50 to be proud of.

Under 11, 13 and 15 West Midlands Regional Sportshall final

Report – Paul Bearman

Indoor Sportshall athletics combines speed and a tremendous amount of variable skill sets that require athleticism and control in the various races and especially in field events. It creates a great noisy atmosphere within a relatively confined space of a conventional Sportshall with races run at a frenetic speed.

Warwickshire and Stratford in particular, have had for many years a very beneficial and successful relationship with Sportshall, however, in a winter where the Warwickshire Sportshall League hasn’t been able to run again, it left a massive void in the winter competition calendar.

After again being invited to compete in the West Midlands Regional finals, between Stratford and our partners at Rugby & Northampton AC, we ran a series of in house training sessions and a combined trials session to select teams to represent Warwickshire. 

This resulted in 50 Stratford U11, U13 and U15 athletes providing the lion’s share of the Warwickshire team that performed superbly in the finals held in Solihull against teams from Birmingham (Solihull) and resurgent teams from Shropshire and Hereford & Worcestershire.

The winners of the U13 and U15 events go on to the national finals.

Every year all the age groups are very competitive and the competition this year was even more intense than in previous years with some strong athletes from each county making all the events tough going and this made the competition tight throughout and individual medals hard to come by.

Traditionally the huge catchment area of Birmingham (including Solihull) who run their league and can fish in an ocean compared to us, who were fishing for athletes in a pond, dominates the regional competition. They did so again this year having the huge advantage of coming off the back of a strong competitive winter league, by winning all 6 of the age/gender groups. 

With the high number of youngsters keen to compete the Under 11’s entered 2 teams, differentiated by their Red and Lime shirts. They were very ably managed and marshalled by Carolyne Johnston, Danny Tolhurst, Michelle Bartlett and Lucy Edwards with 2 R&N coaches 

The U11 competition is based around “Fun in Athletics” and it gives the athletes the opportunity to dip their toe into competing in a competitive environment with the whole team scoring in the various events.

24 of our U11’s competed, many of whom were competing for the first time let alone in a championship.

The girls “Red” team included Megan White, Saskia Atkins, Olivia Hunt, Elsie Gould, Nell Wheeler and Florence Castle and were 4th in their age group and the “Lime” team that included Quinn Lancaster, Ella-may Williams, Indigo Ogilvie-Putt, Marnie Short and Isla Gould and finished 5^th.

The boys “Red” team that included Rafe White, Henry Yates, Simon Zawada, Luca Armstrong and Hudson Hosell were a very close second missing out on the top spot by just 4 points behind Birmingham. The “Lime” team that included Jacob Thomas, Jasper Allen, Jamie Cassells, Henry Cotton, Louis Bearman, Indy Mbise, Thomas Forde and Spencer Kelsey finished 5^th.

The old adage of every point counting from everyone is very important in Sportshall and the U11 competition is primarily team based unlike the U13’s where individual performances are also recognised. 

The U13 girls team were also 2nd and included Matilda Hutchings, Sara Clewer, Lara Ryan-Gill Martha Edwards Imogen Brooks Maggie Silvers with both Maggie (6 Lap) and Martha (Standing Triple Jump) winning their events.

The U13 boys team was mainly made up of Stratford athletes and included Casper Willis, Dexter Sharpe, Charlie Castle, Fynn Allen, Otis Lesatele, Charlie-Jay Cassells, Toby Ledgard, Henry Stacey Harper and Jasper Hadley. 

In the U13 age groups, with Birmingham totally dominant, Fynn winning the 4 Lap and Dexter the Speed Bounce, along with Maggie and Martha, they were among a very few athletes from the other 2 teams who won anything. 

The U15’s event is a combination of all the team having to do a run, throw and jump and relays to find the individual All Rounder champion and then the combined scores are collated to give the overall teams score.

The U15 boys team of 7 athletes competed very well but struggled for their points and finished 4^th. The team was primarily from Stratford and included Zak Birch (9^th), George Stacey-Harper (15^th), Carter McKenzie(16^th) , Toby Wilkinson (18^th) and Ben Harrison (21^st). Jasper Cooper didn’t make the event after getting stuck in the snow in France.

Although the U15 girls team that included Annabel Stacey (4^th) Niamh Williams (9^th), Lottie Willis (10^th), Lila Gallinagh (12^th), and Lolita Newby Vincent came up against a powerful Birmingham team, they were kept on their toes throughout by our girls who finished 2^nd after the final result came down to the last 2 relays. 

Lolita finished 4^th overall but only 2 points, that equates to only .3sec quicker in her 4 lap race, would have given her the title and would have taken her to the UK final as the best West Midlands All Round athlete. 

Athletics at whatever level is often down to fine margins and after being given the tip off that the overall result came down to the final 2 relays the girls really excelled. In the arduous 8 lap Paarlauf, Annabel and Lolita were pipped by .2sec and in the 4 x 2 lap relay Lottie and Niamh with their 2 fellow athletes from R&N were beaten on the line by .7sec giving Birmingham the All Round team title.

Carolyne, who did the lion’s share of the organising, Janet Wright from R&N and I took on the task on to put a team together in a very short space of time and despite not having any league competitions to rely on for selection, we were extremely happy the way all our athletes worked as a team and performed incredibly well in a tough competition. .
 

Midland Area 10km Race Walk Championships 

Report – Paul Hawkins

Sunday was the first race walk championship of the season in breezy but dry conditions at the cycle circuit at Stourport Sports Club where a 1km undulating course is used.

The 10km race is run (walked?) together with the women’s 5km race. 

Although Jan McLure was entered she had to withdraw due to illness which left Paul Hawkins as the sole Stratford AC representative in the 10k race, his first A race since returning from his knee injury.

In a strong field Hawkins aimed to walk at a consistent pace and finished in 82.45 so was pleased with both that and walking a clean race with no judging worries.

Hawkins was 6th overall and second Warwickshire walker so gets a silver medal as the race includes county championships for several midland counties and the bonus was that it was an age group club record!

Report – Andy Cox

In March 2026, Adam Evans and I travelled to Tokyo for what became one of the most meaningful marathons of our lives — the iconic Tokyo Marathon.

The city delivered everything you hope for on a major stage: crisp spring air, immaculate organisation, and relentless crowd support from start to finish.

For Adam, this race marked the culmination of 8 years of dedication. Crossing the line in a superb 3:30:08 he completed his Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star journey — a milestone that reflects not just endurance, but consistency across the world’s greatest marathons.

Receiving his Six Star Medal was a proud moment, the reward for countless early mornings and disciplined training blocks.

For me, Tokyo represented another significant step. Finishing meant earning the fifth star toward my second Six Star Medal. To be on that path again — chasing a second full set — carries its own meaning.

The journey isn’t just about times on the clock; it’s about shared miles, airport transfers, carb-loading dinners, and the quiet understanding that comes from pushing through 26.2 miles together along with the training runs with club colleagues.

The story doesn’t end in Tokyo. I’ll complete my second Six Star Medal at the Chicago Marathon in October 2026.

Adam and I aren’t done travelling either — our next joint marathon road trip is set for Valencia in December 2026, where fast roads and winter sunshine await.

From Tokyo to Chicago to Valencia, the miles continue — and so does the adventure.

National ISA Cross Country finals 2026

Report – Paul Hawkins

The Independent Schools Finals were held at Himley Hall last Saturday, where two Stratford AC athletes ran well representing West Midlands in the Years 8 & 9 race. 

Lucia Ogilvie-Putt ran well to win her race, beating a teammate from Worksop College 10.05 to 10.09, followed by runners from South West, London and East Anglia.

Lucia said “I’ve been to this course a few times before so I know it quite well, I like this course in particular because there is a long downhill section where I have worked on lengthening my strides to gain speed and overtake (if I need to!)

There were around 70 people in my race and there was a lot of pushing and shoving at the start in the pens, because of this unfortunantly my spikes were ripped but despite that I got a good start and led to the first corner. From then on I ran a great race and came in first. I am so proud of my performance.

Maggie Silvers came 16th. She was in top 10 for first half of the race but tired in the 2nd half and also had a fall with 500m to go, so she was a bit disappointed she didn’t place a bit higher

The ISA Midland’s team were second overall although the year 8/9 girls won their team section easily.