Weekly Update - 25th Feb. 2026

Noel Carmody
2 days ago
3 min read

Lee Valley Middle Distance Open (Wed. 18th Feb.)

At the Lee Valley Middle Distance Open, Mattia Bernardi and Kyle Hurst delivered strong performances over 1500m, winning their respective races, recording 4:20.53 and 4:25.70 respectively.

ECAA Cross Country Championships, Sedgefield, County Durham (Sat. 21st Feb.)

If you had heard of Sedgefield before it was selected as the venue for this year's Nationals it was probably because it was Tony Blair's parliamentary constituency; a small town about halfway between Darlington and Durham, writes Clem Dixon, it is famous for little else, and it is the furthest from home that the Nationals have been for us since they were at Sunderland in 2013. But these days we as a club are undeterred by the distance, indeed a weekend away somewhere we have never been to before is all part of the attraction, the generous subsidy for expenses that the club offers also helps.

And so it was that a full minibus made its way up the A1 to be joined on the day by many others from the club who had made their own way up. There were 17 senior men among a total Cambridge contingent of over 40, the first six of whom, Danny Kendall, John O'Mahony, James Macdonald, Gavin Hows, Brett Baker and Jonathan Sargent, were good enough to secure 26th team place. If that doesn't sound impressive, remember that this was against the whole of England and, other than the rearranged fixture 18 months ago when we were 13th but in a much thinner field, 26th is our best ever position, better than it has ever been just down the road at Parliament Hill.

For the record the course was mostly grassy parkland, three full laps for the senior men, undulating rather than hilly, there were a couple of brief muddy sections but the going was mostly firm, the weather was kind to us, not warm but the rain held off. None of which will be remembered for long, what will be will be the feeling of goosebumps from the sheer scale of the event and the marvelling at the immaculate organisation, and of course the festivities before and after in Darlington. Next year it will be the turn of the Midlands to host: another opportunity to witness the glory of the Nationals for those that missed out this time.

Nineteen of our young athletes made the 500 mile plus round trip to County Durham for this year's Nationals, writes Mark Newell. The star of the show was Lizzie Sanders in the under 15 girl's race. Employing a new tactic, she went off fast from the start and was up with the leaders in the early part of the race finishing in an impressive 29th place.

The under 15 boys race was the largest field of the day with 261 finishers. Alex Van-Den Berg-Hows and Austin Richards continued their season long battle in the, on this occasion, Alex (170th) got the better of Austin (176th). After a long absence from competing for the club, Monty Brown (who has moved to Norfolk) finished 226th.

Under 13s Will Smith (76th) and Harry Baldwin (82nd) were separated by two seconds. Emily Floyd claimed first spot for the club in 180th place. The third finisher for the team was Eliza Raby , running her first race for the club.

Our biggest turnout was in the U17W, with five making the trip. Celia Allen (41st) and Meri Cummins (45th). The team placed 11th of 16 complete teams. Oliver Cook placed well inside the top third of the U17Ms field in 61st. A special mention goes to David Pongui (U20) who made the long trip from university to represent the club placing 73rd of the 132 finishers.

Results: https://results.sporthive.com/events/7430222477810204672

British Masters Indoor Championships, Lee Valley (Sat. 21st / Sun. 22nd Feb.)

There were some Cambridge Harriers masters competing at the British Masters Athletics Federation Championships, at Lee Valley over the weekend. Wole Odele (M60) secured gold in the 400m in 59.06 and picked up bronze in the 60m (8.21) and 200m (26.67). It was bronze for Matthew Preston (M50) in the 1500m clocking 4:45.59 and Natalie Mann (W40) in the shot (8.06m).

Dartford Half-Marathon (Sun. 22nd Feb.)

The clash with the National Cross Country most likely reduced the number of entries for this local popular half marathon. Stephen Thompson (pictured) finished in an excellent 34th place in 1:27:41. Paul Millbank (1:36:27) was first M55 and Stephanie Dungate (2:35:53) finished second W65. Our other finisher was Paul Warricker (2:25:40).