One Lap Wonder

U17 Conor Kelly (below) reaped the benefits of warm-weather training in Jamaica when, competing up an age-group, he won the gold medal in the 400m at the Southern U20 and Senior Championships in Eton on 9 June, in a PB of 47.38. Fellow-travellers to Jamaica, Chad Miller and Freddie Arkell, were in action in the 200m Final, in which Chad took the bronze medal in 21.09, with U23 Freddie Arkell finishing eighth in 21.52 in his first senior Championships, having posted a PB of 21.42 in the heats. There was a bronze medal too for U20 Eli Amusan in the high jump, with a PB of 1.85.

In April Conor was one of a party of eleven sprinters to experience warm-weather training at the Usain Bolt track at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, under the watchful eye of the legendary coach Glen Mills, founder of The Racers Track Club, whose athletes have included Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake and now British record holder over 100m and 200m, Zharnel Hughes.
 

The Ultimate Human Race!

Also on 9 June Ultra-marathon specialist Alex Milne put in an exceptional performance in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa to finish in 5:36:51 in 9th place out of 17,313 finishers.

This was the 97th staging of this famous ultra-marathon they call 'The Ultimate Human Race', run over a course stretching between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, and in advance of this year's event the organisers had billed Alex as one of the top five international contenders, following his debut last year, when he finished 15th in 5:31:34. Alex, they noted, 'had the strength and the speed to mix it up with the men upfront', and would be returning, 'hungry for a top 10 finish'. 

The race alternates direction each year, so the 2024 event featured the 'Up Run' of approximately 85.9km, starting at City Hall in Durban  – the reverse of last year's 'Down Run' beginning in Pietermaritzburg. 

'The Up was a bit tougher than the Down,' says Alex, 'with the majority of the climbing in the first half. I approached it in a similar way though, holding back in the first half and then pushing on in the second. I was 67th at halfway and got into the top 10 with 6km to go'. His reward was a coveted gold medal, traditionally awarded to the first ten men and women.

PB City

The second of the Club's series of summer Open Meetings on 12 June saw another raft of PBs:156 in all, including the first fifteen in the last, fastest race of the night! Although just outside his best, Toby Cooke finished fifth in 8:10.05 in his first race on the track at Wimbledon Park since joining the Club, just nudging ahead of Charlie Eastaugh who posted a huge PB of 8:10.14. 'Very happy with that: a full 4 second PB overall and 7 seconds outdoors!' says Charlie who is now 10th on the all-time Club rankings, with Toby just ahead in 9th.

Coach Anne Hegvold was delighted as every Club youngster ran faster than ever before, none more positively than U15 Freia Harper-Tee who set a new HW record for her age group, coming off the back of a great cross country season to post a time of 10:28.80.

There was a win in Race 7 from Benjy Street in a big PB of 8:36.44, which places him 7th on the All-time U20 Club rankings, dominated by Pete Clarke, who posted his time of 8:23.37 at Crystal Palace back in 1981.

It was a performance that further justified the presentation to Benjy of the Dave Clarke trophy from the Chairman at the Club Awards Night in May. Traditionally the trophy, won by Dave himself in Florence, is awarded to an U17 or U20 who shows great potential, and in Benjy's case great determination.

Last season while an U17 he finished 10th in the South of England Cross Country Championships and 17th in the CAU Inter-Counties, representing Surrey. He also set a new parkrun record in Dulwich in December of 15.33, which would also have been good enough for an U20 record. This, despite breaking his ankle some 18 months earlier, after which he came back stronger last summer and trained consistently well over the winter, in order to kick off this summer season with intent.

There was a fine performance, too, for another of the Club's bright young talents, U15 Theo Creed. In his first ever 3000m race he etched himself straight into second place in the U15 Club Rankings with a time of 9:08.61.

Below: Benjy Street enjoying an injury-free season. Photo by Mark Hookway