This is going to be a bumper edition, a double header with two weeks with of action to report.
Well start at the Wolverhampton Half Marathon where Andy Dyall placed 24th in 1.36.33 to secure a 2nd M50 prize, Dave Joynson went for the half distance this week, which must have seemed like a sprint for him, crossing the line in 1.37.39 taking 1st M60, Laura Davies nabbed a nice PB with a time of 1.52.44 and was 2nd F30 and Gill Mitchell was 265th in 2.24.46. There was more action over the half marathon distance in the Great North Run where Tony Cheema placed 913th in 1.27.52 and Rob Carrington crossed the line in 2.44.26 in 36358th. Also, over the same distance Jake Brown performed pacing duties in the Run Through Events Birmingham Running Festival Half Marathon, performing the job admirably crossing the line in 1.29.54 in 5th place. In another Run Through race Lee Wright took part in the Altrincham 10k coming home in 45.11 to take 462nd place, and Julia Condon completed the Severn Bridges 10k in Shrewsbury finishing in 1.06.58 to secure 260th position.
There was some track and field action at the BRAT End of Season Open Meeting where Tom Pryor placed 3rd over 800 in 2.04.70. And in the Telford Games Aisha Abdullah placed 2nd in the U15+ hammer with a throw of 44.71, Georgina Neilson was 4th with 36.14, Samantha Agomoh won her heat of the 100 in 12.27, Thillana Owen placed 3rd in heat 2 in 13.49 and Michelle Okafor won heat 3 in 13.02. Samantha won the final in 12.36, Michelle was 4th in 13.02, Thillana 5th in 13.44. Gabriella Okafor was 5th in the U17 100 final in 13.81. Aupromeyo Mukherjee was 2nd in 11.97 in his heat of the U15 100, Shae McIntosh was 2nd in heat 2 in 12.71. Aupromeyo was 3rd in the final in 12.18, Shae placed 4th in 12.83.Kofi Ocran won his 100 heat in the U17s in 12.09 and Chyloh McKenzie also claimed a win in heat 2 in 11.36 with Leo Watson taking the runners up spot in 11.52. Chyloh won the final in 11.21 with Leo taking silver in 11.55 and Kofi placing 6th in 12.10. Callum Hamilton was 4th in the U13 100 final in 14.21. Michael Deans was 2nd in the U20 100 final in 11.27. Over 200 Chyloh McKenzie was 1st in his heat of the U17 with 22.94, Kofi placed 3rd in 24.57. Aupromeyo placed 2nd in the U15 200 final with a time of 23.88, Gabriella was 4th in the U17 200 final with 29.63. In the U20s final Roshane Gordon took 3rd place with 23.24 and Nacardo Lewis was 5th in 25.03. Thillana Owen was 1st in her heat of the U15 with 28.26 and then placed 2nd in the final clocking 28.11. Over 400 Roshane Gordon placed 2nd in the U20s with a time of 49.89. Zoleka Mzuku placed 4th in the U17+ 3000 with 10.58.24 and Megan White placed 4th in 5.01.09 over 1500.
It was also the conclusion of the Midlands Veterans Track & Field League where both the clubs mens and womens teams had qualified for the B Cup final in Nuneaton, effectively the Europa League rather than the Champions League of the event. Greg Asbury took part in the M50 200 hurdles taking the win in 30.14, Phil Evans placed 2nd in the M35 2000 walk, doing down a considerable number of age groups, and taking the runners up spot in 14.51, Paul Rogers was 2nd in the M50 2000 walk in 13.12. Ben Fosters was 2nd in the M40 800 in 2.16.00 and Greg Asbury won the M50 800 in 2.27.00. Greg also claimed victory in the M50 100 in 12.72, Paul Clarke was 2nd in the M50 100 in 13.47, Phil Evans was 6th in the M60 100 in 18.17 and Dave Guest placed 3rd in 19.51. Over 3000 Ben Foster placed 2nd in the M40 3000 in 10.19.00, Paul Rogers was 2nd in 11.25.00. Over 400 Paul Clarke was 1st in the M40s in 59.12, Phil Evans was 3rd in the M60s race in 75.84. Danny Malone was 1st over 1500 in the M35 age group in 4.49.00, Paul Rogers was 2nd in the M60s in 5.36.00. Over 200 Danny placed 4th in 27.14, Phil Evans was 5th in 36.29 in the M60s and Dave Guest was 3rd in 42.39 in the M60s. The club finished 2nd in the 4 x 100 in 52.76 and 1st in the 4 x 400 relay.
In the field events Dave Baggott was 2nd in the hammer with a throw of 29.94, Dave also won the M50 shot with 8.49, Lionel Spittle was 2nd in the M70 shot with a distance of 6.47, Ade Dillon was 1st in the hammer throwing 19.23 metres, Ade also came 2nd in the M35 shot with 7.59. and 3rd in the M35 javelin with 30.77. Lionel was 8th in the M60 discus with a throw of 13.44 metres. Paul Rogers was 3rd in the M60 high jump clearing the bar at 0.90, Greg Asbury won the M50 long jump with 4.33 and was 1st in the M50 triple jump with 9.65, Danny Malone was 4th in the M35 long jump with 3.97, Lionel took the 3rd spot in the M70 long jump with 2.35 and Paul Rogers was 5th in the triple jump with a leap of 5.38 metres. Ade Dillon was 2nd in the pole vault clearing a height of 2.60.
In the womens competition Sabrina Thomas placed 1st in the W35 2000 walk in 15.33, Jo Lane was 4th in the W50 2000 walk in 15.11.00. Emily Simmonds placed 2nd in the W35 800 with 2.57.00. Over 100 metres Louise Webster was 4th in the W35s race in 15.24, Jo Lane was 2nd in 17.05 in the W50s, Jackie Halford was 4th in 19.52 in the W60s. Over 3000 Vicki Mackay won the W40s in a time of 11.08.00, Jackie Halford took the runners up spot in the W60s in a time of 13.39.00. Veronika Foster was 1st in the W40 400 in 74.87, Jo Lane won the W50s in 79.66. Over 1500 Sabrina Thomas won the W35 1500 in 5.27.00, Jo Lane was 2nd in the W50s in 6.34.00. Louise Webster placed 2nd in the W40 200 in 30.79 and Jackie Halford was 3rd in the W60s 200 in 39.71. The ladies were 2nd in the 4 x 100 relay in 1.03.24 and won the 4 x 400 in 5.29.00.
In the field events Jo Lane was 4th in the W50 high jump clearing 1.10, Sabrina Thomas was 6th in the W35 long jump with 2.47. Louise Webster won the W35 hammer with a throw of 34.17 metres, Louise also won the W35 javelin with 24.12 and the W35 shot with 8.79.
The results were enough for the combined team to win the cup in their first season back in the competition with 363 points, ahead of Burton on 300 points and Harborough on 281 points. The mens winning their side of the competition and the women placing 2nd, an incredible achievement and a massive boost to vets athletics within the club.
A week later there was more vets track and field action where Greg Asbury placed 13th in the M50 long jump with 4.77, he was 4th in the M50 triple jump with a leap of 9.49, 3rd in his heat in the M50 200 in 26.15, 6th fastest when the two heats were combined, Greg was also 7th in the final of the M50 100 in 12.94, Greg won his M50 400 in 56.53, with Paul Clarke placing 3rd in 81.23 in the same race, but when heat 1 and 2 were combined this gave them the 7th and 9th fastest times respectively. Gary Worrall was 4th in the M45 800, just missing out on a medal by a fraction of a second clocking 2.07.55. Sabrina Thomas took a silver medal in the W35 1500 in a time of 5.25.51.
On the roads Jon Hart managed to grab himself a qualifying time for the championship start at the London Marathon by finishing in 1.11.17 to take 19th place in the Cheshire Half Marathon, Rob Edwards also took part finishing in 333rd in 1.38.46. Ashley Atkinson competed in a race over the same distance in the Stratford Half Marathon covering the 13.1 mile course in 1.18.36 to take 5th place and in the Lichfield 10k Emily Simmonds placed 152nd in 47.40, Mark Perry was 245th in 50.49, Vanessa Landreau Barnes finished in 52.03 to take 273rd spot and Stephen Wagstaff was 408th in 57.29. And finally, Stu Whitehouse took part in the Balsall Common 5k for the Lily Mae Foundation finishing in 22.31 to take 17th place and 1st M45.
Dave Norman
