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SO what do Alexander Bell, Niamh Bridson Hubbard, Joe Wigfield and James Gormley all have in common?
They all ran the British Milers Club meetings at Tooting last Wednesday and then the Grand Prix at Birmingham University on Saturday and came out smiling from both.
Personal bests, season’s bests and BMC records all went between the two meetings, from a rain-lashed Tooting to a sunny but quite windy evening at the University.
Not that the wind slowed down the steeplechasers too much as the decision by meeting director Luke Gunn, who knows a thing or two about racing over the barriers, to put the 2000m event on the timetable was rewarded with a bunch of records.
You could say the ‘chase lit up the meeting; Gunn certainly reckons the chasers benefitted from the use of the Wavelight pace system the most and the results back that up it.
800 RACES
THAT was quite a week for GB international and Tokyo Olympian Alexander Bell.
An emotionally draining week that saw her suffer the disappointment of not being selected to race the 800m at the World Championships but still show the resilience to claim two magnificent victories in BMC events.
On a wet Wednesday evening at the Tooting Regional Races Bell ran a season’s best and BMC members’ record of 1min 59.43secs.
On Saturday, the day after the GB team was announced publicly with her name missing, she turned up in the sunshine – albeit with a swirling wind at the Birmingham University track – and won again. In another season’s best and another BMC members’ record of 1:59.28.
Clearly an athlete running into form so understandably afterwards Bell vented her frustration at the decision of the selectors’ not to pick her.
“My team and my coach all know what I’m capable of and it is just a shame that people cannot see where this trajectory is going,” said Bell.
“I’m disappointed but it is nothing that I cannot deal with or have not dealt with in the past. Mentally I just have to stay strong and keep focussed.”
Bell certainly showed no signs of feeling sorry for herself on Saturday as she sped by the pacemaker at 200m to reach the bell in a shade over 57 seconds.
Out on her own Bell kept her form well despite a tough last 100m to cross the line over three seconds clear of Khahisa Mhlanga in a time that was also inside the qualifying standard for the Paris Olympic Games next year.
“It was my second 800m this week and mentally I set myself the goal of racing a heat at Tooting on Wednesday and then Saturday was the semi final,” added Bell.
“Two season’s bests and two records isn’t a bad week at all and this season I’m just getting quicker and quicker.”
In contrast to Bell’s six Grand Prix A race victories since 2015 Justin Davies celebrated his first GP A win. Coming just seven days after he won his first England Athletics it has been quite a week for the Team Bath AC runner as well.
“It was the first time I have been in an A race and I won it as well so I cannot complain,” said Davies.
“I had hoped to be racing for a fast time but after the first 100m it became clear no-one was interested in going with the pacemaker so then it was a case of playing your cards right and trying to win it.”
Davies cut it fine just edging out James McMurray by 0.07secs with Dominic Walton another 0.07secs behind him in third. Likewise the week before at Chelmsford he also only won by 0.89secs.
“I need to stop making such a habit of these dramatic finishes!” added Davies.
Of the supporting races teenager Mickey Ayling’s victory in the men’s D event was arguably the stand-out performance.
Taking the lead at the bell the 16-year-old St Edmund Pacers’ runner, who won silver in the 400m at the English Schools’ Championships, powered clear on the second lap to win in 1:49.89, which carved 1.44secs off his previous best.
The time also put him top of the UK U17 Rankings and fourth in the UK All-Time Lists behind none other than Max Burgin, Sean Molloy and Ethan Hussey so it will be interesting to see how his career develops in the coming years.
Interestingly across the eight men’s 800m races only Davies in the A ran quicker than Ayling which is quite something for the teenager.
The closest finish was in the G race where Sam Gentry timed his lunge to absolute perfection to beat George Sutcliffe by 0.01secs while other PB winners were Tom Waterworth, Matt Woodward and William Rabjohns in the E, F and H races respectively.
In the women’s race another teenager impressed as 16-year-old Jessica Clark sliced almost three seconds off her PB as she went under 2mins 10secs for the first time with 2:08.56 to win the D race.
Like Ayling Clark ran fearlessly on that second lap and moves up to seventh in the UK U17 Rankings.
Anna Gisbourne, Hollie Parker and Emma Davies were the other winners.
1500 RACES
As we have been talking about good weeks now let’s turn to Joe Wigfield. The 23-year-old Liverpool Harrier and St Mary’s University student hadn’t broken 3mins 40secs before Wednesday – and his PB of 3:40.85 dated back to 2020 due to injury – then suddenly he did that twice in three days.
First a superb PB of 3:37.54 in that amazing 1500m at Tooting – lifting him to 11th in the UK Rankings – and then on Saturday evening another solid 3:38.96 to win his first Grand Prix A race.
And just to underline the enormity of that success let’s go back to May when Wigfield finished second in the B 1500m at the Sportcity GP (3:44.50) before clocking a then season’s best of 3:43.19 for eight at the Loughborough GP in June.
“My 3:40 dates back to 202 but since then I have had three recurring stress fractures in my lower back and for two of those I was out for 16 weeks,” said Wigfield.
“I also had a stress response injury in the same area this April but I caught that early and only missed four weeks of training. Yes, it has been very tough and a bit of a nightmare really.
“I just wanted to be able to get through the injuries and get back to a level to see what I could do. This has been a good week and a real confidence boost.
“At Tooting I knew the race was going to be fast and it was a case of just hanging in there and seeing how fast I could go. Then on Saturday I decided to go with the pacemaker and see if anyone else followed me.”
No-one could live with Wigfield on Saturday as he finished over five seconds clear of the field, which is one of the biggest winning margins ever seen in an A 1500m race.
“Last year was all about stepping stones for me and this last week has been a big breakthrough,” added Wigfield.
“Now I need to stay healthy, keep fit and go after the qualifying times next summer.”
Four years ago Niamh Bridson Hubbard was finishing third in the C race at the BMC Grand Prix meeting at Eltham clocking 4:34.99 but the Phil O’Dell coached athlete has never stopped working hard and her steady progression finally led to her first Grand Prix A victory on Saturday.
Like many of the athletes mentioned above the victory completed a remarkable couple of days as at Tooting Bridson Hubbard sliced over two seconds from her 800m PB with 2:04.45.
She came close to beating her 1500m PB as well but fell short by 0.53secs but in the conditions shouldn’t be too unhappy as she claimed some notable scalps in Indian record holder and two-times national champion Harmilian Bains-Kaur and GB international and Olympic 5000m runner Amy-Eloise Markovc.
“It has been a great couple of competitions for me,” said Bridson Hubbard.
“The race at Tooting was very exciting and I ran a PB and then today to race my favourite event alongside athletes of that calibre who have fantastic PBs over 1500m and longer distances.
“I was just excited to be there alongside them on the start line and I just wanted to try and run my best race and try to come away with a win.”
In the supporting men’s races European U23 Championships 3000m steeplechase finalist Luca Minale dipped under 3mins 50secs for the first time with 3:49.12 to win the C race while there were season’s bests for Nick Armstrong and Sam Knee-Robinson, who won the D and E races respectively.
English Schools’ 3000m bronze medallist Katie Pye won the B race in 4:27.20, just outside her best while the C race went to Saskia Huxham in a PB of 4:33.32.
3000m RACES
So what a great week for James Gormley! Definitely sems to be a recurring theme for runners who took in the BMC meetings at Tooting and Birmingham University.
At Tooting Gormley clipped over a second off his PB with 3:37.51 in seventh place and then used that speed to great effect to run away from the field in the 3000m smashing his 2020 PB by eight seconds with 7:49.61.
Gormley has won Grand Prix races at B and C level before and had a few second places over 1500m in A races but had never stood on the top step before, apart from winning the BMC Indoor 3000m at Sheffield four years ago.
It was a good night for the Sheffield & Dean club and coach John Wood as Alfie Manthorpe finished runner-up in a PB of 7:53.54, just a fraction faster than he ran when finishing sixth at Watford earlier in the month.
There were another eight PBs in the field as they enjoyed the benefits of the Wavelight Pace lights while in the B race nine of the top ten clocked lifetime bests, led by winner Harry Wakefield with 8:07.27 to smash the 8:22.58 he ran on his debut at the distance in May.
It was his first time racing a Grand Prix event – and on the evidence of that win hopefully not his last.
Australia international Lauren Ryan showed her class with an emphatic victory in the women’s 3000m finishing almost 10 seconds clear of her countrywoman Caitlin Adams in a personal best time outdoors of 8:53.75.
“We had the pace set at 8mins 50secs and tried to stay as close to the Wavelights and would have loved to have dipped under 8:50 but really happy with the way things are progressing going into the Worlds later this summer,” said Ryan.
Ryan also had some nice words for the BMC after experiencing one of our Grand Prix meetings for the first time.
“You guys put on a great meet, great vibes, always on time and just really well organised,” added Ryan.
In third Beth Kidger shaved 0.3secs off her PB set last year with 9:06.29 while Innes Fitzgerald, who is top of the UK U20 Rankings, ran her third fastest time ever of 9:07.85 having also earlier in the week clocked a fast 1500m of 4:15.39 – just outside her recent PB of 4:15.04 – at the BMC regional Races at Exeter.
2000m STEEPLCHASE RACES
Meeting director Luke Gunn will take great pride on the quality of the steeplechase races with two national records and four BMC records being broken.
Nahuel Carabana’s late addition to the field was rewarded with the Andorra athlete holding off the Australia pair of Ben Buckingham and Edward Trippas in a great finish coming off the final hurdles as the trio finished within 0.43secs of each other.
Carabana’s time of 5:26.50 was an Andorran record and BMC record while in fourth Phil Norman ran a BMC members’ record of 5:29.37.
“It’s always nice to get a record,” said Norman, who has had a low-key summer after missing a lot of March and April with a knee injury.
In the women’s race American Madie Boreman shrugged off the disappointment of failing to make the finals in her national championships with a US record of 6:09.81, which was just outside the BMC record of 6:08.17 set by Aimee Pratt on the same track last year.
New steeplechaser Poppy Tank, who only took up the event his year and is now working with Gunn, was third and first Brit in 6:28.40 while in fifth junior Gabrielle Phelan broke the BMC U20 members record with 6:46.32,
“The 2000m steeplechase is not often run but the way the World Athletics Rankings work there was an opportunity to gain points in the same way as running 3000m does towards the 5000m,” said Gunn.
“It’s why Nahuel came in as a late entry and the top three all earned enough ranking points to get invites on the back of the weekend and it was great to see the top three all come off that final barrier together and produced the closest finish of the day.
“Madie was also great as she asked for 6:10 and that’s what we set for her with the Wavelights. I know this was the talk of the town on Saturday and the steeplechase races were probably where it worked the best.”
Tank certainly enjoyed the innovation which was being used for the first time by the BMC in a Grand Prix meeting.
“I really tried hard to latch onto the lights and thought it was awesome to have them,” said Tank.
“I was definitely delighted with my time as I had never run a 2k ‘chase before so it was a very positive experience for me.”
Kevin Fahey
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