This weeks round up of Blackburn Harriers athletes and teams in action come from different partsd of the country and indeed the world. Starting off in the US, well done to David Holman who produced another fine race, even if under some difficulty as he took on the 1500m outdoors for the second time this season having posted a 3.40 time in winning his opener. David competed at the Wake Forest Invitational run over April 16/17th and clocked another time of 3.40.69 in 9th place and, as he told the Club after the race, “Very disappointed with that. 2 people fell infront of me with 600 to go, used too much energy to close the gap back to the pack at 900-1100. Had nothing in the last 200. Was the perfect race to run fast but one of those days. The fitness is there to run a 3:36-3:37, it will come“. Nothwithstanding the impediment he suffered during the race, a sub 3.40 clocking looks to be very much on the cards as his season develops.
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Back in Britain and this time in Scotland with Blackburn Harriers Isabel Holt and Ben Makin taking on the Flat ‘N Fast 6 5k race there. It was a good trip for Ben as he posted a new PB and his first time under 15.00, comimng home in 38th place with a time of 14.58.5 with 1k splits of 2.53.1; 2.52.0; 2.54.4; 2.53.0; 2.52.8 which was impressive consistency of pace throughout. Similar too for Isabel who posted a top 6 place in 6th in the Women’s race posting a time of 16.43.5 with consecutive 1k split times of 3.07.7; 3.11.7; 3.11.4; 3.17.5; 3.18.7. (RESULTS)
Ben Makin (2nd from right)
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On to the Fells next and this time with Maddie Elliott who took on the Burnsall 12k at the weekend and went and won the Women’s race in a time of 55.27. A delighted athlete spoke to the Harriers after here race, telling us that she “Mixed things up a bit at the weekend and did the Due North Burnsall 12K Trail race! Wanted to try something a bit different & I absolutely loved it! Managed to get the win & will definitely try to do the next race in the series too!” (RESULTS)
Maddie Elliott – (Photo courtesey of Jumpy James)
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Back on the road and this weekend – Sunday April 19th – saw the running of the Manchester Marathon featuring over 28000 starters including a number of Blackburn Harriers all taking part. Paul Bradshaw was first home on the day posting a time of 2hr 57.33. A big shout out to Rachel Wood nwho last ran a Marathon seven years ago and since then has had two children, managing to squeeze in a coupole of races in 2025. Rachel had a very good day indeed, posting a time of 3 hr 04.54 proving that if you work for it, you can still do it. Hollie Cubbon was running to raise money for the Charity that supports patients with Parkinsons Disease, finmsihing in 3hr 41.34 so well done to her for her efforts and the cause she ran for. Katie Buckingham decided at the last moment to jump in and run, with no marathon training behind her but still managed to run 3hr 58.01 – but that’s Katie! Eva Knowles was another Blackburn Harrier running to raise money for the Christie Charity and finishing up with a time of 4hr 51.38 – great effort in support of an excellent cause. Kiera Booth also ran the race in a time of 5hrs 01.36 (RESULTS)
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The weekend of April 18th and 19th was full with track and field competition – Saturday April 18th being the first fixture of this years Mid Lancs League held at Blackpool in indifferent weather with strong winds and Sunday saw the first Match of this years UKYDL Upper Age Group Premier Division being held at Witton Park in Blackburn, on a day filled for the most part with sunshine and you’ve guessed it, some wind! A busy weekend for the Officials too who are often forgotten and our thanks go to them for all the work and effort that they put into these days. Without them, there wouldn’t be any competition.
Spectators at Mid Lancs
All Mid Lancs T&F Photos on Blackburn Harriers Facebbok Page – (HERE)
At the Mid Lancs Blackpool fixture, Blackburn Harriers had nearly sixty athletes attending and competing. Ben Clarke placed 9th in the 800m race which had 17 athletes in it, clocking 2.37.3 whilst in the 3000m U18 Peter Sagar-Moss ran 10.16.5 in winning the U18 race in his first attempt at the distance on the track. U16 Max Unthank ran himself a new PB of 2.24.9 in the 800m (9th) and given the wind, it was a fine time. U14 Thomas Stewart clocked 2.23.5 in 2nd spot in the 800m featuring 15 runners whilst in the 1500m U14 Ben Hawksworth clocked 5.22.4 which was a big new PB by over seven seconds with U18 Liam Bennison clocking 4.52.2 in 3rd place in the 1500m. U12 Archie Moffatt ran Heat 1 of the 600m in a time of 2.20.7 (13th) and in Heat 2 Harry Holden placed 5th in 2.04.2 alongside Harris Rawlinson who ran 2.07.3 in 7th. In the Senior Women’s 800m Rebecca Ward placed 2nd in a time of 2.34.8 and in the Senior Women’s 3000m race, Ellen Sagar-Hesketh ran 11.17 in second place whilst Natalie Jordan, ran her first race for the Club in a time of 13. 32.3 placing 5th out of the nine strong field. U16 Eleanor Jenner placed 5th in Heat 1 of the 800m clocking 2.41.7 whilst in the 1500m there was an impressive win for U16 Millie Jordan as she headed the field to take the win in 4.47.5 – the race being run in some of the worst conditions. U14 Lily-Mae Newton running her first track race for the Club took 3rd spot in the 800m, clocking 2.33.9 in Heat 1 alongside Pippa Blackburn posting a time of 2.51.1 in 10th and Mollie Pickup placing 14th in 3.05.8. Ruby Govier and Mya Chadwick went in Heat 2 – Ruby placing 5th in 2.48.2 and Mya 9th in 2.59.8 – both of them running in their very first track races. U14 Sophie Douglas completed the middle distance races for Harriers youngsters clocking 5.27.8 in 4th place of the 1500m which was a new PB by a massive 30 seconds.
Millie Jordan (59)
In the U16 Boys sprints there were 5 Heats – Tomi Birch clocking 11.9 (2nd ) in Heat 1; Joshua Carrier ran a new PB time by four tenths of 13.0 (3rd) in Heat 3; James Astley clocked a big new PB by over half a second of 12.8 (4th) in Heat 4 and Heat 5 saw a win for Emmanuel Adewunmi in 11.9. Two Heats in the U16 Boys 300m – Elliot James clocking 38.2 in 2nd place of Heat 1 and 4th overall out of the two Heats. U16 Joseph McKay placed 2nd in the 100m Hurdles (17.3) in his first frace over the distance having moved up from 80m Hurdles. The U14 Boys 100m had six Heats – Billy Rowbotton winning Heat 1 in a new PB by half a second of 12.4 with Isaac Doolan in 2nd running a massive new PB by nearly three seconds of 12.8. Thomas Stewart ran 14.2 in 4th of Heat 2 as part of his warm up for the 800m followed in Heat 3 by Noah Briscoe placing 2nd in 13.9. Heat 5 had Hector Kazemi running 15.5 in 4th spot in his first track race for the Club. Five Heats too in the U16 Women’s 100m – Abigail Awe placing 4th in Heat 1 with a new PB time of 13.8; Dana Juma posting 14.1 in 5th place (Heat 2) and Daisy Gardner clocking a new PB time of 14.2 in 4th spot (Heat 4). Rebecca Rowlings came 5th in the U16 Girls 300m (Heat 2) with a new PB time of 47.8, an improvement by half a second. Eight Heats in the U14 Girls 100m – Ava Shannon taking 4th spot in Heat 1 with a new PB of 14.1; Amelie Morris in Heat 2 clocking a new PB by half a second of 14.6 in 4th; Ruby Govier in Heat 3 taking 6th place in 15.4; Grace Topping winning Heat 5 in 13.9 and Mia Logan clocking a new PB of 15.3 in Heat 6 (3rd). Just one runner in the U75’s for U12’s and that was Amelia Holden who ran 12.7 in 3rd spot of Heat 4.
L-R — Lily-Mae Newton – Mya Chadwick – Pippa Blackburn – Mollie Pickup – Ruby Gover
In Jumps and Throws – Alex Burns-Groves was the only athlete in the U18 High Jump where he cleared 1.65m whilst in the U18 Men’s Javelin Peter Sagar-Moss threw 30.28m in 3rd spot. In the U16 Boys Long Jump Zakariya Haq placed 5th with a new PB leap of 4.67m with James Astley in 6th replicating the distance of 4.67m and setting a new PB for the event. Zak followed that up with a huge new PB in the Shot Putt of 8.92m in 2nd place and then made it a hat-trick of new PB’s in the Javelin, throwing 32. 05m in 4th spot. Harry Mitchell won the U14 Boys Long Jump which had 18 athletes in it, leaping out to 4.39m and that was foillowed by a first and third in the U14 Boys Shot Putt – Matthew Griffiths winning with a throw of 9.82m with William Jenner in 3rd spot throwing a new PB of 8.06m. Another first and second in the U14 Boys Javelin with Henry Iddon winning with a throw of 29.03m alongside team mate Matthew Griffiths in 2nd place (18.28m). Henry then placed 5th in the Discus with 14.37m. Harris Rowlinson and Harry Holden both went in the U12 Boys Long Jump – Harris placing 12th with 3.18m and Harry 16th (2.92m). Lia Cooper was the only athlete in the U18 Women’s High Jump clearing 1.25m and jumping into a horrible headwind. U16 Abigail Awe took on the Long Jump placing 9th out 18 with 3.65m followed by Dana Juma, Madeline Partridge and Marika Behnke taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the U16 Girls Shot Putt – Dana throwing a big new PB of 10.22m Madeline also throwing a new PB of 9.55m with Marika making it three new PB’s in the event with 8.66m. In The Discus Madeline won the event with a massive new PB by six metres throwing 30.50m, with Marika Behnke in 2nd place throwing 18.12m and Imogen Cripps in 3rd place 17.52m – Marika following that up with a 2nd place in the Javelin throwing a new PB of 24.37m. U14 Hannah Moore had a good day wimnning the High Jump clearing 1.33m and then leapt out to 3.73m in the Long Jump in 10th spot of of a competition featuring 25 athletes. Jenna McKinlay threw a new PB of 6.85m in the U14 Girls Shot Putt with the final event in Throws – the U12 Girls Javelin – being won by Amelia Holden with a distance of 10.16m.
Harry Mitchell
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Day 2 of the track and field weekend took place at Witton Park Arena on Sunday April 19th which was the first match in this years UKYDL Upper Age Group Premier West Division featuring Blackburn Harriers, Liverpool Harriers, North Wales, Trafford, West Cheshire, Wigan and Wirral. Blackburn hHarriers finished 4th on the day and although we had a number of athletes missing the team manager – Kate Taylor – did a great job of trying to cover as many events as possible. There also some very good performances from the athletes with athletes filling in and competing in the U20’s as U18’s too and in the process, recoding 26 new personal bests. Thanks also once again to our Officials organised by Alison Hulme who gave such a lot over the weekend.
All UKYDL Photos on Blackburn Harriers Facebook Page — (HERE
L-R — Sam Aspey – Logan McCredie – Holly Moffatt – Isabelle Perry – Agatha Taylor – Bella McCredie – Lottie Smith – Ethan Cutler
In the U20 Men’s Sprints Charlie Palich led the way with a win in the U20 100m clocking 11.1 with team mate U18 Keir Michie making it a double win by taking the B race in a new PB time of 11.6. In the 200m (U18) Matthew Sharples clocked 23.1 in 4th spot whilst in the B race Logan McCredie set himself a new PB of 24.1 in 2nd spot. Logan later ran the 400m A race clocking 54.1 in 3rd whilst Ethan Cutler won the B race in a massive new PB of 52.9. In the mixed U20 4 x 400m the Harriers came 3rd with 3.55.1 (Ethan Cuitler, Holly Moffat, Isabelle Perry, Logan McCredie).
The U20 Womens 100m had U18 Grace iLunga in the A race clocking 14.2 (6th) alongside U18 Agata Tomasz running a new PB by half a second of 13.9 in 6th in the B. U18 Isabella Finn ran 28.9 in 5th in the U20 200m alongside Agatha Taylor who placed 2nd in the B with 26.7 – a new PB by some three seconds. Isabella Pacelli went in the U20 Women’s 400m clocking 69.4 in 6th place – her first time over the distance; And in the 400m Hurdles Millie Pilkington was the only U20 athlete in the race and clocked 84.7.
Charlie Palich
Our U18 Men had Ernie Hobson chopping nearly four tenths off his best as set a new PB of 11.4 in 5th spot with team mate Jack Duxbury placing 3rd in the B with 12.1 also a new PB. Keir Michie then joined Ernie Hobson in the 200m – Keir placing 4th in 23.9 with Ernie winning the B race in a new PB time of 23.2. Matthew Sharples was having a fine day and no more so than in the 400m, winning it a new PB time of 50.7 with Oliver Jones placing 3rd in the B with a new outdoor PB of 57.7. Very good results in the Relays too as Jack Duxbury, Matthew Sharples, Ernie Hobson, Keir Michie won the 4 x 100 in 46.0 whilst in the 4 x 400m (Max Belshaw, Matthew Haxton, Oliver Jones, Sam Aspey came 2nd in 3.39.4. George Camara was taking on the 110m Hurdles for the first time, progressing up in distance and did well, placing 2nd in a time of 15.7.
Isabella Finn and Evie Fort paired up for the U18 Women’s 100m – Isabella placing 5th with a new PB of 13.4 with team mate Evie in 5th in the B race (14.5). Evie was then joined by Grace iLunga in the 200m – Grace clocking 30.0 in 6th whilst Evie ran 29.4 in 6th in the B race. Agatha Taylor clocked her second new PB of the day in winning the 400m in 59.3 whilst Lottie Smith ran 66.5 in 5th place in the B. Evie Fort, Isabella Finn, Gravce iLunga, Agata Tomasz placed 4th in the 4 x 100m (53.4) and in the 4 x 400m Bella McCredie, Lily Green, Isabelle Perry, Lottie Smith combined ot take 3rd place in 4.26.5.
Agatha Taylor (A)
Turning to Middle Distance and U18’s Jack Wood and Matthew Haxton ran in the U20’s 800m – Jack chopped a whopping five seconds off his best, clocking a new PB of 2.07 whilst team mate Matthew placed 3rd in the B also ran a new PB of 2.06.8. There was another new PB in the 1500m for Ethan Cutler, another athlete having a good day as he knocked some five seconds off his best to set a new PB of 4.21.3 in 3rd spot. U18’s Holly Moffatt and Isabelle Perry ran the U20 Women’s 800m – Holly clocking 2.26.2 in 2nd spot whilst Isabelle won the B in 2.31.7 with a five second improvement and a new PB of 2.31.7 whilst in the U20 Women’s 1500m – Freya Neild ran 5.07.0 in 5th alongside Isabelle Pacelli in 2nd in the B (5.18.0). Max Belshaw and Theo Robinson were the Harriers pairing in the U18 800 – Max placing 6th in a new PB time of 2.02.6 with Theo on 6th palce in the B (2.09.3) which was also a new PB by three seonds. Max Winstanley and Jack Wood took on the 1500m and it was personal best for both of them as Max clocked a new PB of 4.12.21 in 2nd alongside team mate Jack who was in 2nd in the B race,whilst on the U18 Women’s 800m there was a new PB for Bella McCredie (2nd) in 2.24.3 as team mate Lily Green clocked 2.37.8 which was also a new PB by close to six seconds. In the 1500m Lottie Hesketh placed 3rd in the A with 5.14.8 whilst Emma Robertshaw placed 2nd in the B with 5.25.5.
L-R — Max Winstanley – Jack Wood
In the field Logan McCredie jumped 4.99m in the U20 Men’s Long Jump for 4th spot whilst in the U18’s Keir Michie placed 4th (5.23m) and Louis Crake won the B with a jump of 4.92m and a new PB by close to half a metre. Alex Burns-Groves cleared 1.55m in the High jump (4th) after coming straight from playing a football match. George Camara who had also been playing that morning, had just one jump in the U18 Triple Jump and cleared 11.53m for 2nd place with team mate Oliver Jones winning the B with a distance of 11.03m, a new PB by a full metre. Loucas Lancashire and Jack Wood took on the Shot Putt – Loucas coming 4th with a new PB of 7.95m and Jack 2nd in the B (6.10m). Loucas also took on Discus and Javelin – placing 4th in the Discus with a new PB of 26.00 and then 3rd in the Javelin with 42.08m.
Grace iLunga and Isabella Finn were the pairing in the U18 Long Jump – Grace taking 4th place (4.46m) and Isabella 2nd in the B (4.26m). Lia Cooper equalled her personal best in the High Jump, clearing 1.40m, with three athletes all at the same height. Tamzin Osborne was in the Pole Vault and placed 3rd on countback with 2.90m the same as the other women in the competition. Lottie Hesketh and Bella McCredie took on the U18 Shot Putt – Lottie 6th (5.60m) and Bella 4th in the B (5.11m). Bella was then joined by Evie Fort for the Discus – Bella 6th (12.07m) and Evie 4th in the B (10.49m).
Tamzin Osborne
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