Weekly Update - 8th July 2026

England Athletics Senior/Under 20 Championships, Bedford (2nd to 5th July)

There were mixed fortunes for the five Cambridge Harriers contesting the England national champs at Bedford last weekend. Windy conditions on the back straight made life hard for the trio of 400 hurdlers, competing but all managed to get through the first round. Keziah Olaleye made it to the semi-finals of the senior women’s event (where there was an exceptional 29 entries) whilst younger brother made it to the final of the under 20 event and finished third.

Gabby Noyce got to the final of the under 20 women's final, finishing sixth. A disagreement with a hurdle during warmup meant Lily Gayle withdrew from the final of the under 20 women's 100m hurdles, having been third fastest in qualifying.

Jevon Sutherland produced another sub-11 time in the men's 100, but did not make it through to the semi-finals.

100th Glenhurst Handicap 3.3 miles, Clubhouse, Bexley (Wed. 1st July)

The handicap, run on the first Wednesday of every month, reports Clem Dixon, has become a firmly established club institution and 23 of us ran its 100th edition with others coming to celebrate reaching this milestone.

This time Joanne Barber crossed the line first to have made the biggest improvement to her handicap; fastest net male and female times were run by James Macdonald and Chantelle McGinty.

Many thanks to Keith and Stephanie Dungate for having organised the event for all these years, here's to the next 100!

Assembly League, Race 4, Sutcliffe Park, Eltham (Thur. 2nd July)

Regular readers will know how good Hugh Tibbs is at 100k but he can "sprint" too, running 5k in 15:27 for first place in our home Assembly League fixture at Sutcliffe Park, writes Clem Dixon. With Danny Kendall 9th, Lewis Baker 10th and James Macdonald 15th we were the second men's team behind Kent AC by just three points.

Hugh Tibbs - Maelle Guerre

Our women's team were fourth, the scorers being Maelle Guerre, Hannah Capey, Olesya Golovina and Rose Baker.

In total 34 ran for the club (probably a record?). Our thanks to David Reader for organising, to all that marshalled, and to the John Roan club for providing the race HQ and much needed post race refreshments. Results: https://stockexchangeac.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AL4Res2.pdf

Southern Counties Veterans League (Kent), Ashford (Fri. 3rd July)

At the latest SCVAC (Kent) League fixture, the women's team finished third on the night and now sit fourth in the league table. The men's team also put in a solid performance, finishing fourth on the evening to maintain a comfortable third place in the league standings.

Despite having a potential squad of 41 women's masters athletes, only five represented the club at Ashford. The team comprised two W40 athletes, two W60 athletes and one W70 athlete.

The standout performer on the night was the ever-consistent Natalie Mann (W40), who claimed victory in both the W35 hammer with a throw of 32.69m and the shot put with 7.73m. There was also a first-place finish for Christine Bond in the W60 long jump, where she leapt 3.18m despite competing in the shot put at the same time. Rose Baker and Maria Macdonald completed the team, contributing valuable points to the club's overall total.

On the men's side, notable performances included Alan Porter, who once again dominated the M50 throws, winning both the shot put with 13.29m and the hammer with 40.43m.

The team also recorded three middle-distance victories in the 800m: Edmund Adigwe (M50) won in 2:10.1, Wole Odele (M60) took his race in 2:25.7, and John Barron (M70) claimed victory in 2:58.2.

The other win on the night came in the M35 long jump, where Kareem Richardson triumphed with a leap of 5.13m.

Heptonstall Festival Fell Race, Yorkshire (AS, 9.5k, 500m ascent) (Sat. 4th July)

The lowkey music festival in the village of Heptonstall near Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire incorporates an even more lowkey fell race, reports Clem Dixon. It is unusual for a fell race to start downhill and finish uphill, but that is what happens here: the village is perched above the Calder Valley into which you descend before climbing to the top of the moor on the other side, a loop up on the moor and then back to the village.

It is a local affair, I would think that my son and I were probably the only runners who had travelled more than 20 miles to be there. Indeed at the prize giving presentation when the winner was called up they announced not only that he was a local but that we were actually standing in his field. Folks are tough up there, I had a right battle with one of them most of the way round and was chuffed to finally pull away from him on the final climb but my pride was short lived: when chatting to him over the free finishing pint I learnt that he was 79 years old.