We’re on the move – 8/5/2025

Written by David Jones on 08/05/2025. Posted in News

Georgie Campbell was obviously enjoying herself as she romped to victory in the Birmingham Half Marathon on Sunday.

I started off this newsletter thinking it had been a quite week.

I was mistaken.

Is there ever such a thing at SUAAC ?

The title says we’re on the move and this is certainly the case this coming weekend, with over a 100 of us competing in 290 events at the Warwickshire AA Track and Field County Championships in Nuneaton.

Go Team SUAAC.

The first report and I make no apologies, is the Birmingham Half Marathon and 10k held in my hometown on Sunday. Our group of 9 competitors ,out of a total of 16,000, returned with 2 age category winners, 3 second placed age category performances and Georgie Campbell was 1st lady finisher in the half marathon.

Not a bad return.

There is a detailed report from Paul Bearman on the British Universities and College Championships (BUCS) held at Manchester over 3 days, with 4 of our members doing themselves proud.

On Wednesday 4 of our talented endurance runners competed in the University of Birmingham Open T&F meeting, returning with 3 PBs.

Ben Kruze and Matt Burdus-Cook competed in the BMAF 10 mile championships with Ben winning his M40 race.

Emma and Dave Parkin have been doing what Emma and Dave Parkin do, running a long way up steep mountains.

Last weekend also saw the latest in the Tempo Events Trail Races with several members taking part and Wednesday saw the latest of this year’s Shakespeare Races with Jamie Hall once again being victorious.

We are pretty good aren’t we ?

Take care.

David Jones

Warwickshire A.A. Track and Field Championships

The Yellow and Black Army are on the move

This weekend sees no fewer than 115 of us descend on Pringles Stadium in Nuneaton, competing in 290 events at these Championships.

Those are hugely impressive figures and more than any other club taking part but despite the likes of R&N, Birchfield and BRAT having around 100 competitors each, all with the aim of securing The Warwick Vase, a top 3 position still seems doable for us because we just know our athletes, as always, will be striving to do their very best

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Take it from me, that lead cyclist was having to pedal like mad just to stay ahead of Georgie.

A very happy newsletter editor alongside Sam and Zak Lambert.

Birmingham Half Marathon and 10k

My Hometown

Report – David Jones

It was a trip down memory lane for me last Sunday as I competed in the Birmingham 10k for the first time. I’ve done the half marathon a few times but the last time was in 2014 when I was a mere slip of a lad.

I was there along with some 16,000 other runners, including of 9 of our club members, according to the official results.

Before reporting on the 10k I must start with Georgie Campbell’s stunning performance in the half marathon where she was first lady finisher in a time of 1:21.18, 34 seconds ahead of the 2nd placed runner.

This time places her 4th in the current UK U23 half marathon rankings. It really was a superlative effort by this Birmingham University student. She ran the 2nd half almost 2 minutes quicker than the 1st, following an opening 5k of 20:13 at which point she was 28 seconds off the lead. At the half way stage this gap had extended to 47 seconds before a storming second half saw her victorious.

According to the official results there were another five of our club members who completed the half marathon. Drew Sambridge (1:20.59) finished 69th and 8th in his age category. Just 53 seconds behind Drew was Donna Allen (1:21.52), 14th lady finisher and a superb 2nd in her age category. Bronwen Mansel (1:36.06) was 58th lady finisher. Cara Pateman (1:46.23) was the next Stratford finisher followed by Lisa Stevens (2:30.14).

For me the day was pretty much perfect. I was up at 5.30am before picking up Zak and Sam Lambert at 6.30, thus allowing their parents to have a lie-in!

I knew the car park I was aiming for, just a few minutes walk form the start line. I’d done my homework and found a circuitous route that avoided road closures. I had even phoned the management company who run the car park to make sure it was open on Sunday.

We duly arrived at the location. The car park had been demolished !

It was a building site.

I’m guessing it wasn’t pulled down on the Saturday.

We were able to park in the nearby Utilita Arena car park, 5 or 6 minutes walk from the start line. During my warm up I spotted a Cafe Nero with a toilet, so nipped in for a loo break. I wasn’t the only one with that idea but I did get to meet Donna and Drew who had the same idea.

Despite the scorching weather we had been having, the morning was cold and it actually started to rain while I was on the start line.

The whole event was really well organised and I particularly liked the arrangement at the start. A few metres before the starting mat there was a collection of zig zagging barriers wide enough for just one runner. The effect of this was that by the time you got to the start line there was no crush.

It was a gentle downhill start and within a few hundred metres I was being cheered on by super quick club runner Jamie Hall, who was watching not running. Later on in the race I would also be cheered on by the Campbells who were there to cheer on Georgie

It was a relatively flat course with a few cheeky inclines but it really was a trip down memory lane for me, who as a proud Brummie, found myself running round familiar haunts.

I’d originally entered thinking the race was a qualifier for an England place this year. I later discovered that it was a qualifier for next year and I had no expectations of qualifying in such a large field. So no pressure, it was just a case of enjoying the race and enjoy it I did.

Having run a 54 minute 10k a few weeks ago in Peterborough, I targetted 52 minutes at 8:20 per mile. I felt comfortable throughout and was delighted to finish in 51:10, running mile 5 in 7:40.

I was then overjoyed when Louise Lambert informed me, shortly after crossing the finish line, that I was 2nd in my age category and so, subject to confirmation, had qualified to represent England next year.

The super quick Lambert boys were also there to greet me at the finish line having both run superlative races.

Sam (32:43) finished in 10th place overall having run a 5k PB of 15:37 for the 2nd 5k. Brother Zak (33:03) was just a few seconds behind him in 12th place, having also run a quicker 2nd 5k than his first.

These times meant that they finished 1st and 2nd in their age categories and are currently placed 5th and 6th in the UK U17 rankings.

So all in all, it was a superb day for SUAAC. As well as having Georgie finish as 1st female in the half, we had a couple of 1st place age category wins plus three 2nd place AC finishes

I then joined the Lambert family for brunch in a favourite haunt of mine in the city centre.

As I said earlier, it was pretty much a perfect day.

L to R: Esmay Baughn, Lucy Lane, Freddie Clemons and Catherine Reynolds.

A determined looking Catherine Reynolds.

Esmay Baughn on the right.
Many thanks to Carolyne Johnston for the photos.

British University & College Sports Championships

Report – Paul Bearman and Mark Reynolds

The British University & College Sports (BUCS) Outdoor Championships were held over 3 days in Manchester in generally bright, chilly conditions but with a strong swirling wind that hit the athletes in the home straight meant the athletes were continually having to battle against the fluctuating wind.

BUCS is a very high level competition that attracts numerous young British track and field stars, many with international pedigrees and 4 Stratford athletes were amongst the competitors representing 4 different universities.

Catherine Reynolds was representing Sheffield University and having qualified for 4 successive BUCS finals indoors and outdoors over the last 2 years. She cruised through her 400m heat into another semi final where the real shake ups happen and races are considerably harder to judge with much faster athletes in the race. She finished 2nd behind the eventual champion to secure an automatic qualifying position for Monday’s final.

In what was a very open race against some seasoned junior internationals and into a stiff northerly headwind on the home straight, she wasn’t quite able to secure a podium position with 2 athletes recording notable PBs to take silver and bronze despite the difficult conditions.

However it was another successful championship for Catherine, continuing her consistent fine BUCS form.

Afterwards she said “I’m very pleased to have reached another BUCS final but I’m a bit disappointed with my run but I still enjoyed it. I did kick quite early and I think I would have gotten away with it if the wind hasn’t been as strong but you don’t know what you’re facing until you actually you face it”.

Catherine also captained her Sheffield University club whose whole team finished the championships in jubilant style enthusiastically supporting their men’s dramatic relay gold. This shows that Stratford ‘alumni’ are not only competing but taking on successful leadership for their clubs.

Esmay Baughn, representing Southampton University, was new to this level of competition and in her heat of the 100m she recorded a seasons best of 14.32s and on the following day she ran in her favoured event the 200m and recorded a new PB of 29.55s despite battling the strong headwind.

After 2 years of injury including a fracture in her spine, Lucy Lane was another athlete making her BUCS debut representing Warwick University. Jumping into a -2m wind is no fun for the horizontal jumpers but Lucy managed to complete a good series of jumps in her heat finishing with a seasons best of 4.75m.

She followed this up by competing in the High Jump for only the 2nd time in 2 years and although still rusty from limited training she finished her heat with a best jump of 1.45m.

Both Esmay and Lucy anchored their respective Universities in the heats of the 4x100m with Esmay stealing the bragging rights in a close finish, but neither team qualified for the final.

Freddie Clemons made his BUCS debut and is on the comeback trail to competition and with limited expectations in the 110m hurdles due to a lack of training he failed to finish his heat after clattering the 5th hurdle.

The University of Birmingham Track and Field Series

Wednesday saw the return of these popular meets at Birmingham University with the promise of even better energy and atmosphere than last year.

These high quality competitions have, in the past, seen World, Commonwealth and Paralympic games standards hit.

Competing on the night were 4 of our talented endurance runners.

Running in his 1st competitive 800m was U20 track runner Will Mayes who he should be well pleased with his time of 2:06.16.

Also competing in the 800m was U17 Sam Lambert who blasted his way to a PB time of 1:57.58, shaving 0.21 of a second off his previous best time at the same venue last June. The Birmingham Uni track obviously suits him. This time moves him up in to the top 20 UK rankings for his age group and he is actually in 2nd place for athletes in year 1 of this group, which he is.

Brother Zak Lambert (U20) also had a successful night in the longer 3000m race. His time of 8:56.28 knocked almost 9 seconds off his previous best time achieved at Stoke last June. That’s a big improvement.

U23 Alex Pester was agonisingly close to beating his PB in the 3000m. His time of 9:00.99 being just 0.95 off his previous best.

Ben Kruze
It was another excellent performance at the weekend, this time competing in the BMAF 10 mile Championships at Mallory Park where he was overall winner in his M40 age category in a time of 55:18, some 3 minutes 39 seconds ahead of the 2nd placed runner.
Fellow club member Matt Burdus-Cook narrowly missed out on England qualification, finishing just outside the top 3 in 4th place with a time of 1 hour exactly.

Emma and Dave Parkin.
Their main goal was to get a fun photo.
Well they certainly achieved that.

Emma Parkin.

Lakeland Trails Staveley Half Marathon

Report – Emma Parkin

Running conditions don’t come much more perfect than we had in the Lake District on Saturday – sunshine with a light breeze. Staveley Half Marathon (all 14 miles of it!) is certainly not for the faint-hearted with 700m of ascent across classic Lakeland trail routes, ending with the notorious “Sting in the Tail” – a final ascent just as you feel like you should be easing over the finish line. Dave and I were most definitely running and enjoying the views rather than racing with our main goal being a fun photo – we think we achieved that! We finished in a very matchy-matchy time of 2:28:02.

Ilmington Trail Races

A group of our trail half marathoners.
I’m not sure if there is a collective noun for a group of female half marathon runners.

This series of races were held last Sunday and organised by Tempo Events.

The races consisted of a 100k trail ultra, which was won by Simon Turner in a time of 12:06.55. A trail marathon which saw a 4th place finish out of 38 by club member Dan Bristow in 4:35.16.

The trail 10k saw 3 club members complete the course: Daniel Hodgkin (1:05.13) was 37th overall and 2nd in his M55 age group. Abigail Stewart (1:18.04) was 46th and Allan Coldicott (1:22.46) was 74th and 1st M65 finisher.

The most popular race of the day, with 102 completing the course, was the trail half marathon with 13 of our members competing.

Wayne Vickers (1:48.59) finished in 4th place overall with Kate Wright (1:49.06) in 5th place and first lady, following on from her success in last week’s Stratford half.

Other top 20 finishers were Becks Parker (2:05.07) in 14th place overall, 4th lady and 2nd in her age category. Colin Rowlands (2:07.42) finished in 19th place overall.

Susan Hunt also completed the trail half, so by my reckoning in 13 days Susan has run the Boston Marathon, acted as a pace setter in the Stratford half and run the Ilmington Trail Half. Somewhat impressive me thinks.

For our half marathon finishers please follow the link below:

Wayne seems to be missing for some reason.

https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16418&RId=938&EId=3&dt=0&PageNo=3&adv=1

And they’re off!

May Shakespeare Race

Wednesday evening saw the May Shakespeare race start and finish in the village of Hampton Lucy with 54 members completing the course.

Jamie Hall was once again the overall winner in a time of 35.41. The other top 5 finishers were Matt Burdus-Cook (2nd – 37:08), Richard Liggatt (3rd – 37:51), James Lake (4th – 38:14) and Sam Mercer (5th – 38:38).

First lady finisher, in 7th place overall, was Kate Wright (40:58) followed by Bronwen Mansel in 12th place with a time of 44:39 and Emma Bexson 15th place with a time of 46:27.

I did tell you I enjoyed the Birmingham 10k!