Capital city success

Written by David Jones on 27/02/2025. Posted in News

Before and After

Toby Ledgard (1741) and Charlie Cassells (1740) still managing to smile even after completing the race.

Saturday and Sunday
Emma Bexson at Parliament Hill on Saturday and following a hose down and a swim, at Lee Valley Stadium on Sunday

London was definitely calling at the weekend, with 27 of our members competing in the capital city.

Twenty-one were wallowing in the mud at the National XC Championships at Parliament Hill and 6 were taking part in the BMAF British Indoor Championships at Lee Valley Stadium.

At Parliament Hill the highlight was a top 10 team finish for our U17 men’s team, following hot on the heels of their championship winning performance in the WMYACCL season.

Meanwhile over at Lee Valley our members’ finished the weekend with a haul of 4 gold and 3 silver medals.

Elsewhere Catherine Reynolds recorded an indoor PB in the 400m for the second successive weekend at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

The ever popular Bourton 10k saw 9 of our members battling the blustery conditions. There was a top 10 finish for Ben Kruze and W60 category victory for Kate Wright.

Take care.

David Jones.

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Mud mud glorious mud.

Our successful U17 men’s team.

L to R : Dougie Garnett who made his XC debut in a Stratford vest, Zak Lambert, Tom Fisher and Sam Lambert.

According to Louise Lambert the first thing her boys did when they got home was wash their kit.

Okay, that’s a fib.

National Cross Country Championships 2025

Parliament Hill

Report – James Lake

Last Saturday, 21 SuAAC athletes, comprising of 14 juniors and 7 seniors, were among the almost 4700 who completed the National Cross Country Championships.

The venue, Parliament Hill, has a reputation for brutal hills, deep mud, and breathtaking views over London.

It certainly lived up to this, delivering a challenge right from the very start. The infamous uphill charge off the line sets the tone for a day of tough cross-country racing, with runners battling through countless steep climbs and ridiculously deep mud (which I can confirm only got worse as the races went on!).

If you had the chance to glance up, there were some jaw-dropping panoramic views across the city – not that I personally took much notice of these until after the finish line!

A standout performance came from our Under 17 Men’s team, who finished 9th overall out of 27 clubs who fielded a full team. – a fantastic achievement in such a fiercely competitive field.

This winter was my first XC season, but the Nationals at Parliament Hill already had a lot to live up to from what people had been telling me – and it smashed my expectations; truly an unforgettable experience. Well, at the very least, my achy quads won’t let me forget the mud and hills for a few more days!

In age categories where we were able to field a full team we had 20th team in the U13 girls and our senior women were 49th out of 82, finishing ahead of some pretty major players like Tipton, Godiva, Bourneville etc

Congratulations to everyone who raced, and a special thanks to those who travelled all that way to support – your encouragement from the sidelines was greatly appreciated.

U13 Girls: 3km, 275 finishers

Lucia Ogilvie-Putt: 67th (14:47)
Amelie Marshall: 88th (15:08)
Emily Lambert: 195th (16:41)
Jasmine Mothershaw: 237th (17:47)

U13 Boys: 3km, 318 finishers

Charlie Cassells: 208th (14:59)
Toby Ledgard: 261st (15:51)

U15 Girls: 4km, 305 finishers

Marijke Tear-verweij: 161st (21:33)

U15 Boys: 4km, 343 finishers

Joel Ledgard: 170th (17:52)
Samuel Plumb: 236th (18:36)

U17 Men: 6km, 319 finishers

Thomas Fisher: 62nd (24:38)
Sam Lambert: 64th (24:38)
Zak Lambert: 104th (25:32)
Dougie Garnett: 108th (25:33)
Joe Lewis: 263rd (29:13)

Senior Women: 8km, 830 finishers

Georgina Campbell: 93rd (35:22)
Emma Bexson: 330th (41:20)
Emma Vickers*: 581st (48:52)
Suzi Graham: 752nd (57:24)

Senior Men: 12km, 1783 finishers

Ned Campbell: 545th (58:34)
James Lake: 662nd (1:00:14)
Owen Lewis: 1610th (1:22:58)

Paula Williams crossing the finish line to claim a British Championship gold medal in the 60m final.

Paula Williams on top of the podium

A very happy David Jones on the podium

British Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Lee Valley Stadium – London

Report – David Jones

122 events were contested over a weekend that saw 650 competitors taking part with several world records being broken.

A particular highlight for me was seeing 80 year old Victor Novell run a time of 9.45 in the 60ms, a time that places his him 3rd on the all-time list. He beat fellow octogenarian, 82 year old Allan Long (9.47) by just two hundredths of a second. Allan is currently 1st in the all-time M90 rankings having run 9.36 in 2023 ! Crazy.

Among those competing were 6 of our club members who finished the weekend with 4 gold and 3 silver medals between them

Having seen the photos from Parliament Hill on Saturday, I can tell you that I was more than happy to be competing indoors at this magnificent stadium.

Racewalker Jan McLure was competing in her first indoor event in the 3000m racewalk. She was unfortunately disqualified in this difficult technical event. Despite looking really good and competing well she fell foul of the judges. Jan spoke to one of the judges after the race who explained that had it been a league fixture she would have been given the benefit of the doubt but because it was the British Championships strict adherence to the rules applied.

A disappointed Jan said that she found the camber on the banked indoor track difficult to cope with, plus she wasn’t sure if she was wearing the correct shoes for racewalking. However she was somewhat reassured when told that in a previous racewalking event only 6 of 16 competitors finished the race without being disqualified. This was a definite learning experience for this talented racewalker.

Emma Bexson competed in the National Cross Country Championships on Saturday and then, after being hosed down after that race, made her way to Lee Valley, stopping for a swim en-route before racing indoors on Sunday. Those who know Emma will not be surprised by this turn of events. She competed in the W45 1500m (5:51.86), leaving her just outside the medal positions in 4th place.

Dave Wilson competed in the 60m sprint, running 8.42 in his heat to finish just one place off the final. This was only Dave’s second 60m race for 3 years due to injury. He was pleased with his run and particularly pleased that he felt no ill effects afterwards.

Serial medal winner Phil Brennan enjoyed a successful weekend adding two more silvers to his ever growing collection. His time for the 800m was 3:49.32 and for the 1500m 7:41.18, a big 30 second improvement on the last time he raced this distance in July of last year.

I was absolutely delighted on becoming 800m British Champion in my M75 age group. In a tactical race against someone who had beaten me by 4 seconds in Sheffield a few weeks ago, I was greatly helped by the draw that saw him drawn in the outside lane and me in lane 7. This meant that when we broke he was just in front of me and my tactic was to stick just behind him until the final few metres of the race. Thankfully I was able to beat him in a sprint finish over the final 20 metres to win the race by a second in a time of 3:14.78 v 3:15.79, thus recording my first championship winning performance for 5 years.

However Saturday’s victor became Sunday’s vanquished when we went head to head again in the 1500m. I had looked at his times in his previous two outings over this distance of 6:29.70 and 6:33.01 over the preceding 2 weekends. Targeting 6.30, I finished in 6:31.43 but he finished comfortably 9 seconds ahead in 6:22.43. I was however delighted to come away with both Gold and Silver medals from a hugely enjoyable weekend

Paula Williams returned to the venue where she broke the British Indoor shot put record the previous weekend and she was again crowned British indoor shot put champion in her age group. Her winning throw of 13.80m was 1.32m ahead of her nearest rival. In the 60m hurdles her time of 9.84 was more than enough to win the gold. This was an improvement on her time the previous weekend following 3 sessions of intensive physio treatment at Tudor Physio for a tight hamstring, treatment that at times was so painful it almost reduced her to tears. No pain no gain Paula. In the 60m final she won her 3rd championship gold of the weekend, recording a time of 8.41. So for Paula it was 3 events, 3 gold medals and 3 British Championships titles. Not a bad couple of days work.

Up in lights. Catherine Reynolds alongside the names of her other competitors in her 400m heat

The 2025 Microplus UK Athletics Indoor Championships

Report – Mark Reynolds

These Championships in Birmingham delivered some outstanding performances, with multiple records falling over the weekend.

George Mills set a new championship record in the men’s 3000m, Neil Gourley broke the men’s 1500m record, and Scott Lincoln secured his 10th men’s shot put title with a championship record throw of 20.86m.

In the women’s events, Amber Anning took home 400m gold, Georgia Hunter Bell successfully defended her 1500m title, while Sabrina Fortune set a new world record in the F20 women’s shot put with a 15.50m effort.

Among those competing was Catherine Reynolds
who had a really good day at what was a really big and exciting occasion.

There were 4 Olympians in her 400m field including 3 Olympic medalists.

Catherine ran a strong race in her heat from the difficult lane 1 and recorded another indoor PB at 55.82. She finished a very close 6th having been checked a few times trying to find a way past. Had the final lap been in lanes I’m she’d have moved up a place and recorded an even quicker time.

It was a sellout crowd at the Utilita Arena so a terrific atmosphere also with Geoff Whiteman and Katherine Merry on commentary.

The start of this year’s Bourton 10k.

Bourton 10k

Report – Matt Burdus-Cook

I don’t tell the other 10k races that I have a favourite, but the Bourton 10k is mine.

The town’s Cotswold character aside, the race is well organised and marshalled, with good parking and plentiful clean portaloos at race HQ. Even the 40p per go contactless payment entry toilets in the town centre can represent value for money if you need to further release your pre-race nerves.

The route is suitably flat for a good race effort and a PB course for many. The typical headwind out and a slight initial descent and tailwind home lends itself well to running in a pack for the first half of the race, and then kicking on.

The blustery forecast was starting to kick up as the field of 600 starters toed their respective lines. The gusts were less of an issue than expected but they did seem to pre-deter some of the field with more than 80 non-starters for the annually over-subscribed race.

Harry Wells of Victoria Park Harriers & Tower Hamlets AC, maintained a lead through to the finish, winning in a time of 31:45. James Bellward of Chippenham Harriers was second in 31:56 and 2023 winner Richard De Camps of Gloucester AC was third in 31:57.

Chelsea Baker of Bristol & West AC was the winning woman with a time of 35:11. Kate Brown, an unattached runner, was second in 37:08 and Stephanie Lane of Cheltenham & County Harriers was third in 37:28.

The race saw some outstanding performances from the Stratford-upon-Avon Athletics Club members.

Leading the pack was Ben Kruze, who finished in an impressive 7th place overall and 3rd in the MV40 category with a chip time of 32:50. Matt Burdus-Cook also had a resonable showing, securing 32nd place overall and 2nd in the MV45 category with a time of 35:02. James Cottriall who is deep in a marathon training programme crossed the finish line in 58th place overall and 15th in the MV35 category, clocking in at 37:01. David Teasdale followed, finishing 84th overall and 19th in the MV40 category with a time of 38:39.

In the women’s categories, Kate Wright delivered an exceptional performance, finishing 105th overall and 1st in the LV60 category with a time of 39:16. Donna Allen running for her first claim club of Hook Norton Harriers followed clocking a rapid 40:02. Sue Mothershaw and Nicola Reynolds also represented the club well, finishing 505th and 576th overall, respectively. Sue secured 24th place in the LV50 category with a time of 58:34, while Nicola finished 34th in the same category with a time of 01:06:56. Miranda Maloney rounded out the club’s participants, finishing 593rd overall and 36th in the LV50 category with a time of 01:11:09.

Congratulations to all the runners for their fantastic efforts and achievements!

More Photos from Parliament Hill

That was then, this is now.
Georgie Campbell at the National Cross Country Championships on 21st February 2015 and 22nd February 2025.
Pictured with Georgie in 2015 are Agnes McTighe, Imogen Sheppard and Olivia Hall.