LOREN Bleaken produced an exceptional performance on Tuesday evening to leap into second in the 2011 UK Under 17 Women’s Rankings over 800.
The 15-year-old Team Bath AC runner smashed her personal best over the half mile by a staggering five seconds with a time of 2mins 06.64secs for victory in the British Milers’ Club meeting at the Exeter Arena.
The time is not only the second quickest in the country this year, moving her up from 11th, but also lifts Bleaken into 14th on the UK All-Time list.
“I was hoping for a quick time because I have been doing so well at 300m and 400m so my 800m time should have been better,” said Bleaken.
“I thought I might run 2mins 08/9secs but not 2:06. I am just so pleased with that and felt so good coming down the home straight.”
Bleaken finished almost five seconds clear of the runner-up and having run the second lap all on her own with no-one to push her she could potentially go even quicker but for the moment she is happy to bask in the satisfaction of re-focussing her track ambitions away from 1500m towards the shorter distances.
“I really would like to say a big thank you to my coach Adrian Clover, who has said consistently I would be a good 800m runner and has continuously encouraged me to run the event,” added Bleaken. “It's thanks to Adrian I have my new PB and I'm very pleased.”

Ander Russell is the new South West 300m champion. The 23-year-old Stroud & District AC runner was rewarded for making the trip down the M5 with victory in a time of 8mins 23.11secs, shaving three seconds off his previous personal best.
“I’m delighted with that,” said Russell. “It has been a good season for me with PBs at 1500m and 5000m.”
Russell surged clear of clubmate Tom Purnell on the final circuit of what was a perfect night for running at the Arena with barely a whisper of wind and warm conditions – rare indeed for a track race this summer.
Purnell dug in to finish in 8:24.04, a PB by six seconds for the 17-year-old while third went to early pacesetter Tom Merson. The 25-year-old carved six seconds off his best with a time of 8:38.9.
Indeed, so good were the conditions that the top eleven finishers all ran new PBs and only four of the 16 finishers failed to clock new bests.
“It was a great night for running and these sort of races are what the BMC is all about,” said organiser John Knowles. “It is great to see so many athletes turn up from across the west country to run PBs and everyone seemed to enjoy the race.”