Club
HQ: Witton Park Arena Preston Old Road, Blackburn MULTIMAP
See the Blackburn with Darwen Council information page here
(new window)
For details
of Training/Coaching sessions see Training
page
Club
Bulletin (PDF - new window)
Includes details of our Track & Field League Fixtures
this year, as well as some of the Championships and Coaching Clinics
beginning in March 2011
On
track for success!
Athletics
in the North West have been boosted by plans for a new running track
in Blackburn, and there could even be benefits for the 2012 Olympics.
Do
you make the Grade?
See the latest AAA
standards
(291K PDF - new window)
IMPORTANT
ANNOUNCEMENT
Training costs for members of Blackburn Harriers....
As
a result of an agreement between Blackburn Harriers & AC and
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Councilthe following arrangements
are in place regarding payment for training facilities at Witton
Park Track for Club members only.
On
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, Blackburn Harriers will
have exclusive use of the track and all its track and field facilities
and equipment. In addition, all members of Blackburn Harriers (i.e.
those currently paid up members) will have free use of the
track on the other days i.e. Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday,
on the presentation of their Blackburn Harriers Membership Card
to Witton Park staff.
On
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays, Blackburn Harriers officials will
collect all track fees which will be paid at the following advantageous
rates:
Juniors
( u20 ) £1:00 per session
Seniors
( 20 & over) £2:00 per session
High
Performance scheme athletes Free (on production of their current
BwDBC clearance letter)
For
those who wish to pay for a full year in advance the following discounted
fees will apply:
Seniors
£160 (20 & over)
Juniors
£80 (under 20)
Payments
in advance can be by cheque on training nights or by post (payable
to Blackburn Harriers) to:
Sue
Carr 8 Pleck Farm Avenue
Blackburn BB1 8PE.
We
would encourage you to take up this discounted ‘in advance’
fees offer which will save you money and assist the Club.
Calendar
For full list of fixtures and other important
events click here
Holly
Bleasdale smashes British indoor pole vault record
Our Holly produced the second highest indoor vault of all time with
a clearance of 4.87m in Lyon 22/1/12. Full
report on the BBC website. (new window)
Here's
a video of Holly's remarkable vault:
Blackburn
Harriers named "Top UK Club"
Our club has been awarded "Tob Club" in the inaugural
2011 Athletics Weekly Club Awards. This is a fantastic
achievement - well done to all in the club.
See the AW Club
Awards 2011 pages (PDF - new window)
Holly
Bleasdale and Sophie Hitchon are UK Champions!
UKA Aviva Trials and Championships, Birmingham 29-31 July 2011
Sophie threw 67.69 (see
Hammer results) and Holly vaulted 4.56m (see
Pole Vault results). Great news!
New
British record 4.70m - 3rd in the World rankings for Holly Bleasdale
Click the pic below to see an interview
with Holly at Mannheim 2/7/2011 (new window)
Saturday
July 2nd: Holly Bleasdale broke the British record in Mannheim in
the Pole Vault with a vault of 4:70m. Watch a video
of the vault on YouTube
Holly's
height of 4:70m puts her top of the British rankings and joint 2nd
in the World Rankings for Senior Women and she is only 19yrs old!!
Holly
is now the second British record holder in the Club, joining Sophie
Hitchon who is also only 19yrs old and who heads the British rankings
with her throw of 69:43 at the BUCS Championships in May this year.
Brilliant
performances by both of them and shows what hard work, commitment
& dedication can achieve. They are both an inspiration.
British
Record for Sophie
Sophie Hitchon broke the British senior hammer record of Lorraine
Shaw at Bedford on Sunday with a throw of 69.43m and in the process
achieving the London 2012 Olympic qualifying distance. She improved
her best by over 3 metres proudly wearing her Blackburn Harriers
vest. She now concentrates on the European under 23s in the summer
and perhaps the World Championships in South Korea.
Royal
Visit - William & Kate at Witton Park
11/4/2011 - Last official engagement before the Royal Wedding
Kate
Middleton presents a medal to 100m sprint winner Natalie Sailor
Watch
a video on
YouTube (opens in a new window - Witton action at 1.00min)
Watch
a full
video report on the Sky News website (opens in a new window)
Kate
Middleton and Prince William meet the athletes
Sophie
Hitchon takes silver in the u23 European Cup Winter meeting in Bulgaria
(20/3/2011) with a great early season 64.16m throw.
Holly
Bleasdale has been selected to compete for Great Britain in the
2011 European Indoor Athletic Championships
She becomes the first Blackburn Harrier to be selected
to compete for Great Britain in a major championship. Read
BBC report (new window)
Holly
Bleasdale National Senior Indoor Pole Vault Champion at 4.36m Sunday 13th February 2011 at Sheffield
Blackburn Harrier's first ever indoor senior champion!
New
British u23 record for Holly Bleasdale at Sheffield 4.50m McCain City Challenge, February
6, 2011. Sheffield NIA
Another
UK U23 Indoor Best for Holly...
Holly Bleasdale (representing the Commonwealth) in Glasgow on the
29th January 2011 breaks her PB again and her own national u23 record
as well as going 2nd on the all time GB women's indoor pole vault
rankings.
Here's
the BBC
coverage of the event. (Holly's timings: 0.30.50 – 4.41;
0.38.20 – 4.48; 0.50.40 – 4.55 last attempt; 1.00.50
- interview)
UK
Best for Holly
World junior medallist Holly Bleasdale set a UK U23 indoor best
of 4.40m in the pole vault in Lyon, France Sat 22nd January 2011.
Holly now goes 3rd on the all time list for British women indoors.
4.40m is the qualifying height for the European Indoor Championships
in Paris.
Here
is the full elite female comp in slow motion. To save your time
in trying to locate Holly's vaults, please check these times out:
5min37 ---> 4.01x
7min05 ---> 4.03xo
10min43 --> 4.23x
11min22 --> 4.23xo
12min41 --> 4.33o
13min56 --> 4.40o then followed by 4.50x
Paul
Bradshaw wins the Northern Senior Indoor 800m title at Sheffield
16th January 2011
Major
award for Sophie Hitchon
The
Armitage Trophy is awarded by the AAA for the English Junior Female
Athlete who has achieved the best throwing performance anywhere
in the world in 2010.
2010
was a fantastic year for Sophie culminating in winning the Gold
Medal at the World Junior Championships. This
is a wonderful achievement and reward for dedication, hard work
and commitment by Sophie in her event.
Blackburn
Harriers Awards Presentation
25th November 2010 Blakeys in Blackburn
Guest
Presenter Holly Bleasdale World Junior Bronze medalist.
Blackburn
Harrier's reputation on the fells has continued to rise in 2010
with some amazing achievements by our athletes. On the 8th August
the GB Trial for the World Uphill Mountain Running Champs was held
on Snowdon from Llanberis and the Harriers had some great performances.
Tom
Cornthwaite was the star of the day, taking the Senior Men's race
and guaranteeing automatic selection for the World Champs in Slovenia
on 5th September. This is arguably the most significant fell race
win in Blackburn Harriers history and a superb achievement for Tom
who did us proud in the World Champs where he picked up his first
senior GB vest.
Just
behind Tom was Josh Tighe in 10th place, beating some existing International
runners in the process. Josh was the first British U23 runner home
and this also gained him an automatic international selection. Josh
made his International debut for England at Smarna Gorna, Slovenia
on the 2nd October, a fantastic achievement for an athlete who gained
his first County vest this year.
In
the U20 ladies race, Beckie Taylor had a great run to finish in
3rd place against older opponents. The selectors made Beckie the
reserve for the GB team at the U20 World Champs so although there
wass a touch of disappointment it represented a great step up for
Beckie.
Meanwhile Blackburn Harriers Juniors finished off their excellent
season in fine style at the Darwen Gala Fell Race, Round 6 and the
final round of the FRA Junior Champs 2010.
Beckie Taylor won the Senior race, which also secured her the U18
National Title and guaranteed her selection to represent England
at the Home International Fell Champs in Ireland during September.
It was Beckie's first FRA Title and great reward for her hard work.
Elizabeth
Greenwood won the U12 Girls race and that also secured the U12 Title
for Elizabeth who won all 5 of the races she contested. Despite
being unable to race at Darwen, Polly Pearse also came an excellent
6th overall in the series. Sally Searson had a difficult last race
but should be pleased with her 4th overall in the U14 FRA Champs
in a very high calibre age group. Nina Stirrup in 10th and Sade
Kenyon in 12th gave us 3 series finishes in the U14 Girls and Jack
Hindle came a creditable 10th in the U14 Boys following further
improvement this season. Joe Pearse ran well in the early stages
of the season but as his track season blossomed, he was unable to
complete the series, but was still a vital member of the fell squad.
The
most dominant of our athletes this season was Esme Pearse in the
U10 Girls. Although not a Championship category, Esme has a clean
sweep with 6 wins in 6 races, a fantastic performance from our rising
star.
To round of the FRA Season in style though, Blackburn Harriers were
crowned the inaugural FRA Junior Club Champions. We lead from the
first race, and although the gap was closed a little mid season,
we finished it off in fine style at Darwen to take the title by
868 points to Wharfedale's 858 and Scarborough's 840.
Darwen also happened to be the Lancs Junior Fell Champs 2010. Beckie
Taylor and Elizabeth Greenwood picked up Golds. Sally Searson, Alan
McKeown and Dominic Mahoney Silvers and Sam Exton Bronze.
Dominic
and Alan gave the England selectors something to thnk about on their
FRA Fell debuts as they both took some notable scalps on the day
and they both joined Beckie on the trip to Dublin where Dominic
gained his first England vest in the U16s and Alan was travelling
reserve for the U18s.
In Ireland at the Junior Home International in September, Beckie
gained a super 3rd place and helped the England Team to a Gold medal
whilst Dominic came 6th and also won a Team Gold.
Unfortunately
the Ribble Valley 10k Road Race incorporating the 2010 Northern
10k Road Championships had to be cancelled at 8:10am this morning
- 27th December.
The
Course had been inspected on each of the four days prior to the
Race and deemed to be safe. At 5:45am on the morning of the Race
it was still clear and safe. We were then hit with a period of snow,
which covered the Race Route. Within an hour, the road surfaces
were covered with a combination of snow and slush. In addition,
a milk tanker had been stranded at the bridge just over half a mile
into the run, because it couldn't get up the first hill on the race,
even though it had tried three times to do so.
Taking
into account the state of the Race Course, the part blockage of
the road at such an early stage and the continuing weather conditions,
the decision was taken to call the race off in the interests of
ensuring the safety of all athletes, officials and public. The Local
Authority Event Safety Advisory Group were also contacted and they
endorsed the decision to call off the event.
We
immediately got the information out on www.ukresults.net ; local
radio stations, facebook and straight telephone calls to officials
and competitors.
We will be taking a decision on rescheduling shortly, so please
keep and eye out on www.ukresults.net
- or this website.
Thankyou
for all your patience and understanding and we sincerely apologise
for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.
Yours
in sport
Tony
Wood
Race
Director.
Centenary
Dinner - Friday Oct 15th 2010
Blackburn Harriers and Athletic Club celebrated 100 years of history
in magnificent style on Friday night at Ewood Park when 320 former
and current members attended a centenary dinner. The guest speaker
was Paul Dickenson, currently one of BBC Sports top athletic commentators,
who had flown back from the Commonwealth Games to be there on the
evening. His speech was a stylish performance remembering his association
with Blackburn as a teenager when he won an English Schools hammer
title at Witton Park and went on to compete in the big invitation
meetings that were held there in the 1970s whilst he competed for
his country in the Olympic Games. He was joined on the night by
Barry Williams another Olympian who broke the Commonwealth hammer
record at Witton Park
Current
President, George Kirby, was the centre of attention as he delivered
a wonderful speech reflecting on his many years with the club followed
by the current club chairman, Tony Wood, who had organised the evening
along with George Davies, the club secretary. Many past and present
stars of the Harriers attended from the 93 year old son of its first
chairman after the war, Percy Fish, and the grandson of its first
member in 1910, Bob Mason. Former World cross country championship
Michael Morton, Commonwealth Games middle distance runner Jason
Lobo were present joining many Blackburn stars and internationals
including possible future Olympians in world junior bronze medallist
Holly Bleasdale and world junior hammer champion Sophie Hitchon
in the celebrations.
Throughout
the night there was a continuous audio visual presentation with
photographs and film showing great moments in the history of the
club. It was indeed a fitting tribute to one of the most influential
sporting organisations in the North West. News was announced on
the night that a book on the history of the Club would be published
during the course of next year, written by Tony Wood, with the aptly
named title ‘Mill Town Spikes’ and if you wish to reserve
a limited edition copy please contact the author on run14@btinternet.com
or telephone 01254 703245.
(click
pics for larger versions)
World
Junior medals for Hitchon and Bleasdale
Sophie
wins gold!
Sophie
Hitchon and Holly Bleasdale claimed gold and bronze respectively
at the World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada. Sophie
threw 66.01 metres in the hammer to better her own UK junior record.
Pole vaulter Holly cleared 4.15m to finish third. Full report
on the BBC
website
Holly's
New Record Holly Bleasdale broke her own UK under 20 pole vault record
at Manchester’s SportCity on 13 June with a vault of 4:27
and winning the Northern Championship. Holly's previous UK record
of 4:25 was set earlier this year at the Loughbrough International
meeting
Holly's competition
saw her take the championship record of 4:05 with a 4:10 first time
clearance. Holly then set the bar at 4:27 for a new UK record which
she cleared first time much to the delight of spectators.
Holly
Bleasdale Under 20 Record Holder 4:27 at SportCity 13 June 2010
Lancs
Track and Field 2010 Championships
Blackburn Harriers had a great weekend in Blackpool on the 8th and
9th May coming away with 17 County titles and 7 Championship best
performances Results
(PDF - new window)
Lancs
AA Cross Country Championships 2010
Sat 9th Jan 2010, Witton Park
Results
here(new
window)
Three
Lancashire Champions! Ben Fish (senior), Karl Billington (junior
men) and Elizabeth Greenwood (u13 girls)
Club
HQ:
