Weekly Update - 30th Sept. 2026

Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5k, Hyde Park (Fri. 18th Sept.)

The group of club regular runners at the Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5km was boosted by John O’Mahony, as he stormed to an impressive race win in 16:37.

Maggie Illingworth was the first female club runner home, finishing in 62nd place in 21:32.

Unfortunately, Stephanie Dungate took a tumble just after halfway and was left a little bruised and shaken up. Thankfully, she has now made a good recovery.

Vitality Westminster Mile, The Mall (Sat. 19th Sept.)

The 2026 Vitality Westminster Mile took over central London, with more than 8,000 finishers completing the iconic route around St James’s Park from The Mall to a spectacular finish outside Buckingham Palace.

Holly Dixon, who won the race in 2025, had to settle for second this year in the BMC Bannister Wave, which doubled as the UK Road Mile Championships, crossing the line in 4:30.95. Sixteen-year-old Meredith Cummins produced a cracking run, finishing just six places behind Holly in 5:15.96.

Chris Loudon won the adult men's mile race with a time of 4:23.

Berlin Marathon (Sun.27th Sept.)

The Berlin Marathon is renowned as one of the fastest courses in the world, thanks to its ultra-flat profile and relatively few turns - fewer than twenty in total. Everything is designed to allow runners to maintain their cadence without being slowed by frequent changes of pace.

Bobby Babaker certainly made the most of these conditions, producing an outstanding run and reducing his personal best by four minutes to 2:20:40. This was probably the fastest time achieved by a Cambridge Harrier for many years.

The other Cambridge Harrier finishers were Danny Kendall, who recorded 2:49:47, and Daniel Allinson, who finished in 3:24:52.

Warsaw Marathon (Sun. 27th Sept.)

Three club members travelled a little further east for the Warsaw Marathon, where Paul Millbank recorded a time of 3:26:32, just shy of his personal best.

Anthony and Chanelle McGinty finished together in 3:53:13, completing the race as a pair.

Vitality London 10k, Westminster (Sun. 27th Sept.)

Eighteen club members finished the Vitality London 10K on Sunday. Epheson Berhe was the first club man home, recording an excellent 33:37 to take first place in the 15–17 age category. Lewis Baker was next in 34:28, followed by Mark Penny in 38:07.

Olesya Golovina led the club’s women in 44:20, followed by Susan Dixon in 46:05 and Joanna Parke in 55:36.

Folkestone Half Marathon (Sun. 27th Sept.)

The Folkestone Half follows the promenade to Hythe and back. Alex Moser produced an excellent performance, recording a big personal best of 1:28:44.

The club’s other finisher was Clem Dixon, who completed the race in 1:46:53.

Ealing Half Marathon (Sun 27th Sept.)

Stephen Wood recorded a solid time of 1:27:30 at the Ealing Half Marathon.

Kent County U14 Championships, Gillingham (Sat. 19th & Sun. 20th Sept.)

It was double gold for Rida Oluwa at the inaugural Kent County Under 14 Championships, taking victory in both the 100m (12.64) and 200m (25.47).

Alexsia Iheoma secured bronze in both events, recording 13.48 in the 100m and 27.23 in the 200m. Nuala English took silver in the 800m with a time of 2:31.12.

Tiago Pletka won the bronze in the javelin with a best throw of 30.17. William Smith recorded a 1500m personal best of 4:38.68.

Kent Masters Championships, Bromley/Gillingham (Sat.12th/19th & Sun. 20th Sept.)

Our Masters athletes brought home an impressive collection of medals from the Kent Championships, with the club proving particularly strong in the throwing events.

Alan Porter achieved a clean sweep in the Men’s 50–59 age group, including personal bests of 42.51m in the discus and 41.49m in the hammer. There was also a clean sweep for Warwick Dixon (M90), competing in the M80+ age group.

Natalie Mann took W40-49 gold in both the discus and shot, along with silver in the hammer and bronze in the javelin.

Paris Hunt had a busy championships, winning gold in the M60 discus and long jump, with a 4.47m season’s best in the long jump. He also took silver in the M60 high jump, triple jump and javelin, and bronze in the hammer.

In the middle-distance races, Edmund Adigwe set a new Championship Best Performance of 2:08.93 in the M50 800m. Matthew Preston took bronze in the same race and also claimed silver in the M50 400m. In the M50 1500m, Steven Cummins won silver in a time of 5:02.09.

Tim Carter claimed five gold medals in the M70 category in the long jump, triple jump, 100m, 200m and 800m. Tim was denied a sixth gold in a cracking M70 400m, where he was narrowly pipped on the line by Doug Lucas (M75).

Special mention to Doug, who has enjoyed an incredible few weeks since moving into the M75 category. He currently holds the No. 1 UK ranking for his age group for the 400m, is British Champion over 200m and 400m, and sits second on the UK M75 all-time list for the 400m.