1500m A Race

Ben Davies - 3rd - 3:53.21

Jamie Webster - 5th - 3:56.11

3000m

Jake Reynolds - 9:38.88 (PB)

There were some encouraging Bedford and County performances at both Birmingham and Battersea at the weekend.

In Birmingham on Saturday 27th April, Tia Wilson's 8:57.14 3000m performance was a 30 second PB, and, when the results hit the Power of Ten website, it should put her in this year's Senior Women's top ten for the distance.  At the same meeting Sam Knee-Robinson ran a 8:32.15 3000m and Harry Brodie a 8:33.72 3000m

In the Battersea Comeback 5000m (track) race on Friday 26th April, Ed Blythman finished 17th in the Elite Men's race in 14:12.28, and Noah Campion was not far behind in 20th place with a 14:15.13 clocking.  Ed's time is a new PB.  As well as being a new PB, Noah's time should put him in 5th place in the UK Under 20 rankings when the results hit the Power of 10 website.

There was a good result at the National Twelve Stage Road Relays at Sutton Park on Saturday 6th April for the Senior Men, who finished ninth, with Jack Goodwin (26:04) running the joint sixth fastest long leg of the day, and Ben Davies (15:27) the tenth fastest short leg.

The Men's A Team finished just outside the medals in fourth place at the Southern 12 stage road relays at a windy Milton Keynes on Sunday 24th March, having led in the early stages of the race.  In a committed team performance, Jack Goodwin's 25:40 was the fastest long leg of the day, and Noah Campion's 14:54 was the fourth fastest short leg.  The B team came in a very commendable 26th.

There were also some great results in the Under 15 and Under 17 championships - see below for those.

Well done to all those who ran.

Full Bedford and County Results:

There were some notable performances at the Podium 5k Festival in Leicester on Saturday 16th March.

• Tia Wilson - 15:58 (PB), 20th in the Elite Women's A Race
• Ed Blythman - 14:14, 27th in the Elite Men's A Race
• Dan Jarvis - 15:06, 53rd in the Elite Men's A Race
• Rebecca Murray - 16:40,  54th in the Elite Women's A Race
• Harry Brodie - 14:50, 40th in the Elite Men's B Race
• Lauren Nichols - 17:19 (PB), 19th in the Elite Women's B Race
• James Minter - 15:06, 32nd in the Sub 15:00 Race
• Jamie Webster - 15:23 (PB), 3rd in the Sub 16:00 race

The UK Athletics Indoor Championships took place in Birminghams on 17th and 18th February.  There were some fine performances from Bedford and County Athletes.  Etienne Maughan finished seventh in the 60m Hurdles final in 8.61 seconds, having qualified in second place in her heat in a new club record of 8.40 seconds.  Jasmine Wilkins made it through to the semi-final of the 60m, where her 7.62 seconds is also a new club record, beating the old record that she shared with Etienne by one hundredth of a second.  In the men's 3000m Jack Goodwin was close to his PB whilst finishing 11th in a time of 8:02.88.

Well done to Etienne, Jasmine and Jack on their fine performances.

There were some excellent results at Battersea's Friday Night Under the Lights 5k road race on 16th February.  Ed Blythman finished tenth in the Elite Men's race in a big new PB of 14:12.47.  Sam Winters came third in race 5 in a time of 14:35, which was just one second off his PB.  Other results included a 15:05 from Alfie Yabsley for 36th place in race 5, a 15:07 from Ben Davies, a 15:12 from Stan Willis, a 15:57 from Dan Galpin, and a 17:54 for Alice Burgin.

Bedford & County Masters athletes were busy in action on Sunday 11th February at the Eastern Masters Indoor Athletics  Championships at Lee Valley Stadium

All of Bedford's athletes won medals in every event they competed in - many with Championship Best Performances.

Medal winners were:

Several Bedford and County athletes represented the Eastern England AAA at the Cross Challenge at Parliament Hill on Saturday 20th January.  In the Senior Women's race, Rebecca Murray finished 25th and Lauren Nichols finished 44th.  In the Senior Men's race, Ed Bylthman finished 47th.  In the Women's 4KM Trial, Tia Wilson finished second in 15:01, and Lyla Danobrega was seventh in the Under 17 Women's race.  Well done to all those who took part.

The fourth round of this season's Chiltern League took place at Cassiobury Park, Watford on Saturday 13th January.  Rebecca Murray chalked up her fourth win of the season in the Senior Women's Race, and Harry Brodie and Ed Blythman came 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Senior Men's race and Lily Farr (W17) came third in the U20 / U17 Women's race.  There were also top-ten performances in their respective age categories for Alfie Yabsley (MS), Milly Dunger (W17), Theo Beale (M17), Isaac Mitchell (M17), Oliver Wilson (M17), Harry Scott (M15), and Rosie Cusack (W11).

In the Team competitions, we won the Senior Men's, Under 17 Men's and the Under 20 / Under 17 Women's competitions, and the Under 20 Men, Under 17 Men and Veteran Men all came second.  After 4 rounds, we are top in the Senior Men's, Under 17 Men's and Veteran Men's competitions, and we are second in the Under 20 Men's and Under 13 Boys' competitions.

Well done to everybody who took part.

Full Bedford and County individual Results:

There were some excellent performances at the Bedfordshire County Cross-Country Championships at Southill Park on 7th January, and seven of the new county champions are Bedford and County athletes.  Congratulations to:

• Ed Blythman (Senior Men)
• Lauren Nichols (Senior Women)
• Jake Reynolds (U20 Men)
• Archie Henderson (U15 Boys)
• Eleanor Smith (U15 Girls)
• Megan Barnicoat (U13 Girls)
• Rosie Cusack (U11 Girls)

And there were many other excellent individual and team performances.  See below for the full results:

Congratulations to Jim McMahon (M60) who won the Pete Dancer Memorial Cup on Sunday 17th December at the Bedford and County Christmas Handicap.  Jim ran an impressive 19:33 over the 2.97 mile course.

The fastest man was Ed Blythman in 13:55 and the fastest lady was Rebecca Murray in 16:35.  Ed's time is 4th fastest ever run over the course (the course record is 13:46 set  by Matt Bergin in 2019).  Rebecca’s 16:35 is equal 5th fastest by a woman. Her best on this course is the 3rd fastest with 16:12.  The Ladies' course record is 15:52, set by Sharon Morris in 2002.

For those interested in Christmas Handicap history, the winner, Jim McMahon, set the fastest lap on three occasions -  in 1990, 1993, & 1996. His PB for this course is 14:37, although his 14:09 on the old course is the equivalent of a sub 14:20 on the current course.

The race raised over £500 for the Pancreatic Cancer UK charity in memory of Pete Dancer.  Thank you to everybody who donated, well done to everybody who ran, and big thanks to Tony Forrest and all the organisers and volunteers who made it happen.