Alexander Stadium here we come.

ESAA Combined Events Midlands Regional Final 2025

Report – Paul Bearman

Combined Events….run throw and jump….. is the backbone of the way the juniors are organised in what are fundamentally multi events groups especially in the U11 to U15s. Specialisation can come as the athletes mature both physical and mentally and our belief that young athletes should grow at their own pace and try the different parts of athletics. 

Stratford juniors have had a long reputation for producing multi eventers who compete in the various CE championships including representing Warwickshire and this year the club had 8 athletes representing Warwickshire and Lila Gallinagh participating on behalf of Herefordshire & Worcestershire in the English Schools (ESAA) Combined Events Midlands Reginal Final held at Tilsley Park Oxfordshire.

All of them did brilliantly and it consolidated my belief that the future is safe in their young hands….. and  feet.

Every tenth of a second and centimetre counts for points and the prize for winning the discrete age/gender team and individual competitions is to go forward to the national championships in September.

First to compete in the energy sapping hot conditions were Junior Boys Harry Green and Finn Jackson who are both relative newcomers to athletics with limited experience of CE but both have shown great promise for the future. 

Harry : “Tilsley Park was a great track to compete at. It was a tiring day but it was fun to compete against such good athletes; my favourite event was long jump as I got a PB and it was fun overall”.

Finn: “I’m quite new to athletics so I had no clue what to expect but I enjoyed the event. It didn’t go quite as planned for me after injuring my leg in the hurdles, which was the first event but I still enjoyed getting points for the team. I really want to work hard and come back stronger for next year. Overall, it was a great event and super friendly. Well done to everyone going to nationals and to everyone that competed”.

Lila Gallinagh, Annabel Stacey and Isabella Marriott are all well versed in the stresses and strains of CE and as with all multi eventers they all played to their strengths and worked hard on their relative weaker events to produce fine performances across their 5 events.

Lila: “It was a really enjoyable experience despite the hot temperature. I was proud to achieve two new PBs in shot and 800m – helping me to finish in 5th place overall. I’ve very excited to hopefully have the opportunity to complete in more pentathlons and I’m looking forward to this particular competition next year!”

Annabel: “It was a great experience, it was challenging and very hot, but I was proud of my results and it has made me want to work even harder for next year. High jump was my favourite event, even if we were sat under the cover for most of it! Overall, it was a great experience and I hope to compete again next year”.

Isabella: “Tilsley Park was a fantastic venue with amazing facilities. It was a very hot and tiring day but well organised and a fun competition with strong athletes. My favourite event was hurdles as it was my strongest out of the five we had to compete in and it was cooler at that time!”

The Inter athletes compete over 2 days and apart from the physical strain of competing in 7 events for the girls and 8 for the boys the mental strength to keep producing at your best can be daunting but as always our athletes rose to the challenge.

Will:” Such an amazing experience and such a great track to go to, and some very hot conditions. After a slow start, I ended the competition with three PBs, one in the discus with a throw of 21.89m, a pb in shot put with a throw of 9.39m and one in the 1500m with a time of 4.31 and finishing with a 6th place finish. Being on the younger side of the age group is making me want to come back stronger and faster next year. Thanks to the club for all the support”.

Ava: “I really enjoyed the experience of my 1st combined events competition and it was good to compete against a strong field, which pushed me to work harder and obtain 6 PB’s. I was happy with my hurdles performance and keep watching the video! 

It was good to have Martha with me and be part of a supportive team with Isabelle Knight who won overall and Annabel Waters and I am looking forwards to the finals in September after we won our age group!”

Seb: It was a really hard and tiring two days covering the ten events especially in the heat. I PBd in all my events and considering I only stared pole vaulting with help from Leamington AC coaches 5 weeks ago I’m really proud of finishing as the winner of my age group and going to the national final in September so I’ve got a very busy few months ahead training.

As Carolyne Johnston told them all afterwards “between all of you especially in such incredible heat, you have all proved yourselves to be fantastic athletes. It’s not all about winning but your own individual successes and being a part of the team. We have an exceptional bunch of hard working athletes when it comes to training and this is how it pays off”. 

Midland Area 5000m Race Walk Championships 

Report – Paul Hawkins

Following its success over the last three years, Stratford once again hosted the Midland Area Race Walk 5000m Championships on Sunday, this included the Warwickshire and Worcestershire County Championships.

Unfortunately the race numbers were relatively small so the races were combined into one senior race.

At the front there was a good battle between Aleksandra Majewska-Ani (Charnwood) and Wendy Kane (Nuneaton) with Aleks holding off a charge by Wendy towards the end of the race to win in 30.10.

Peter Boszko of Birchfield won the men’s race comfortably. 

Stratford’s Jan McLure is in good form and was 5th overall and second in the Warwickshire championship coming in 40 seconds quicker than the same race last year.

Regular Stratford walkers Paul Hawkins and Gemma Smith had to miss the event with Paul still recovering from a knee replacement and Gemma recovering from her recent marathon.

Many thanks to all the volunteers and officials from Stratford who put on the event: Daphne Hawkins, Sue Mothershaw, Nick Campbell, Paul Bearman, Tony Jackson, Elaine Ledden, Carolyne Johnston and Paul Hawkins.

Report – Jamie Hall

It’s become an annual tradition to try and become a triathlete as the weather improves. After the marathon block, I had nine weeks to remind myself how to swim and to find some cycling fitness.

Training had gone well, and I felt in good shape ahead of my first triathlon of the season at Arrow Valley, Redditch. It was a new event with a small field of participants and definitely one I’d recommend if you want to get into triathlons.

The swim was 800m in the lake. Luckily, I found myself at the back of a group and managed to draft my way around the loop in a time of 14:48, which I was delighted with! I came out of the water in 11th position. 

After the swim, I got out onto the bike course, and it was definitely on the hilly side, which suited me. I managed to cycle up to a group ahead and we were together for a large part of the course. On the final climb, I managed to put a bit of a gap into the group, this helped me to come in off the bike in 6th place.

I got off the bike and surprisingly my legs weren’t feeling like jelly just yet. I started strong, with the hope I could catch a few athletes. Before halfway, I had run myself into 3rd place and because it was an out-and-back, I could see that there was a chance of second. Just after 4km, I caught him and finished the triathlon in 2nd.

I was really happy with how the race went and the overall result, especially as it was my first time on the podium at a triathlon!