On July 6th Blackburn Harriers UKYDL Upper Age Group team won the West 1 Division in the UKYDL and were promoted to the Premier Division for the 2026 season at the final match held at Ellesmere Port. Two weeks later, the Club’s Lower Age group team were back there at the same venue, looking to replicate the same result by winning the West 1 Division in the UKYDL Lower Age group – and they did just that, placing 2nd on the day, making it two wins and two second places in securing the title and promotion to the Premier Division in 2026. Final results from the day showed that Blackburn Harriers finished the season with 17 League points and 2005 Match points with West Cheshire on 17 and 1982; Bolton on 10 and 1578.5; Crewe on 9 and 1567; Deeside on 6 and 1569; Southport on 5 and 1048.5. Throughout the season it has been a very close fought encounter between Blackburn and West Cheshire with such very small margins separating the two teams. At Ellesmere Port, a number of completely new youngsters took on the responsibility of competing alongside others who agreed to take on extra events in order to make sure the team was always going to be competitive on the day, especially after falling back to be in 4th place at one stage in the afternoon. Great team spirit and commitment made sure that we went all the way. Team amanager Kate Taylor was over the moon with the result, telling us afterwards that she was “really proud to have managed such a fantastic group of young athletes and winning the league has been the icing on the cake! Everyone who has competed this season at the YDL has contributed points – it is overall points we won on as we had the same league points as West Cheshire! Over the 4 meetings, so many athletes have stepped up for the first time and competed in events they have never done before. Although wins and PBs are great, they do not win a league – it’s a team effort! Also a big thank you to Alison and all the officials who also earned us points for the win. Premier league next season – best get training!”
All photos on Blackburn Harriers Facebook Page — (HERE)
U15 Tynias Mensah had a great day setting a new PB in the 100m (12,0 & 1st in the B), set another new PB in the 200m (24.9 and 2nd in the B) and equalled his personal best in the High Jump with a clearance of 1.60m in winning the competition. Similarly, U15 Tomi Birch won his 100m A race in 11.8 followed by U15 Kai Addison running a new PB in the 200m (2nd in the B with 24.3) and then won the 300m A race in a new PB time of 39.1 alongside team mate U15 Oliver North winning the B 300m race in 40.9 – his first time ever over the distance and then going on to clock a new PB in the 800m, placing 2nd in the A race with 2.23.5 alomg with team mate U15 Callum McKone – a sprinter – who stepped in to help the team by running in the 800n B race in 3.00.03 and 3rd. There was another new PB for U15 Max Unthank as he clocked 4. 57.9 in 5th in the A 1500m with U15 Jack Sargent – a new member of the Club and never having competed before, taking on the B 1500m for the team and running 5.07.5 in 4th spot in the B. U15 Joseph McKay continued the new PB’s as he placed 3rd in the 80m Hurdles with 13.3 matched by also clocking 13.3 for a huge new PB in the B race by James Acton-Grieves. The Long Jump saw U15 Zakariya Haq in 4th place with 4.07m and Callum McKone in 3rd in the B with 3.90m, whilst James Acton-Grieves won the B U15 High Jump with a clearance of 1.50m. Great sight too for the team – having two U15 Boys doing the Pole Vault which saw James Acton-Grieves place 2nd in the A (2.20m) and Zac Lawrence at his first ever Pole Vault competition, clearing 1.80m to win the B. Kai Addison and Zakariya Haq kept the wins coming and the points total climbing as they paired up in winning the A & B Shot Putt with throws of 9.42m and 7.30m respectively, both of which were new PB’s for the lads. In the Shot Putt, new member Jack Sargent took on the Discus for the first time, finishing 3rd in the A (13.24m) whilst in the B Joseph McKay set a new PB of 12.12m in 2nd spot; Joseph also took on the Javelin in the B (4th with 8.69m) alongside team mate Zakariya Haq in 4th spot in the A with 26.56m.
Tynias Mensah (11)
Tomi Birch (1)
Kai Addison (1)
The U15 Girls 100m had Niamh Boland in 4th place (13.2) whilst in the B Dana Juma clocked 13.6 in 3rd spot in the B. The 200m had Darcie Belshaw and Seren Gooden pairing up – Darcie finishing in 26.8 (3rd in the A) which equaled her personal best whilst Seren did the same, equaling her best time of 29.2 in 4th in the B. Darcie then teamed up with Imogen Boardman in the 300m for another double win as Imogen won the A in 43.8 – Darcie winning the B in 44.9. Charlotte Smith ran 2.35.2 in the A 800m (5th) whilst sprinter Anvitha Reddy – who has never raced over 200m previously – answered the call to run the B 800m in 2.50.3 and 2nd spot in the B. Millie Jordan placed 2nd in the A 1500m (4.50.6) and that after a hugely competitive last 8 days whilst in the 75m Hurdles earlier in the day Emelia Fothergill ran 14.4 (5th in the A) with Charlotte Smith, although under the weather, still competed in the B running 15.5 in 4th. Seren Gooden and Alessia Rawcliffe took on the Long Jump – Seren 5th in the A (3.42m) having never done Long Jump previously and Alessia 6th in the B (3.18m). Another double win in the U15 Girls Shot Putt where Dana Juma set a new PB of 9.57m in winning the A and team mate Madeline Partridge won the B with 8.55m – and prior to that Madeline won the Hammer qwith a throw of 33.90m and took 3rd spot in the Discus with 18.80m. In the final throws event, Dana placed 5th in the A (14.07m) and Niamh Boland 3rd in the B (12.35m).
Darcie Belshaw (1)
Anvitha Reddy (11)
Charlotte Smith
Madeline Partridge
In the U13 age group Noah Briscoe did his first competition on July 5th and expemlified the spirit on the day as he got stuck into the 75m – 4th in the A with 10.6 alongside team mate Xuanaqiao Llang who won the B in 10.4 after which he went on to clock 20.2 in 4th place in the A 150m with team mate Harrison Holden in 4th in the B race with a new PB of 22.1 and, like Noah in his first season only recently of competitive athletics. Ryker Hanson and William Fairwood ran the 800m – Ryker clocking a new PB of 2.39.8 pwith William placing 5th in the B (2.52.4) and his first time over the distance. Morgan Watson and Edward Russell-Blackburn paired for the 1200m – Morgan running 4.04.2 in 4th place and Edward 3rd in the B with 4.14.4.The Long Jump added more big points to the team total as Harry Mitchell – another new member of the team and his first competition – leapt out to 4.23m in the A (2nd) whilst Noah Briscoe won the B with a new PB jump of 4.20m whilst in the High Jump Edward Russell-Blackburn cleared 1.05m in 6th place. U13 Henry Iddon had a good day in the Throws – winning the Javelin with 30.68m and Harrison Holden making it a double win as he took the B with a throw of 21.22m. In the Shot Putt, Henry placed 4th (5.47m) with team mate Harrison throwing 4.33m in 2nd place in the B Shot Putt.
Xuanaqiao Llang (1)
Harry Mitchell
Edward Russell-Blackburn (1)
Ella Taylor and Molly Keen teamed up in the U13 Girls 75m – Ella placing 5th in the A (10.9) with Molly in 5th in the B (11.6) and her first time ever in competition. Ella also ran the 150m in 3rd spot in the A (21.3) whilst India Gooden ran the B in 5th spot (23.5) and her first time over the distance and just her third ever comptition. Pippa Blackburn, ribbon in her hair, ran the 800m in 2.58.3 (6th) whilst in the 1200m two new young girls ran – Florence Molyneaux 5th in the A (4.31.6) and Mollie Pickup 4th in the B (4.43.8) — great team spirit showed by these young athletes and done with enthusiasm. Ella Taylor and Hannah Moore took on the Long Jump – Ella 4th in the A with 3.84m and Hannah 2nd in the B with 3.62m, whilst in the High Jump Hannah came 2nd in the A with 1.35m the same clearance height as the winner with India taking 3rd in the B (1.15m). In the Throws Kalista Harrington and India Gooden went in the Shot Putt – Kalista 4th in the A with a new PB of 4.72m and India 3rd in the B (4.26m) – going on to the Javelin where Kalista set another new PB of 7.86m in 5th place.
India Gooden (11)
Mollie Pickup (11)
Overall the team came second in the track results with 161 points behind West Cheshire the home club with 173, we won the field programme with 202.0 points from West Chesire (194.5) and also won the Realsy on the day totaling 44.0 points with West Cheshire (39.0).
Tomi Birch, Zakariya Haq, Kai Addison, Tomi Birch won the U15 Boys 4 x 100m in 50.4 and in the U15 4 x 300m relays Jack Sargent, James Acton-Grieves, Oliver North, Max Unthank – mainly endurance runners – came 4th in 2.59.8. Imogen Boardman, Niamh Boland, Darcie Belshaw, Caris Peter-Thomas won the U15 Girls 4 x 100m in 52.8 in the most appalling conditions with black clouds and torrential rain the whole way through – and there was a further win in the U15 Girls 4 x 300m with Darcie Belshaw, Charlotte Smith, Alessia Rawcliffe, Millie Jordan coming first in 3.04.2. Harry Mitchell, Noah Briscoe, Harrison Holden, Xuanquiao Llang – a new team with two new members came 2nd in the U13 4 x 100m in 56.1 – just one second outside the Club Record in their first attempt. In the U13 Girls 4 x 100m Ella Taylor, Hannah Moore, Molly Keen, Mollie Pickup – again with two new members placed 4th with a time of 59.8.
Ξ
On a different terrain, and with a terrific performance, Helen Leigh was running for Scotland at the International Snowdon Race on Saturday July 19th. Helen recently was first V40 at the Scottish 10k Trail Championships and 5th overall in the Women’s race and had been selected as part of ther Scottish team to race at Snowden. The race is described on its website as “Held annually in Llanberis, Wales, the race challenges participants with a 15.35-kilometer course that includes a grueling ascent to the summit of Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales. This race isn’t just about endurance; it’s a test of mental and physical fitness, requiring runners to navigate steep inclines and unpredictable weather” Helen had a fine race, exemplifying the form that she has show over the last couple of years, placing 10th in the Women’s race with a time of 1hr 28.09 and was third counter for Scotland as they came 3rd in the International Team race. Speaking to Helen after the race, she told us that it wasn’t “Not a bad debut! It was ridiculously hot but I managed about a minute pb to the summit and a small one overall. Always hungry for more, proud to get my first international vest at 40“.(RESULTS)
Helen Leigh (4) with the Scotland Team
