This will be another double edition this week as last week was crazy, and I was trying to resolve a number of other issues, so this had to take a back seat. I’ll crack on now and try to catch up, I apologise if I missed anything.
Let’s kick things off with the ERRA National Road Relays at Sutton Park where the younger brigade had an opportunity to show what they could do having performed well at the same venue a fortnight earlier. Rocco Hawley set the scene by bringing the team home in first place running 13.12, the joint fastest time of the day, for leg 1 in the U13 boys event. Theo Ulfig ran 13.58 and Jonathan Yang clocked 13.22 to place the club in 5th in 40.32, with only 32 seconds covering the first five teams. The B team were 16th in a total time of 43.21 with Nahum Worral running 14.36, Seb Palmer 13.57 and Harry Monkton 14.48. The U13 girls A team placed 33rd in 49.39 with Lila Pearce running 14.35, Biba Guest 16.12 and Gracie Billett 18.52. Amiyah Pal was the sole representative in the B team running 18.45.
Will Hughes was the only member of the U15 boys team, running 12.47 with was good enough for 12th place as he crossed the line. The U15 girls A team finished in 32ndplace with Grace Hendy running 14.30, Kiki Guest 16.19 and Maya Rosa Jelic Ramesh running 16.32 for a total time of 47.21. The B team placed 52nd in 54.25 with Kaleah Moulder clocking 18,24, Erin Mia Nash 17.08 and Amira Moulder 18.53.
The U17 mens team placed 11th in 37.05 with Sam Thursfield running 12.19, Jack Stockton 12.21 and Oliver Cresswell 12.25. Aryan Pal was a one-man B team clocking 15.06. And the U17 ladies were 23rd with Megan White stopping the clock in 14.41, Zoleka Mzuku recording 15.11 and Ronni Read 16.23 for a total time of 46.15.
Twenty four hours later and we were into the long distance action in the Welsh Borders at the Chester Marathon where Luke Maskew recorded a rapid 2.30.26 for 16thplace, Jake Brown was 51st in 2.40.21, Steve Newman ran 3.06.43 for 371st on his marathon debut, Dave Joynson was at the other end of the scale as he ticked another one off towards 300 marathons with 3.17.14 for 594th place, Paul Hammond finished in 3.29.56 in 1010thplace, Matt Guy was 2091st in 3.56.57 and Gill Mitchell is also another step closer to 300, this time finishing in 5.49.47 in 4387th.
And Paul Dean competed in the Ranton 10k, a trail race over a testing, “friendly and quirky” course coming 10th in 48.32. A Vicki Mackay, possibly ours but maybe someone else’s, was 1st lady in 7th place in 44.46. If it wasn’t our Vicki then well done her, whoever she is.
A week on and the first fixture of the West Midlands Young Athlete XC League took place at Walsall where Alba Jones placed 1st in 5.40, Chloe Cashmore Jones was 7thin 6.01, Abigail Evans was 29th in 6.29, Holly Doody was 36th in 6.38 and Isla Gaunt was 52nd in 6.53 in the U11 girls race. In the U11 boys there was a 5th place finish for George Nicholls in 5.38, Cameron Guest was 27th in 6.00, Edison Bowden was 31st in 6.03, Evan Nash placed 57thin 6.25, Joseph Blunt 75th in 6.36, Sam Worrall 77th in 6.46, Stanley Cooper 86th in 6.53, Joshua Hayes 91st in 5.01 and George Hines 100th in 7.40.
In the U13 girls race there was a runner up spot for Lila Pearce in 8.34, Biba Guest was 16th in 9.32, Heidi Hayes 28th in 9.45, Phoebe Bridgen 31st in 9.53, Evelyn Haines 39th in 10.06, Adelaide Southall 52nd in 10.20, Gracie Billett 60th in 10.27, Amiyah Pal 77th in 10.45 and Charlotte Rogers 100th in 12.32. It was like Connect 4 in the U13 boys race as Rocco Hawley was 3rd in 7.54, Theo Ulfig 4th in 8.11, Seb Palmer 5th in 8.15 and Jonathan Yang 6th in 8.21. Harry Monkton was 20th in 8.42, Nahum Worrall 24th in 8.52 and Elias Thomason 77th in 11.01.
In the U15 girls event Grace Hendy led the club home in 4th place in 11.00, Kiki Guest was 20th in 12.05, Maya Rosa Jelic Ramesh 29th in 12.42, Kaleah Moulder 44th on 13.12, Alice Cattell 51st in 13.22, Amira Moulder 55th in 13.28, Clara Butler-Montero 57th in 13.33 and Livia Faul-Geal 64th in 13.49.
Fred Jones claimed victory in the U15 boys race crossing the line in 9.44, Will Hughes was 5th in 10.04, Lucas Fullwood was 51st in 11.47 and Aaron Guest placed 62ndin 12.16. In the U17 ladies race there was a 5th place finish for Megan White in 14.34, Zoleka Mzuku placed 8thin 14.55, Scarlett Willoughby was 26th in 16.03 and Ronni Read was 27th in 16.06. And in the U17 mens race Jack Stockton placed 5th in 14.51, Sam Thursfield was 9th in 15.13, Jayden Burdish was 31st in 16.37, Samuel Southall was 42nd in 17.12, Aryan Pal 52nd in 17.47, Joshua Hill 57th in 18.03, Kane Carrington 62nd in 18.45 and Serge Guy placed 63rd in 18.51.
As these results are still provisional there are no league tables as yet, but this was a fantastic effort and a very solid start to the season.
There was more marathon action in Chicago as Tony Cheema ran a superb 2.56.24, this was also Tony’s completion of the last of the big 6 majors having already finished London, Berlin, New York, Boston and Tokyo, an amazing achievement for any athlete and also for their bank account. And over the half distance Ben Pilsbury placed 154th in 1.29.27 in the Bournemouth Half Marathon and his daughter, Sophie Pilsbury ran in the children’s race finishing in 10.47, certainly one for the future.
To finish us off Ashley Atkinson claimed a win in the Cannock Chase 10k finishing in 38.47, over 4 minutes ahead of the runner up.
Dave Norman
