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.

The third round of this season's Chiltern League took place at Stopsley Common, Luton on Saturday 2nd December.  Rebecca Murray chalked up her third win of the season in the Senior Women's Race, and Ed Blythman, Sam Winters, and Michael Harrison came 2nd, 4th, and 5th respectively in the Senior Men's race.  There were also top-ten performances in their respective age categories for Charlie Palmer (M40), Euan Supple (M20), Stuart Sill (M50), Cameron Barnes (M17), Theo Beale (M17), Mackenzie Kotrys (M17), Harry Scott (M15), Sue Bosher (F35), Lily Farr (F17), Rosie Cusack (F11) and Amelia Dawson (F11).

We won the Overall Men's competition, the Under 17 men's competition, and the Veteran Men's competition at Stopsley.  In addition, after round 3 we are:

• 1st in the Senior Men's competition.
• 6th in the Overall Female competition.
• 2nd in the Under 20 Men's competition.
• 3rd in the Veteran Men's competition.
• 1st in the Under 17 Men's competition.
• 5th in the Under 15 Boys' competition.
• 4th in the Under 13 Boys' competition.
• 5th in the F17/F20 competition.
• 5th in the Under 15 Girls' competition 
• 8th in the Under 13 Girls' competition.

Full Bedford and County Results:

The fifth and final round of this season's Chiltern League took place at Horspath, Oxford on Saturday 10 February.  Rebecca Murray's win in the Senior Women's race means that she has won all five races this season.  There were also top-ten performances from Theo Beale (Under 17 Men), Harry Scott (Under 15 Boys), Lily Farr (Under 17 Women) and Rosie Cusack (Under 11 Girls).  We won the overall Veteran Men's competition thanks to a series of very strong performances over all five rounds.  The Under 17 men were also victorious in the overall competition, winning every round and securing the team prize by a significant margin, with 6 athletes in the top 10 overall for the season. 

After all five rounds Bedford and County came:

• 2nd in the Senior Men's competition.
• 11th in the Senior Women's competition.
• 2nd in the Under 20 Men's competition.
• 1st in the Veteran Men's competition.
• 1st in the Under 17 Men's competition.
• 5th in the Under 15 Boys' competition.
• 2nd in the Under 13 Boys' competition.
• 5th in the F17/F20 competition.
• 6th in the Under 15 Girls' competition 
• 8th in the Under 13 Girls' competition.

Full Bedford and County Results:

There were some excellent performances at the Liverpool Cross Challenge on Saturday 25th November.  Tia Wilson came 26th in the Senior Women's race, and was the fifth Under 23 to finish.  Noah Campion fought back from  a bad fall that saw him spiked in his leg, arm and head and third from last after 300m to finish 22nd in the Junior Men's race, and Ed Bythman kept up his run of good form as the twelfth-placed Under 23 to finish in the Senior Men's race.  Lyla Danobrega also finished 24th in the Under 17 Women's race.

There were some excellent results at the Wolverton 5 on Saturday 18th November, with Jack Goodwin finishing second, Sam Winters sixth, Michael Harrison ninth and Stan Willis 10th.  Evan Supple was also the fastest junior in the field.

Noah Campion had a great run to finish second in the International Under 20 Cross-Country in Seville, Spain on 12th November.  Representing England, Noah broke away from the pack with a group of two other English runners, and showed great determination to claim second place with a lunge for the line after a sprint finish, just a few seconds behind the winner.  He completed the 4.4k course in 13:10.  Well done to Noah on a fantastic performance.