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95^th English Schools National Track and Field Athletics Championships

Report – Paul Bearman

In sweltering sun and humidity, eight athletes from Stratford upon Avon AC were selected to compete at the 95^th English Schools National Track and Field Athletics Championships, the 4^th biggest athletics competition in the world.

Over 1800 of England’s top young athletes from 45 counties competed over two days at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.

The ESAA programme runs like clockwork by the top notch team of Officials, with heats and finals on the track and field all over the stadium from early morning to early evening. 

Qualifying for the championships is a tough enough ask but to step up to this national level is very hard but once again Stratford athletes proved worthy and capable of competing against the very best athletes in England.

Competing on such a big stage can affect an individual performance and the Stratford contingent went away with varying degrees of satisfaction with their performances but all of them will have gained invaluable experience for the future.

Seb Hillard was awarded the coveted Warwickshire boys team captain role and his inspired speech to the team focussed on doing their best but also to “enjoy the privilege of representing their county and to enjoy the occasion”.

First on the track was inter girl Lolita Newby Vincent in the 300m hurdles heat. Lolita has only been competing this year in the long hurdles and set off at a good pace and stayed in contention for a place in the final, which she just missed out on in the rush to line. Her time of 46.92s was English Schools standard so earned her team a valuable point.

Another new hurdler, Junior boy Finn Jackson, took his place on the start line of his 100m Hurdles and not surprisingly was clearly disturbed by two false starts before the race finally got underway. Without blocks a slip at the start meant Finn was slightly behind at the first hurdle but retained his rhythm and finished in 8^th place. 

Afterwards he said “getting involved with athletics has had a big impact on my life and competing at the champs just spurs me on to improve and do better next year. I can’t wait for all the training and progress to come”. (Coaches note….let’s see what he thinks on cold, wet winter nights!!).

Ethan Winning, representing Hereford and Worcestershire, had been on antibiotics with a severe bout of tonsilitis in the week leading up to the champs and so he was clearly not up to his best but he gamely ran the U18 110m hurdles heat in 15.91s and then left the track and went straight home to recuperate.

Will Hovell, competing in the U18 400m hurdles heats, without doubt had the best run over this event in his life, finishing 3^rd  in 57.3s,  a new PB and earning a point for his team in the process. However at this level it still wasn’t quite good enough to get to the fina,l finishing 9^th overall.

“Captain” Seb Hillard ran a comfortable race in the senior boys 400m Hurdles heats to qualify for the final the following day and as always he got into smooth rhythmic running from the start. He was in contention until the lactic hit him at the 100m mark, from that point on it took guts and determination to get to the finish which he did, finishing 5^th in a time of 56.23 earning 5 points for his team.

Sadly, there was a huge disappointment for Alex Wood who was down to compete in the inter boys 400m but was taken ill in the warm up and had to pull out. He recovered later but couldn’t compete in the relays.

The final events of the first day were the middle distance races supposedly in a cooler temperature but it was still in the 30s.

Zak Lambert was competing in the senior boys 1500m heats and he ran a dogged race despite a stumble partway through. He stayed with the pack but on the last lap the leader’s moved away and he finished in 13^th place in 4:14.76.

Sam Lambert opted for the 3000m this year and he was another of our athletes who had been poorly the week before and he found the pace very hot in his heat and as often happens the pace accelerated from the bell and Sam finished in 10^th place in 9.17.67.

In an honest assessment of his performance a disappointed Sam said, “the officials kept us outside in the sun for ages before the race and I felt drained of energy and when I put my foot down to find another gear it wasn’t there”.

Will and Finn also ran in the inter mixed relay, finishing outside of the qualifiers for the final but earning a team point with their time.

In addition to the competitors, Carolyne Johnston assembled 29 Stratford junior athletes in a multitude of roles including kit carriers and cool room assistants, who were marshalled by volunteer coaches and parents Lucy Edwards, Danny Tolhurst, Eleanor Nabney, Sue Mothershaw, Sam and Darren Sharpe.

At the parade where athletes from all the counties were assembled on the infield to be presented to the dignitaries, Sue Mothershaw and Danny Tolhurst led our selected athletes Toby Wilkinsion, Jasmine Mothershaw, Georgia Sharpe and Carter Mckenzie, as the last of the teams and they were positioned in the place of honour right in front of the dignitaries, primarily as a thank you for their involvement in making the event go without a hitch.

The Warwickshire team finished just a single point behind Norfolk in the Group C County, based on population, with our athletes points contributing to the teams points tally.

On reflection, all our athletes did well to one degree or another in their respective events and should be proud of themselves and whilst some were disappointed with their performances, despite the disappointments, the experience gained from preparing and competing at this level is invaluable for the future.

Alscot 5k

Report – David Jones

For many years, local race Tempo Events have organised the challenging and gruelling Winter Series ,consisting of 5 races run over the Winter months, with each one involving an ascent and descent of Larkstoke Hill.

Last year they introduced a Summer Series and this year it consisted of three 5k races run over somewhat flatter courses. 

The final race of the Series was held last week in blistering heat, with ace finishers each receiving a burger provided by Barry the Butchers and competitors who completed all 3 races also receiving a Series Race T-Shirt.

The location for the final race of the series was the Alscot Estate and was in support of Friends of Stratford Hospital (FoSH), with the event being fully supported by Estate owner Emma Holman-West, the acting Patron of this local charity.

Holman-West commented  “FoSH is a truly deserving local charity, designed to assist the local community of Stratford upon Avon and surrounding areas and it is one we want to give greater visibility to and Tempo Events join us in wanting to ensure it receives the recognition it truly deserves”.

The race itself was won by Stratford upon Avon Athletic Club (SuAAC) member Jamie Hall. Jamie made this a hat trick of victories, having won the 2 previous races in the series. His finishing time of 16:14 was 50 seconds quicker than the 2nd paced runner, Chris McKeown of Spa Striders.

The first lady finisher, also from Spa Striders, was Elaine Sherwin in 11th place overall with a time of 21:30.

Other top 10 finishers for us were Matt Burdus-Cook (3rd – 18:09) and Drew Sambridge (8th – 20:35). First lady finisher for Stratford, in 23rd place overall, was Emma Vickers with a time of 23:04.

There were also age category wins for Stratford runners, with Keith Jewett (25th – 23:170) in the M65 category and John Butler (102nd – 42:29) in his M75 category.

Sandwiched between Keith and John were a sextet of our lady members – Kim Lee (34th – 24:16), Emma Davis (65th – 28:45), Hannah Stokil (75th – 30:17), Ali Kirk (81st – 32:04), Miranda Maloney (100th – 40:44) and Sandie Owens (101st – 40:45).