Blackburn Harriers Matt Ramsden was selected to represent GB at the European Cup 10000m – run on Saturday evening – May 23rd – in Italy being placed in the B Race. Going into the race, Matt had run a personal best of 29.16.07 in winning the UK 10000m Championships in Birmingham in June 2025. Since then, he has recently run a personal best and Club record of 7.50.48 for 3000m on May 9th in Ireland and before that won the Podium 5k in Leicester with a new personal best of 13.34 on the road as well as a 13.39 in the Armagh 5k (February) in 2nd place. The evening was very warm and certainly had an impact on the race as Matt identified, tellung us that “it was tough in the heat and i knew I just had to race it tactically as it was very slow“. Matt’s tactics worked perfectly. At the bell, with 400m to go, Matt lay in 2nd place, tracking the Italian athlete who had made a comeback after four consecutive 3.00 minute kilomenters. As the pace gathered on the back straight, Matt looked ready to strike, which he did with 150m to go and the result wasn’t in doubt as he powered down the home straight to take the win in 29.11.70

(Race Video – start at 53.30 through to 1hr 23.11)

Post Race Interview

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In Belgium on Sunday May 24th, Blackburn Harriers Abigail McAndrew raced over 1500m having just won the BUCS 1500m Championships at Cardiff in which she ran Heats (won in 4.36.69); Semi-Finals (won in 4.26.93) and the Final won in 4.24.23. In Belgium, Abigail was in Heat 2 of three 1500m Heats – forty six athletes in total, posting 20 new personal bests amongst them. Abigail just missed a new personal best by half a second as she clocked 4.17.00 in her Heat. (RESULTS) Abigail spoke to the Harriers and as she explains, her experiences leading upo to the race were not ideal to say the least – “Fantastic experience I loved the track, can’t wait to come back next year! Very unideal prep after turning up to the airport and our flight being over booked and them not letting us on the plane, meaning we then had to fly to Amsterdam do my shake out run in Amsterdam then get the train to Brussels, which was very stressful! However really happy with the result considering all that and the 30 degree weather, so fills me full of confidence going into the rest of the season!“.

Abigail McAndrew

Abigail McAndrew diving for the line in her Blackburn Harriers vest and red bottoms – thanks to Jenny McAndrew for the photo.

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Over in America, Blackburn Harriers David Holman was competing over 1500m in the US National Division 2 Championships on Friday and Saturday May 22nd/23rd. David had a comnfortable race in the qualifier on Friday, clocking 3.49 80 to go through to the Final the day after. In the Final he clocked 3.50.04 in 6th place. David stold us about his race afterwards saying ” I positioned myself 2nd with a lap to go in the perfect position. Let people pass me too easily on the back straight but tried to close back and ran a 53 last lap just enough for 6th” With personal bests of 1.51.12 (800m); 3.39.80 (1500m); 3.57.99 (Mile Indoors); 8.00.68 (3000m Indoors), there is clearly a lot more to come. 

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Bank Holiday Sunday saw the Harriers competing in Liverpool in the UKYDL (UAG) Match which was the second of the three match Premier West Division. Having placed 4th in the first Match, there was everything to play for in the second, which unfortunately clashed with the Northern Inter-Counties match at Shildon, the day after. Clashes of this sort do not do Clubs and more importantly, their athletes,any favours. The pressure to to win a county vest mitigates against clubs being able to put out their best teams and clearly, compoetition organisers need to take this into account. Provisional results show North Wales winning with 556 points; Trafford (519); Liverpool (458); Blackburn (411); Wigan (411); Wirral (369); West Cheshire (304). So it is all hands to the pump for the final fixture on July 12th at Ellesmere Port.

All photos on Blackburn Harriers Facebook Page — (HERE)

Heat had an impact throughout the day, particularly in the endurance events, but generally speaking, for everyone. In the U20 Sprints Keir Michieand Oliver Jones took 3rd and 4th places respectovely – 12.00 and 12.51 whilst in the 200m Logan McCredie set a new PB of 24.00 in 3rd with team mate Oliver Jones– 2nd in the B (24.92) and just one hundreth out side his personal best. Loganmade it a double new PB of the day in the 400m, clocking 52.68 in 4th alongside team mate Ethan Cutler winning the B and taking maximum points (53.15). Agata Tomasz and Evie Fort paired for the U20 Women’s 100m – Agata 5th (14.03) and Evie 4th in the B (14.12). Isabella Finnthen joined with Evie in the 200m – Isabella ruinning 29.18 in 5th alongside Evie in the B race 3rd in 29.02. The mixed 4 x 400m relays saw Ethan Cutler – Lottie Smith – Bella McCredie – Logan McCredie combine place 3rd in a time of 3.59.04. In the second of the two 4 x 400m mixed relays, Loucas Lancashire – Holly Moffatt – Evie Fort – Peter Sagar-Mossalso placed 4rd in 4.16.71. In the Women’s 4 x 100m Blackburn Harriers placed 5th in 54.02 (Grace Ilunga – Evie Fort – Agata Tomasz – Isabella Finn). Millie Pilkington took 3rd spot in the 400m Hurdles (82.69) whilst in the U18 men’s 4 x 100m the Harriers team of Keir Michie – Louis Crake – Jack Duxbury – Oliver Jones clocked 46.17 in 3rd spot. Thomas North – Matthew Haxton – George Holman – Max Belshaw combined to take 2nd place in the U18 Men’s 4 x 400m in 3.43.14.   Jack Duxbury and Louis Crakewent in the U18 Men’s 100m – Jack clocking 12.18 in 5th spot alongside team mate Louis who clocked 12.88 in 4th. Keir Michie clocked 23.61 in 4th spot in the 200 as Louis set himself a new PB of 25.87 in the B (6th). Thomas North and Theo Robinson took on the U18’s 400m – Thomas clocking 56.11 in 4th place in the A – his first ever track race in the League whilst Theo smashed his personal best, clocking a new PB of 57.92 in 5th spot. Isabella Finn and Grace iLungaran 13.86 (5th) and 14.41 (5th in the B) in the U18 Women’s 100m followed by Agata Tomasz and Grace teaming up for the 200 – Agata 5th in the A with a new PB (28.09) and Grace 5th in the B (30.48). Lottie Smith clocked 67.50 in 5th in the 400m.

L-R Logan McCredie – Thomas North – Theo Robinson – Ethan Cutler

In the U20 Men’s 800m Ethan Cutler and Matt Haxton teamed up – Ethan running 2.08.63 in 5th and Matt winning the B in 2.05.57. Hats off to Peter Sagar-Moss who took on the 3000m – only two athletes in the race and finished 2nd in 10.30.26 – the heat clearly having an impact. Holly Moffatt ran in 3rd spot in the U20 Women’s 800m (2.24.67) with team mate Isabella Pacelli winning the B in 2.27.06 – just half a second outside her best. Hats off also to Freya Neild who won the Women’s 3000m in 11.04. 33 after holding herself in 2nd place and finishing strongly down the home straight. Theo Robinson had never done a 3000m previously and ran well in the U18 race clocking 9.47.87 in 2nd place with his team mate Liam Bennison winning the B in 10.49.99. Max Belshaw and George Holman took on the U18 Men’s 800m – Max clocking 2.03.76 in 3rd in the A with team mate George in 2nd spot in the B – chopping five seonds off his previous best in setting a new PB of 2.09.85. Lottie Smith had a really good run in the U18 Women’s 800m – winning the race in 2.34.62.

L-R Liam Bennison – Theo Robinson – Peter Sagar-Moss

In the Jumps events, Logan McCredie leapt out to 5.52m in 4th place in the Long Jump as Millie Pilkington helped the team by taking on the U20 Women’s Long Jump – 3.58m in 3rd place. A good clearance saw Imogen Robinson take 2nd place in the U20 Women’s High Jump (1.40m). Keir Michie and Louis Crake jumped 5.29m and 4.85m for 3rd and 2nd places respectively in the U18’s Long Jump as team mate Oliver Jones jumped 10.91m in the Triple Jump (5th). Isabella Finn won the U18 Women’s Long Jump with 4.65m as Tamzin Osborne placed 2nd in the U18 Women’s Pole Vault with a clerance of 2.95m.

Imogen Robinson

Peter Sagar-Moss continued a busy day for him with a 4th place in the Shot Putt (7.60m) with Loucas Lancashire throwing a new PB of 8.44m (6th) in the U18 men’s Shot Putt alongside team mate Thomas North throwing 5.24m in the B (3rd) who had never done Shot Putt previously. Loucas them teamed up with Liam Bennison in the Discus – Loucas placing 5th in the A (23.41m) and Liam 3rd in the B (19.64m) never having thrown that weight previously. Finishing the Men’s Throws events for the Harriers – Loucas Lancashire threw 40.96m in the A Javelin (3rd) with Peter Sagar-Moss taking 2nd in the B with a distance of 37.49m. In the Women’s Throws Bella McCredie helped the team by taking on the Shot Putt (5.28m in 7th) as well as the Discus, throwing 12.57m in 4th – Bella, one of those athletes who competed at Liverpool and was also competing in the Lancashire team at Shildon the day after. Kady Thompson like Loucas did all three throws events taking a 4th place in the U20 Women’s Shot Putt with 6.27m, took 3rd spot in the Discus (15.89m) and 2nd spot in the Javelin (22.63m) which was a great help in the accumulation of club points on the day.

Kady Thompson

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At Shildon on Bak Holiday Monday the Northern Inter-Counties took place in baking hot weather, the Lancashire team featuring a whole host of Blackburn Harriers U16 and U18 athletes. U18 George Camara got the day off to a great start with a win and a new PB of 14.98 in the 110m Hurdles. There was also a new PB for James Acton-Grieves in the U16 100m Hurdles placing 5th in 15.19 in the A Final with Joseph McKay running in the B Final and taking 6th place in 16.61. James went on to secure his second new PB of the day when he leapt out to 5.61m in the Long Jump – placing 5th out of 18 athletes. U16 Caris Peter-Thomas set herself a new PB of 12.46 in 2nd place in the 100m B Final, followed by another new PB of 10.98m in the Shot Putt from U16 Dana Juma who took 3rd place. U16 Madeline Partridge placed 3rd in the Hammer cvompetition with a throw of 40.51m. There was a third place too for U18 Emma Robertshaw in the 3000m running 12.04.22 with U18 Jack Wood running 9.30.69 in 7th place in his 3000m race. Another second place for U16 Tomi Birch in the 100m A Final as he clocked 11.57. In the 800m U18 Max Winstanley won the B Final in 2.00.30 as Bella McCredie clocked 2.29.77 in 7th in the U18 Girls race. U18 Lottie Hesketh came home in 5th place in the 1500m running a time of 5.10.17 – congratulations to all the endurance athltes who ran in the heat, which is never easy. U18 Agatha Taylor clocked 59.36 finshing 3rd in the 400m and in the U18 Boys 400m Matthew Sharples clocked 50.73 in 3rd place in the A Final. In the U18 Women’s Pole Vault – Tamzin Osborne cleared a seasons best 3.10m to take the win. U18 George Camara – lancashire Team Captain – ended the day as he started, with a new PB in the Long Jump with a leap of 5.45m.

Photos courtesy of Georgina McCredie

Max Winstanley Video winning 800m

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Friday evening on May 22nd, in warm temperatures, the Mid Cheshire 5k was won by Harry Johnson in 14.07 with Calum Johnson in 2nd (14.11) and Owen Roberts in 3rd (14.12). Three Blackburn Harriers lined up at the start – Ross Harrison, William Grundy, James Bretherto and Libby Huxley. Leading the Harriers on the night, Ross finished in 24th place with a time of 14.42 and was pleased with his performance after having only just had four consecutive weeks of training. U18 William came home in 141st overall and 26th in his age category with a time of 15.50 whilst V45 James ran 16.02 in 187th place overall and 9th V45. Libby’s last race was over cross country in November 2025 some six months ago and she ran a fine race here, running 16.15 to place 5th in the Women’s Race. (RESULTS)

The latest race in the Accrington Fell & Trail Series, Accrington, Lancashire took place at the Priestley Clough Trail 5, Baxenden on Wednesday May 20th featuring 115 runners. (RESULTS). Blackburn Harriers duo – Peter Sagar-Moss and Liam Bennison took part in this one and having been running in the whole Series to-date. Pter placed 13th overall and 5th U18 with a time of 35.44 whilst team mate Liam Bennison came home in 21st overall in a time of 37.28. In the Series to-date Liam is riding high in 4th place overall for the four races to-date and 2nd U20. Peter lies in 23rd place having done 3 races. One day prior – Tuesday May 19th, Bendict Raby and Peter Sagar-Moss ran at the Mearley Clugh Fell Race – U16 Bendict placing 6th overall in a time of 35.30 alongside Peter who came home in 8th place, running 36.50 out of a field of 143 runners. (RESULTS)

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