICS London 10km saw a record number of runners race through the iconic streets of London. Starting on the edge of Green Park, just a short walk from Buckingham Palace, participants took in an array of the capital’s most-iconic sites, including Westminster Bridge, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben, and Trafalgar Square, before finishing on Whitehall, just past Downing Street.
Holly Dixon finished in 65th place overall and second woman with a time of 34:36. Others to finish (apologies to any club members missed - but results do not include club name), 81st James Macdonald 35:02, 993rd Susan Dixon 42:34, 1874th Sally Carr 45:59.