In the Mix in Manchester

Two of the Club's athletes were invited into the spotlight at the UK Championships in Manchester on 30 June, in which the competition in every discipline ramped up as the event doubled as the trials for the Olympic Games in Paris.

In the 1500m, despite a trip as athletes bunched, Charlie was happy with his eleventh position in heat 2. 'Luckily it was so early on it didn’t really impact me at all', he says. The heat was won by George Mills, who took the silver in the final behind Neil Gourley, and went on to have an eventful Olympics in the 5,000m, tumbling to the ground in a chaotic semi final before being re-instated for the final.

'Manchester was a fantastic experience – I thoroughly enjoyed it!' says Charlie. 'Hopefully I’ll be back next year, or at the indoor Championhsips in February to give it a better crack!'.

Below: Charlie Wyllie slotted in behind eventual winner George Mills

In the 200m Chad Miller, who has a wealth of experience in British and UK Championships despite only turning 24 this year, clocked 21.20 to finish fourth in his heat, won by Richard Kilty, in an event loaded with sprinters jostling for places on the team for Paris. Following hamstring and hip problems he has continued to make optimistic progress, edging towards his PB of 20.84 set at the J Fred Duckett Twilight meeting in Houston Texas in April 2023.
   

History Masters
 

The Club's masters athletes are enjoying their best ever season in the Southern Counties Vet’s League, and could be about to make HW history by winning both the men's and women's Leagues to go through to the end of season finals in Oxford on 31 August. 'The men's team have made the finals twice, but the women's team never', says coach Mark White, co-team manager with Anna Garnier, who is anxiously awaiting final confirmation of the results from Match 3 at Kingston on Monday night (17 June). The provisional results indicated that the women won their match by 211 over the 170 scored by closest rivals, Epsom & Ewell, but the men's match is far closer, and as amendments continue to be taken in, the points difference has veered from a two point victory to HW, to a half-point win for Epsom.

'There is one more match to go, at Carshalton on 8 July, ' says Mark. 'If the men's team won at Kingston,then both teams will go through to the final if they finish first or second there (either result would give a straight League points win). Even if either team comes third, we would draw with Epsom on League points, but could still go through to the final by scoring the most match points overall. Whatever the outcome of the Kingston match it is all to play for and we need to bring our A-game to the decider!

Below: some of the Club athletes at the end of Monday evening in Kingston 

'So far fifty athletes –  from 35 years to early seventies – have taken part in the first two matches', says Mark proudly. The campaign began at Wimbledon Park on 13 May, where in the first match the squad capitalised on the strong home advantage to win both the men’s and women’s matches. The women’s team won by over 36 points, the men by 12. Then, bizarrely, Match 2 at Epsom was cancelled at the last minute due to the grounds being occupied by a traveller camp! 

'This is a competitive yet supportive and friendly League', says Mark, but this season there has been a serious effort to cover every event, the key to success in all the Leagues. 'We’ve run Sunday morning training sessions to support this and most athletes have learned new skills across the board – we will do more sessions before the next match', he confirms. 'So if you are 35+ and have not yet joined the squad get in touch, join in the build up to the all-important last match and hopefully be a part of Club history!'

Below: members of the victorious teams at Wimbledon Park