Kent County Track & Field Championships, Bromley
The Kent Track and Field Championships are one of the main features of the summer track and field calendar, writes Mick Bond. Attracting over 1,000 entries including over 100 from the club, there were heats and finals in most of the track events and decent line ups in the field. The weather was kind especially on the Sunday and this along with the championship’s atmosphere meant times, distances and heights were top notch.
The event was held over two days at Norman Park track in Bromley where the new track side clubhouse and café were a big attraction, and maybe something we should aspire to emulate at Sutcliffe Park?
Senior Men: Brandon Sikity, down from University in Derby, won the long jump with 6.45m and then picked up a bronze in the 110m hurdles. Chris Louden ran and outdoor PB of 4:08.61s in the 1500m to take the bronze and then was a tantalising five hundredths outside the two minute barrier when taking silver in the 800m. Andy Kruszewski, 63 years young, won bronze in the discus.
Senior Women: In the 100m twins Doyin and Derin Aderinto picked up gold and bronze in their first races of the outdoor season recording times of 12.16s and 12.75s respectively. Hannah Hopper was a comfortable winner of the 3000m walk in a personal best of 14:17.17s to move to the top of the UK outdoor rankings, whilst elsewhere Julie Backley (1500m), Natalie Mann (Javelin) and Victory Ogbah (100m hurdles) all won bronze medals.
Under 20 Men: In a very competitive age group medals were hard to come by but Shaquille Fernandez- Folkes managed to get silver in the 200m in a PB of 22.55s and Carlos Rojo-Thigo did likewise winning silver in the 110 hurdles in 15.63s.
Under 20 Women: Katie Marsh put early season injury concerns behind her and produced a winning series in the javelin taking gold with 35.90m Hannah Bridge took silver in both the discus and shot , the latter with an outdoor PB of 12.94m to go 4th in the UK rankings.
Under 17 Men: The county championships always clash with the run up to GCSE exams and so a number of our best athletes were missing as they crammed in some last minute revision. Sam Scrase-Field however had almost the perfect championships winning a tactical 1500m with a slow first two laps and then a classic burn up on the last lap. In the 800m he placed second and thought he had dipped under two minutes for the first time only to be disqualified for stepping on or over the line on the first bend.
Under 17 Women: On the first final of the weekend Keziah Olaleye beat a very competitive field in the 300m hurdles to win in a PB of 45.52s which places her comfortably in the UK top 10. Lily Gayle took bronze in the 80m hurdles and Faith Assah did likewise in the 300m. Gabby Noyce took home silver after an outdoor PB in the shot of 9.38m
Under 15 Boys: Such is the strength of our Under 15 Boys’ team at the moment that we took five out of the 14 gold medals on offer. New member Hans Nmaju won the long jump with 6.18m and then took part in a sensational 80m hurdles with the first five finishers setting the best five times in the UK this year. Hans won in a championship best of 11.02s with Elijah Olaleye having to settle for 4th in 11.61s. In the 300m club members made up five of the eight finalists with Josh Wellings coming out on top in a PB of 38.22s and Elijah taking bronze in 39.48s. Kema Jr. Onyemaechi did well to take silvers in both the 100m and 200m setting PB’s in both (11.72s and 23.83s). Michael Bridge set PB’s in both the shot and discus (13.44m and 32.99m) and took home gold and bronze medals.
Under 15 Girls: Emily Cadman (pictured below) won gold in both the 100 and 200m beating Dina Asher-Smith’s championship best in the 100m with a time of 12.25s. Arianna Clarke dipped under 13 seconds for the first time in the 100m heats and picked up a deserved bronze in the 100m final. Iris Williams had a great racing weekend battling it out for silver in the 800m and then running a masterful 1500m to take gold.
Copenhagen Marathon
The Copenhagen Marathon is an annual marathon that takes place on the streets of the Danish capital. Established in 1980, it is held in May and has around 10,000 participants. It is a World Athletics Bronze Label race. The course is a mostly flat loop that begins and ends at the harbourfront of Islands Brygge, and meanders through the municipalities of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg.
Three Cambridge Harriers travelled over to Denmark for the race. Tom Loia (pictured below) was the first of the trio to finish in 1342th position in 3:17:57. Tom Coghill was the next in with 3:35:30 and Joe Sheldrake reduced his personal best by just over two minutes with a time of 3:51.26.
