It’s that time of the year again.

Moulton Easter T&F Opener.

Report – David Jones

Following swiftly on the heels of the recent Outdoor T&F season opener at The Pingles Stadium, last Saturday over 20 of our junior T&F athletes take part in this event, finishing the day with 16 PBs, with a few  competing for the first time in their events.

It was yet another busy day for the Cassell brothers, with U12 Jamie running his 75m and 600m races in 12.61 seconds and 2:10.87 respectively and U14 Charlie running a PB time of 14.47 in the 100m and recording a massive 28 second PB in the 1500m with a time of 4:58.73.

Maggie Silvers recorded a time of 5:21.75 in her 1500m, just a few days after smashing her PB by some 32 seconds at Pingles Stadium.

The Allen brothers were in fine form with U12 Jasper running a 75m PB of 12.14 and completing his first competitive 75m hurdles in 13.12. Older brother and U14 athlete Flynn ran a 13.76 PB in the 100m, a 27.06 PB in his 200m and completed his first competitive 80m hurdles in 13.12.

The Indigo-Putt sisters continued their strong start to the T&F season with U12 Indigo running a 12.63 PB in the 75m and finishing just a second outside her 600m PB with a time of 2:17.16.  Her U16 sister Lucia ran the 1500m in 5:27.51.

U18 Will Hovell did what Will Hovell does by competing in several events. He recorded a PB in his 400m with a time of 55.59 and recorded PBs in both the 110m hurdles (18.24) and the shot put (9.61m).

U12 Saskia Atkins was someone else who competed in 3 events on the day, recording a PB in the 75m (11.31), running her 600m in 1:58.71 and jumping 3.61m in the long jump.

U16 Lottie Willis ran PB times in both the 100 and 200m, with times of 13.52 and 27.29 respectively. U18 Rachel Blackwood also ran a PB of 26.60 in her 200m and ran her 100m in 13.25. U18 Scarlett Dawson also competed in both 100m (13.46) and 200m (27.34). U16 Niamh Williams ran 13.39 in the 100m.

There was a 100m PB for U14 Martha Edwards (14.52). Martha was also just a couple of centimetres shy of her high jump PB, clearing 1.35m.

U14 Elsie Pipitone rounded off a busy week with a 200m time of 29.34 and an 800m time of 2:41.54.

U16 Elle Weir ran her 300m in 49.07. Also competing in the 300m was U16 Lolita Newby Vincent, running a PB time of 43.36. Lolita also recorded a time of 14.06 in the 80m hurdles.

U18 Josh Harrison ran 57.21 in his 400m with U16 Annabel Stacey finishing her 800m in 2:38.7. Annabel also ran her 80m hurdles in 14.37 and cleared 1.50m in the high jump.

Much of the above bodes really well for the County Champs on 9th and 10th of May.

Apologies if I have omitted anyone. Unfortunately Power of 10 (my bible!) doesn’t list competitor’s clubs in the official results for this event.

Boston (UK) Marathon 

12^th April 2026 
 

Report  – Kath Pester

Boston was my second marathon. The original intention of ‘one and done’ was abandoned after an unseasonably hot April day in Manchester last year saw me complete my first marathon in a time where I was not content to leave things. 

Looking around for a spring race, I settled upon Boston, Lincolnshire – being completely honest, the main reason for choosing this event was it being the flattest UK marathon. It also ticked several other boxes for me, namely a start time than meant I wouldn’t miss lunch (race start was 8am) and a much quieter, local event where we had been able to book accommodation within an easy walk of the start.  I had found Manchester overwhelming in so many ways and this race seemed so much more me. 

Race day was cold and sunny, but unfortunately windy too. Apparently Lincolnshire is renowned for its breezy environment due to the flat, open landscape and it certainly lived up to its reputation on Sunday.

With a field of just over 1000, the bustle at the start soon settled as we headed for open country. Boy was it open – at times the wind blew you along, but never seemingly quite as much as it challenged you. 

The route would probably be considered uninspiring by many – rural roads picking their way through fields, isolated houses and villages. For me it was just fine – race photos usually show me looking down at the road in front of me, so it mattered not. 

I set my pace, stuck to the plan and the miles ticked by.  I am proud of how I stuck to the plan. Dispensing tailwind powder into a soft flask at mile 12 causing the worst dip in mile splits of the first 20 miles – the previously mentioned windy conditions had not been factored into this task. Counting water stations was my new hobby – an impressive 12 throughout the course, all with smiley, happy people. 

True to marathon legend, it really did feel like the race started around mile 20 and for me, this is where the power of jeffing came into its own – structured intervals of running and walking. I had settled on 2 mins run / 30 seconds walk and stuck to this throughout. For the last 6 miles, many of the 2 minute running blocks felt tough, but as I steadily picked my way past numerous other runners, I knew that today I would finish well. 

I was delighted with a chip time of 4:48:08 – a 33 minute, 43 second PB from the previous year. Fair to say that the Manchester time was most likely heavily impacted by the temperature on race day, but as it is improbable that I will ever achieve a margin approaching this again I need to be proud while I can! 

Thank you to all the many people from the club who have supported and encouraged me, both since I joined the club, but also throughout the numerous doubts and wobbles of this training block. You are an amazing bunch. 

A shout out to Boston (UK) marathon too – a well organised event, with great attention to detail and most probably the closest I will get to the ‘real’ Boston marathon in the US. It’s also the first time I have seen a start area with a properly organised portaloo queue AND someone cleaning them between uses. Gold. 😊 

Editor’s note:

We also had 4 runners completing the Brighton Marathon last Sunday: Chris Bloomfield (4:01.47), Alix Frost (4:41.20), Kendra Bell (5:23.48) and Grace O’Donnell-Burke (5:40.51). Well done to you all

1. Structured and Planned – e.g. gym, exercise class. You do this exercise in order to achieve a clear goal.
2. General activity – activities like walking or cycle to work/school, taking the stairs rather than the lift and even doing shopping, as you are lifting and carrying and are all example of this exercise.
3. For enjoyment – This exercise is purely because you enjoy it, it could be a social thing with friend or just something you have fun doing.

Regency 10K

Report – David Jones

This multi-terrain course takes runners through the parks and gardens of Royal Leamington Spa. It was founded in 2004 and is organised by volunteers from the Leamington Round Table and supported by Spa Striders.

Last weekend some 1815 runners’ completed the course, including, according to the official results 11 of our members.

The race was won by Frazer Knowles of Leamington C & AC in a time of 32.37. The first lady finisher was Alice Bourne (36th – 37.33) from Rugby and Northampton,

Our first finisher, in a hugely impressive 24th place, was Dean Mawby (36.41). Dean was followed by James Coy (96th – 41.46), Ted Burch (195th – 44.50) and someone who is used to somewhat longer distances, Nigel Chidgey  (243rd – 46.04). Nigel also managed 9th place in his M60 age category.

The first of our lady finishers was Lydia Coldicott (54.21), followed by Rowena Hogg (1:03.07). It was then the terrible twins of Emma Davis (1:05.50) and Kate Sergent ( 1:05.51). They were followed by Jane Fradgley (1:06.56), Lindsey Anderson (1:08.34) and Annie Walton (1:18.06)

Midland Counties Track & Field League

Hello everyone, 

It’s only 5 weeks to the first Midland League match of 2026!
This is our main T&F league competition for the Senior age group and everyone from the U18 age group upwards is eligible to take part. These matches are conducted in great spirit and are always a fun day out with fellow athletes, officials & coaches from all parts of the club. In recent years we have fielded athletes aged between 16 and 75, so this really is a league for all ages. 

For each standard fixture we need to field 2 men and 2 women for every run, jump and throw, plus relays. That’s 96 scoring slots in total! We also have to provide at least 6 officials. This means we need a big squad and, with matches invariably decided by a handful of points, every performance counts.

After last year’s success we are back up to Division 2. This means strong competition against Birchfield, Cannock & Stafford, City of Stoke, Gloucester, Newport and Notts AC. 

There will be four standard divisional fixtures and one pan-divisional “technical events” match. The dates are below – please note that some are Saturdays and some are Sundays: 

16 May (Saturday) – Newport, Gwent. 

21 June (Sunday) –  Birmingham University -Technical Events only.

19 July (Sunday) – Gloucester.

08 August (Saturday) – t.b.c.

29 August (Saturday) – Stoke.

All five matches will contribute points to the overall league competition. However, the only scoring events on 21 June will be the designated “technical events”: Hammer, High Jump, Triple Jump, Pole Vault, 400m; 100/110m Hurdles; 400m Hurdles, 3k steeplechase & 3k Racewalk. 

Younger & older athletes need to be aware that this league uses senior throwing weights and senior hurdle heights. For these disciplines, our athletes’ participation is therefore always subject to a sense check as to suitability for the individual. 

All the fixture dates are now on Spond. If you are likely to be available to compete for the club on some/all of these 5 dates, please accept the relevant invitations, particularly for 16 May which will come round fast.  Please also let me know if there are particular events you will prefer to contest. Feel free to email me direct if that is easier.

This is a competitive league, so our goal is to field as strong a squad as possible. However, please do not hold back for fear you are “not good enough”.  It is normal for events to feature athletes of a wide ability range and more often than not we end up with unfilled gaps in the squad. 

Mike Sheppard

sheppardathletics@gmail.com

Report – David Jones

Massey Ferguson Runners Club once again hosted this, it’s annual Easter race. The race took place at The War Memorial Park, Coventry and was the first race in the Warwickshire Road Race League

According to the official results we had 8 members competing and it was a particularly successful day for our lady entrants, with Marijke Tear-Veirweij finishing as first lady in a time of 19:15 and Santa Pavlika was 2nd  lady finisher in 20:00.  Yumiko Turner, our other lady competing, finishing in 23:50.

Marijke commented on her race “‘I went into the race with few expectations, as I was coming off the back of a tough XC season. It was cold and dry, with a challenging wind which I thought would be a problem. However, I stuck to my pacing plan and found I could still kick hard at the end for a pleasing victory in my first road race of 2026.’

The overall race was won by Ian Allen of Spa Striders in 15:31, with our own Gavin Fowler finishing in 42nd place out of the 303 finishers in a time of 18.49. Gavin was very closely followed, in 43rd place, by Bogdan Ede (18.50). It was then Mike Hayward (21.40), who finished 3rd in his M65 age category. Finally Rob Sheen (19.28) was followed by WRRL stalwart Dave Maundrell (28.34)