Weekly Update - 21st May 2025

Loughborough International (Sun. 18th May)

Holly Dixon donned an England vest for the second time this season to finish third in the mile in 4:47.45s.

World Athletics Race Walking Tour - Gold, Podebrady (CZE) (Sat. 17th May)

Hannah Hopper recorded her second fastest time for the 10km race walk, recording 49:28 to finish 7th in an international field. Hannah was on target to improve on her PB of 49:06 established in March in Dudince (SVK), but a bout of nausea between 8-9k cost her a chunk of time, recovering to finish strongly.

Southern Athletics League #1, Dartford (Sat. 17th May)

The first outing in league competitions for our senior team was at Dartford on Saturday. The sun shone and the team atmosphere was excellent with lots of support all round. At the end of the day we finished a solid 3rd place behind Dacorum and Dartford in what looks like being a very competitive division.

The women’s team was 20 strong and there were A string wins for Esther Aliyu in the 400m (60.16s), Lily Gayle - 100 hurdles (14.90s) and for our 4x100m team. In the B string there were wins for new member Sienna Thompson in the 200m (26.21s), Celia Yeatman over 3000m (10:52.20s), Keziah Olaleye in the 100 hurdles and discus (16.45s and 20.88m) and for Natalie Mann in the hammer (31.92m).

For the men Elijah Olaleye continued his impressive form running 49.8s breaking the 15 year old U17 400m club record (49.91s). Two M60 club records were broken in the field, with Paris Hunt jumping 1.40m in the high jump and Wole Odele jumping 8.94m in the triple jump.

​Cader Idris Race Mountain Race, Dolgellau, Wales (Sat. 17th May)

I am often asked what my favourite marathon is, writes Clem Dixon, it is a hard question to answer, in truth they are all much of a muchness. But ask me what my favourite race is and the answer is easy, and has been the same since I first did it in 2013: Cader Idris.

You stand in the market square in Dolgellau and stare up at the mountain. Two or three hours later, after getting to the top and back down again, you are back in the same square staring at the same mountain, somehow things seem different but you can't quite put your finger on why. The mountain certainly hasn't changed, it is as implacable as ever, the square is much the same too, the brightly coloured vests of the cheerful runners contrasting with the austere grey stone of the buildings. Then you realise what it is; it is you that has changed.

The uninitiated ask what the distance is, and if you must know it is officially 10 miles but anyone who runs it with a GPS will tell you that it is 11. But the far more relevant metric is that you start and finish more or less at sea level whereas the summit is just shy of 900 metres.

Just four of us made the trip this year, which was disappointing particularly as ten had entered. John O'Mahony had a great run on his debut finishing in 1:51:36 (only Christian and Tarbo have ever run faster for the club). James Floyd knocked some four minutes off his debut time of last year, finishing in 2:18:51 with Clem Dixon taking 2:30:10. Mark Newell knew that he didn't have the fitness to complete the course but was persuaded to start anyway turning round at about half way up, a DNF but he enjoyed being out on the hill (next time Mark!).

Ultra-trail Snowdonia 100k Race (Sat. 17th May)

Christian Poulton ran the Ultra-trail Snowdonia 100k race finishing 402nd overall and 20th M60 in 26 hours 49 minutes &10 seconds.

Kent Young Athletes League #2, Bromley (Sun. 18th May)

The KYAL match held at Norman Park proved to be a successful outing, particularly for the U15 boys team, who topped the points table within their category thanks to a series of strong performances across track and field events, reports Annisha Thomas.

Waylon Lee delivered an outstanding sprint double, securing 1st place in both the B-string 100 and 200m. The middle-distance events saw personal bests from Jakub Szustkiewicz and Alex van den Berg-Hows in the 800m, while Lucas Colley achieved a PB in the 200m.

In the hurdles, Levi Mgbedike and Maxwell Guezodje both recorded personal bests in the 80m hurdles, demonstrating great progress and technical skill. In the field events, Isaac Ajao reached a new personal best in the long jump, and Samar Plaha impressed with a PB in the shot.

A standout moment came from Kendrick Onolememen, whose massive discus throw of 50.14m not only won the event but also places him currently at No. 1 in the UK rankings for his age group.

It was a day full of energy, determination, and exceptional performances, reflecting the athletes' hard work and team spirit.

Chislehurst Half Marathon (Sun. 18th May)

A third place overall finish for Stephen Hodges and second M40 in a time of 1:20:32. Others to complete were Anthony Mcginty (1:33:01), Chantelle Mcginty (1:49:58) and Joanne Barber (2:02:35).

Hackney Half Marathon (Sun. 18th May)

The club had eight finishers at the Hackney Half Marathon with Stephen Thompson first in with a time of 1:22:04. Ceinwen Giles ran her first half, raising money for Shine Cancer Support, getting under two hours with 1:59:44. Others to finish were Michael Taylor (1:27:31), James Macdonald (1:28:19), Amy Smith (1:32:33), Ben Thompson (1:32:42), Hakim Mendjeli (1:37:10) and Sebastian Onorati (1:43:28).

Manchester 10k (Sun. 18th May)

Bobby Babaker finished in 32nd place in 32 minutes exactly.