BMC Regional Races at Exeter

Club athletes posted a host of PBs and fast times at the final BMC Regional Races held at Exeter Arena on Tuesday 30 August 2011.

Full results are available at http://www.britishmilersclub.com/results/results.aspx?meetingid=48890.

Highlights from a club perspective were PBs from Hobie Martin (second in the 'A' 1,500 metres in 3:55.87), Zak Tobias (fifth in the 'B' 1,500 metres in 4:07.83), Luke Jacobs (seventh in the 'B' 1,500 metres in 4:11.66) and Lewis Nightingale (seventh in the 'C' 1,500 metres in 4:32.03). The club's other 1,500 performers were Olivia Sadler who won the 'D' 1,500 metres in 4:33.63 and Jerry Hogan who ran 4:44.83 for twelfth place in the 'C' race.

In the 800 metres Mike Wilsmore was a clear winner of the 'A' race in 1:52.37 showing a welcome return to form after injury. Andrew Dean-Young clocked 1:58.20 for seventh in the same race. In the 'B' race Adam Speake  finished seventh in 2:06.14 in a race that saw UK international Gemma Simpson clock 2:01. Sam Bedwell won the 'C' race with a 2:02.56 clocking.

BMC Grand Prix Final - Club Results

Three club athletes made the trip to Alexander Stadium for the BMC Grand Prix final on Saturday 20 August 2011.

First on the track was Steve Mitchell who had declared his intention of targetting a sub-3:40 clocking and after second in the English and fourth in the UK Championships he felt he had little to prove in terms of racing his fellow Brits but wanted the time to open doors for next season. With an opening of 58/1:56 promised Steve was as good as his word following the pace-maker through in 57.99 - the pace slowed on the second lap as Steve went through on the pacemaker's heels in 1:57.99, it was always anticipated that Steve would have to push the third lap himself and this he duly did to take the field through 1,200 in 2:56.65 so a sub-3:40 was still definitely on but down the back straight Steve slowed finally jogging over the line in 3:46.62 in ninth place. An unsatisfactory end to an otherwise outstanding season.

Next up was Olivia Sadler who went off with the pace but slowed on the third lap before battling on bravely for a 4:33.59 clocking in eighth place. Her seasons best would have put her up with the winner Melissa Courtney who clocked 4:28 but coach Dave Taylor expressed himself satisfied and said they had been targetting a sub-4:36.

Last up was Charlie Maclean (and just as well as the notorious M5 holiday traffic meant his journey up from Taunton took over 4 hours). Always in the leading quartet Charlie also followed the pace and battled on well to be rewarded with a PB, breaking 3:50 for the first time, with a 3:49.69 clocking.

All three athletes have posted PBs this year and it will be interesting to see what another good winter will do when they start racing in 2012.

Footage of all the races at the BMC Grand Prix final meeting are available at www.athleticos.org.

Great Results at BMC Grand Prix

Six Bristol & West athletes made the trip to the British Milers Club Grand Prix at Solihull on Saturday 9th July 2011 and as is often the case with BMC races personal bests were the order of the day. Steve Mitchell stepped down to the 800 metres for some speed work prior to next week's England Championships at 1,500 and declared himself satisfied with a win and a PB 1.51.21 clocking in the 'C' race. Dave Bishop showed that last week's race in Belgium was not truly representative of his current form when winning the 'A' 1,500 metres in 3.43.05 (a full 10 seconds quicker than last week's time).

Charlie Maclean showed his versatility when he followed up a great 3,000 metre steeplechase in the last BMC Grand Prix at Watford with a win and a PB (3.52.74) when winning the 1,500 metre 'E' race.

Hobie Martin and Annabel Gummow both made the long trip up from Cornwall for a bit of speed work and both ran season's bests and narrowly missed their PBs as Hobie ran 4.00.31 for second in the Men's 1,500 metre 'F' race and Annabel ran 4.32.94 for thirteenth in the Women's 1,500 metre 'B' race.

Last but certainly no means least was another athlete looking for a bit of a speed workout as Steve McGuigan made a rare forray onto the track over 5,000 metres. He must have been happy with his PB of 15.20.45 - which surely points the way to a PB over 10k on the roads in the near future.

Six of the Best at Watford BMC Grand Prix Meeting on Saturday 11 June 2011

Six Bristol & West athletes competed at the British Milers Club Grand Prix meeting at Watford on Saturday 11th June 2011 and all six took advantage of a break in the windy weather and five came away with a personal best.

Pride of place (despite being his coach I am hoping I am objective here) was Steve Mitchell's 3:41.92 for sixth place and third Brit in the International 'A' race. Steve's time was shy of his 3:40 target but this was due, in part, to the advertised 1:54 for the first 800 metres not being achieved - still a lesson to be learned - don't sit off the pace slightly if it isn't actually the advertised pace! After initially being allocated to the 'B' race the pressure on Steve to perform was considerable after lobbying to be in the 'A' race. Rounding into the last hundred Steve was fourth and was only just edged out of the first Brit slot by Adam Cotton and Bruce Raeside down the finishing straight. Interestingly a packed race ended with only 12 finishers. Steve's time leaves him UK ranked 11 (one hundredth of a second outside the top 10). Well done Steve - I am sure the race between him, David Bishop and Richard Peters to take the club 1,500 metre record will intensify over the coming weeks.

Newcomer Charlie Maclean got the evening off to a great start with some positive running in the 3,000 metres steeplechase. Always in the chasing group Charlie ran consistently to break 9 minutes for the first time and 8.56.39 found him in sixth place in the Men's 'A' race and UK ninth on Power of 10. This was a massive PB and reflects the hard work Charlie has been putting in since he teamed up with Tom Watson as his adviser.

The club had 3 runners in the Women's 5,000 metres with the Nick Rose coached duo of Rebekah Randell and Ellie Wimshurst joined by Imogen Ainsworth (coach Keith Brackstone). This was another race where the no shows were numerous but there were still 18 athletes in the race. Rebekah was first home for the club in 16:39.48 followed by Imo - thirteenth in 16:49.07 - and Ellie - sixteenth in 16:53.76. All three ran personal bests and are now ranked 24th, 30th and 33rd on the Power of 10 respectively. All three are real novices at this event on the track and I am sure that there is a lot more to come from each of them.

The final Bristol & West athlete to perform on the night was Debbie Niccol who was second in the Women's 'D' 1,500 metre race in 4:34.82. This was just outside Debbie's PB and was a good performance as Debbie is currently on a limited training regime as she tries to keep racing whilst nursing an injury. Moreover, Debbie made a real charge for the victory after the pace-maker pulled out and was only passed by the eventual winner with 150 metres to go.

Overall a great night for the club's middle and long distance athletes and another demonstration of the value of BMC races helping athletes to produce PBs.

Results from the BMC Regional Races at Exeter - Tuesday 31 May 2011

The regional BMC Meetings at Exeter sit half-way between Bristol and our Cornish contingent so it was no surprise to see nine Bristol & West athletes competing at the latest Regional BMC meeting at Exeter Arena on Tuesday 31^st May 2011. As usual there were great performances from a wide variety of age groups.

In the 800 metre races the club provided the winners of the A and B races with under-23 athlete Charlie Maclean winning the former in 1:59.18 and under-17 Hobie Martin the latter in 2:04.18. While Alex King (under-17) finished third in the ‘C’ 800 metres in 2:12.34.

Hugh Sadler (under-13) won a mixed young athlete’s 800 metres in 2:30.43 (a PB by over 4 seconds) while under 20 Billie Williams recorded 2:34.96 for fifth in the Women’s ‘B’ race.

Performance of the night could have been under-17 Miranda Sadler’s 2:13.80 for second place in the Women’s ‘A’ 800 metres (a PB down from 2:14.2) but elder sister Olivia (under-20) might well dispute this following her win in the Women’s ‘A’ race in 4:33.07 – narrowly missing her PB of 4:32.78. Overall another good event for the whole Sadler clan.

Shaun Antell ran 4:13.6 for seventh place in the Men’s ‘B’ 1,500 and last but by no means least was Jerry Hogan (V50) clocking 4:47.43 for ninth in the ‘D’ Men’s 1,500 metres.

Again the conditions were far from still – although somewhat calmer than of late - and with two PBs on the night and several other athletes close future BMC races will almost certainly see further PBs from our middle distance athletes.