Matt Ramsden was selected to represent England in a four man team at the European 10k Road Race Under 20 – Trofeo Opitergium on Saturday September 17th – the four athletes also incluidng Rowan Miell-Ingam (Radley), Sam Hodgson (WSE&H), Daniel Maydew (Wells City). (U20 Italy Race Results).
(Race Video – starts at 5.45 in)
England U20 10k and 5k Teams
From the off, the Romanian athlete took quite a big lead which the chasing pack didn’ty immediately respond too. Gradually a group consisting of Matt Ramsden, two Italian and two French athletes broke away and overtook the Romanian to make it a race between themselves. One of the French athletes dropped off that pack as the Italian athletes appeared to push on, not however, managing to drop Matt Ramsden or the other French athlete. Coming towards the end of the race Joad Martinho made a decisive break which saw him take the win in a time of 29.54 whilst Matt held off Stefano Cecere (Italy) to take place in 29.57 – Cecere being given the same time in 3rd. Matt’s time was a big new PB by 27 seconds and meant that he went in to Number 2 in the National U20 Rankings for 10k. There were good runs from the other England athletes too as they all finished with new personal bests – Rowan Miell-Ingram 12th (31.13), Sam Hodgson 13th (31.19) and Daniel Maydew 30th (32.57).
Following the race, Matt spoke to the Harriers about his race and the experience of running for England, commenting not only on his own performance, but those of his team mates too, who combined to win the Team Bronze Medal “It was an honour to be selected to run for England, an experience I will never forget. The race was really enjoyable and I am really happy to have finished 2nd individually and over the moon for our team to get 3rd against the other European countries. Thanks to England Athletics for the opportunity!”
All photos courtesey of Alk ETICAMENTE foto
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Congratulations also to more Blackburn Harriers as it was announced that U13 Agatha Taylor, U13 Jack Baranowski, U15 Oliver Gill and U17 Isabel Holt had all won selection to represent the North West in the London Mini-Marathon. In addition, Dexta Thompson and Isabel Holt have all been invited onto the England Athletics Youth Talent Programme.
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V40 Ben Fish had another excellent race at the weekend in the Lake Vyrnwy Half Marathon – (RESULTS) – featuring over 850 runners, the race being won by Sale Harrier’s Nigel Martin in 65.54, with Callum Rowlinson in 2nd (66.00) and Andrew Davies in 3rd (67.44). Ben came home in 5th place clocking a fine time of 67.55 putting him at number 7 in the National Rankings. Speaking to the Harriers after the Race, Ben commented that he was “happy with that, wasn’t feeling great early on, but picked it up after three miles and worked through.“
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Well done to U15 Matthew Smith who finished off his season at the English Schools Combined Events Championships held in Bedford at the weekend after qualifying at the North West Combined Event Championships in June. Turned out a good weekend for him as he posted a new PB points total of 2160 and spoke to the Club afterwards about how the Championships had gone for him, saying “I competed at the English Schools Combined Events in Bedford and i came 19th out of a field of 37 which i’m quite happy with considering that I’ve been focussing more on triathlons recently. In 80m hurdles I got 14.01 which is quite good compared to some of my times this season. Shot Putt I threw 8.17m, 23cm short of my PB. Long jump wasn’t very good but I jumped 4.61m. High jump was great compared to some of my performances this season with a jump of 1.62m. I am very pleased with my 800m of 2:17 after a long day of competing. My total points were 2160, 21 more points than my points total in the NW qualifier.”
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V60 Peter Banks was out in the Glaxo Hoad Hill Monument 5k on Wednesday 14th Sept 2022 – the race being won by Lytham’s Ross McKelvie in 15.58 with Leven Valley athletes – Matthew Wall (16.05) and Harry Stanton (16.11) in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Peter came home in 49th running a time of 19.28 and 1st V60.
