Blackburn Harriers double Olympians Sophie Hitchon – (Hammer 67.58m) and Holly Bradshaw – (Pole Vault – 4.45m) – both won this years British Championships at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham and qualified for the World Championships being held in London later this year, both having achieved the qualifying Distance and Height already.
At the end of the Championship weekend Holly spoke to the Club about her event and the lead up to the World Championships saying “I am so happy to win another British title. It wasn’t the best result and didn’t jump quite at my best but after a few problems in Rome with an small injury I have been building back in training and was only on short approach yesterday. I was totally pain free which was the most positive aspect of yesterday. I now feel I can build towards the World Champs in a good position and with 5 weeks to go I have loads of time and opportunity to tweak little things in training and get myself in the best possible position“.
Olympic Bronze Medalist from Rio 2016 Sophie Hitchon, had like Holly, already achieved the qualifying standard for the World Championships and was pleased to have won another British Hammer Title. She spoke to the Club after the weekend competition and told us that it was “Not the distance I would have liked and still got some preparations to go but thrilled to be British Champion again and being able to represent GB in the World Champs especially as it’s back in the Olympic Stadium London”.
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Mid Lancs League – July 1st
Lots of Heats for Sprinters at the Preston Mid Lancs Fixture starting with the U13 Girls which saw Abigail Stratton place 4th in Heat (1) with 15.80 and Hannah Eccles 6th in Heat (3) in a time of 15.40. Hannah then went on to the 200m running 31.80 for 6th place in Heat (1) with Keira Haxton in Heat (3) placing 4th (32.40) and Holly Crooks in Heat (4) 5th in a time of 32.50. U15 Abigail Armas doubled up in the 100/200m coming in 4th in Heat (4) of the 100m in 14.50 and 2nd in the 200m (Heat (3) in 29.10. U13 Isaac Butler ran in Heat (2) of the 100m posting a time of 15.40 in 6th spot.
U15 Sprinters Kyle Mashiter and Jonathan Gough were in good form with Kyle taking a double win, first in Heat (1) of the 100m with 12.60 and then in Heat (1) of the 200m in a new PB time of 25.30 – Jonathan won Heat (2) of the 100m in a time of 13.00 and then placed 3rd in the 200m Heat (1) also in a new PB time of 26.00. Some of the 800m U15 athletes doubled up in the 200m with Sam Hodkinson running a new PB time of 25.70 to win Heat (2) with Jamie Teare 4th in 28.50 and Matt Ramsden 6th in 29.40 in the same Heat. Ben Whittaker (U17) ran 12.50 for 3rd in the 100m and then ran a new PB of 25.70 in the 200m also in 3rd place. Paul Coffey doubled up in the Senior Men’s 100/200m with a 4th placed seasons best 11.6 in Heat (1) of the 100m and winning Heat (2) of the 200m in a time of 24.00 another seasons best.
Moving up in distance Liberty Thompson ran 50.50 in the U15G 300m (6th) and 4th in the 75m Hurdles (13.90) whilst U15 Ethan Joyce in only his third race of the year ran aggressively to set a new PB of 58.70 in the 400m. U13 Girls Ellie and Paige Singleton ran massive new PB’s in the 800m with Paige cutting 18 seconds off her previous best to set a new time of 2.55.7 and Ellie chopping thirteen seconds off her previous best time with 2.55.0 in Heat (1). In Heat (2) there were two more new PB’s – firstly for Molly Nicholls who made all the running from the off and just got pipped into 2nd spot in a new PB time of 2.47.7 and secondly for Keira Haxton in 5th spot with a new PB of 2.49.4, some seven seconds faster than her previous best – and this on a windy day! In the U15 Girls 800m Eleesha Charnley came 4th out of the twelve athletes in a time of 2.31.5 which was just outside her personal best with Kirsten Coleran finishing in 12th spot in 2.57.9, her first time ever racing on the track. U13 Boy Codie Dewhurst cut eight seconds off his personal best to set a new PB of 2.55.7 in the 800m (10th).
The U15 Boys 800m Race with sixteen athletes saw a very aggressive Sam Hodkinson run the first 200m in 29 seconds and held the front place the whole way round to win in a new PB time of 2.11.7 nearly a second quicker than his previous best. Next in came Matt Ramsden in 4th place in a time of 2.15.9 a very big new PB by six seconds. Harvey Ashworth who is running very consistent times was next in for the Harriers in 6th place in a time of 2.21.5 with Jamie Teare 8th in a time of 2.22.3 and another new PB by over a second.
The U15 Boys 1500m saw Harry Wilkin run just outside his personal best with a time of 5.07.2 in 6th place followed by George Whittaker in 7th (5.19.7) in his first ever attempt at the distance. U13 Boy Dexta Thompson ran an excellent tactical race in the 1500m, tucking in when running into the wind and then going to the front to hold his lead from around 500m out, winning in a time of 4.59.6 – Kyle Taylor-Pomfret came 6th in 5.19.6 and Joe Sims 13th in 6.01.5.
Kate Cookson and Abigail Stratton ran the U13 Girls 1500m with Kate in her first attempt at the distance placing 4th in 5.38.3 and Abigail 5th in a time of 5.38.5. In the U15 Girls 1500m Amy Davies and Sophie Stanworth soon established a lead, the pair of them breaking away early on which saw Amy win in a time of 5.01.5 and Sophie place 2nd in 5.12.7. U17 Jasmine Aherne knocked 27 seconds off her 3000m time to set a new PB of 12.41.5 and 3rd in her age category.
Rory Teare missed out on a new personal best by a cm in the U13 Boys Long Jump placing 6th out of 18 athletes with a distance of 4.13m, then going on to take equal 4th place in the High Jump (1.35m). Isaac Butler was also just shy off his best when placing 14th with 3.62m as was Kyle Taylor-Pomfret in his High Jump (7th) with a clearance of 1.25m. One of the highlights of the day was watching young U13 Codie Dewhurst tackle the High Jump and nearly clearing 1.20m – such an enthusiastic young lad who gives everything when he is competing as he showed in the Javelin setting a new PB of 13.04m (9th) with Dexta Thompson in 10th (12.03m) and Joe Sims 11th (8.05m) also in the Javelin. Jonathan Gough added a win in the U15 Boys Long Jump to his days efforts clearing 5.12m whilst Jamie Teare placed equal 4th in the U15 Boys High Jump (1.45m). Liberty Thompson cleared 1.30m in the U15 Girls High Jump (4th).
In the U15B Throws Kieran Carroll finished 10th in the Discus with 18.72m just 3cms short of his previous best and then set a new PB in the Javelin (4th) with a throw of 25.98m – George Whittaker came 11th in the Discus with 1.65m and 6th in the Javelin (23.31m). In the U13 Girls Hannah Eccles, Paige and Ellie Singleton all tried their hand at Shot Putt with Hannah coming in 13th (4.12m), Paige (15th) with a throw of 3.24m and Ellie 16th (2.89m).
There was a win in the U15 Girls Discus for Izzzy Thompson with a throw of 22.28m, a 3rd in the Hammer with 22.39m just one cm short of her personal best and a 6th spot in Javelin with a throw of 18.90m. U17 Abigail Brown set a new PB of 30.25m in the Hammer and placed 5th in the Shot putt with 7.50m. In the Senior Women’s Throws Anna Peers had wins in the Discus with 37.02m just 15cm short of her best, another win in the Javelin (38.57m) and a 3rd in the Shot Putt with a throw of 10.48m – Holly Brooks who has struggled all year with a shoulder injury placed 6th in the Shot Putt (6.66m). Ben Whittaker threw a new PB of 27.49m in the U17 men’s Javelin whilst Tony Balko took on a trio of events in the Senior Men’s Throws – placing 7th of 12 in the Shot Putt (8.78m), 7th of 15 in the Discus (27.55m) and 4th of 9 in the Hammer with a seasons best throw of 31.34m.
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Trawden 7 – Sunday July 2nd
Three hundred and fifteen runners finished this race won by Tom Corrigan in a time of 41.17.
(Thanks to David Belshaw for all the photos)
First home for Blackburn Harriers was Shaun Livesey in 7th spot (43.18) and 1st V40 on the day. Ben Costello was next in (11th) in 44.46 with V45 Paul Brindle in 16th spot and 2nd V45 on the day in a time of 45.36. Joanne Nelson was 1st V45 Woman in a time of 53.32 and 103rd overall. Bryan Searby (V45) came in 299th in a time of 82.57.
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In the Junior U9 Race with forty runners Felix Thompson had a cracker of a run trying to lead the whole way before finally being pipped into 2nd spot in a time of 2.51 just one second behind the winner. Kady Thompson finished 19th out of 34 runners in the U11 Race in a time of 10.18 whilst Dexta Thompson finished 3rd overall in the mixed age group race of 39 runners comprising U13, U15 and U17’s with a time of 12.37 and 1st U13, the Race being won by an U17 with an U15 in 2nd place.
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Southport Half-Marathon – Sunday July 2nd
Nearly 1500 finishers in this Race won in a time of 75.09. Blackburn Harriers had two athletes – Victoria Mousley (83.48) and Rachel Wood (84.36) running who took 2nd and 3rd places in the Woman’s Race respectively – very good runs given the weather conditions on the day.
After the Race both athletes spoke to the Club with Victoria commenting “Found it hard work today as I’d been ill most of last week. A really interesting course, lots of twists and turns with a tough wind for the coastal section. I died from about ten miles…. Lack of races in the last 12 months. A good day out though”.
Rachel who is in training for the Berlin Marathon had a similar tale to tell about the race telling us “I struggled in today’s race. Agree with Vicci, the wind was strong along the coast and my legs just felt tired throughout. I have also suffered from a cold this week and legs are heavy from mileage leading up to Berlin Marathon so it was a tough hard training run for me 
other than the head wind, its a fast course and highly recommended!”
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Harrogate 10k – Sunday July 2nd
Five hundred and sixty runners crossed the finishing line in this 10k and among them, three Blackburn Harriers – Jonathan Bridge, Claire Bridge and Evan Cook.
Jonathan Bridge (V45) came home in 59th place with a time of 42.28 and 7th V45 out of fifty five running on the day. V65 Evan Cook (127th) was running his first race of 2017 and was next in with a time of 46.28 and 3rd V65 out of eight in that age category. Claire Bridge (V45) placed 317th in a time of 54.09
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Run The Alderley Edge Bypass 10k – Sunday July 2nd
V55 Paul Clarke was out at this 10k Race setting a time of 45.27 – just a few seconds outside a seasons best – and coming home in 311th place out of a field of one thousand nine hundred and sixty four.
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NHS Triathlon – June 17th
Paul Wilkinson took on the NHS Tri at Bolton on on 17th June which was, as Paul described after the event ” a hot one…..400m swim in 7.44 in to transition; on to bike which was a 10 x 1 mile loop circuit in Horwich town centre which was a fast course and managed that in 32.14 including transition and was happy with that……then on to the run which was 3 laps of 4.3 km route…..struggled with the run in the heat and lack of running and plodded round in 22.25 to manage 34th place overall……really enjoyed it and finished overall time1hour 2min.21sec”.
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