Weekly Update - 4th Feb. 2026

SEAA Indoor U20/Senior Championships, Lee Valley (Sat. 31st Jan./Sun. 1st Feb.)

Club athletes claimed four medals, including an impressive double victory, at a high-class meeting at Lee Valley last weekend, reports Mick Bond.

In the hurdles, Lily Gayle and Hans Nmaju delivered a superb club double, winning the Under-20 women’s and men’s 60m hurdles respectively.

Hans endured a dramatic start to the competition, arriving late and having little to no warm-up before crashing into the first hurdle in his heat. Despite the setback, he managed to sneak into the final as a fastest loser. A clean and composed run in the final saw him take gold by 0.1 seconds.

Lily, meanwhile, produced one of the best starts of her career, racing clear of the field to claim the title in a personal best time of 8.71.

Their training partner Elijah Olaleye also impressed, making the 60m hurdles final and equalling his personal best of 8.32 to finish fifth. Elijah returned on Sunday for the 400m, where a comfortable heat win secured him a favourable lane for the final. A blistering early pace from the field left him last at the bell, but a strong second lap saw him move from sixth to second down the back straight. He narrowly missed out on gold, finishing second in 50.34.

The club’s other silver medal came from Daniel Obike in the Under-20 high jump. Daniel cleared 2.00m on his second attempt and followed up with three strong efforts at 2.03m.

Hans, Lily and Elijah now travel to Sheffield this coming weekend to compete at the National Junior Championships.

BUCS Cross Country Championships, Loughborough (Sat. 31st Jan.)

Amelia Lawrence made the long trip to Loughborough to represent Bournemouth University in these championships, reports Mark Newell  As a university championship event, this competition was open to anyone currently at university including those in the senior category. As an example of the age range taking part, the senior men's long course winner was a 37 year old American (taking a masters degree at Oxford University) who had previously competed over the marathon distance at the Olympic games.

Amelia ran the long course over a distance of 8.1 km's and came a respectable 60th from 214 finishers.

Road Running

It was a strong weekend of racing, with Joe Sheldrake completing the Murcia Marathon (Spain) in 4:09:38. New member Beki Hilton-Hanns also put in a great performance at the Warwick Half Marathon, crossing the line in 1:41:14.

There were two race distances on offer at the RunThrough Victoria Park event in Hackney. In the half marathon, James Buhl finished 34th with a time of 1:20:55. Over the 10k distance, Terry Stark secured an impressive 12th place in 35:40. James Pitts followed in 38:07, finishing 35th overall and first M45, while Roderick Cookey-Bresi recorded a time of 56:54.

At the Chichester 10k, held on the Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit, Simon Humm clocked 37:15, while Rose Baker finished in 44:52 to take 3rd place in the W60 category.