Full details for the meeting including parking can be found HERE
Timetable
Timetable for the meeting can be found HERE
Start Lists:
Start lists are available HERE
If you have any questions please contact Steve Mosley
Live Scoreboard HERE
Live Webcast HERE
SUACONY LOUGHBOROUGH GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
SO will Morgan Mitchell and Jenna Bromell deliver another Australian-Ireland one-two in the women’s 800m at the Saucony Loughborough Grand Prix on Saturday?
At Sportcity a few weeks ago Aussie Abbey Caldwell ran a BMC record of 1:58.92 – eclipsing Ellie Baker’s 1:59.52 last September – to beat Ciara Mageean who set an Irish national record of 1:59.27 in a superb race to open the Grand Prix season.
Mitchell boasts a lifetime best of 2:00.06 and has targeted a 2:01 while Bromell, whose PB stands at 2:01.80, is looking for around two minutes so at the very least it should be another cracking race as befits its status as part of the 2023 World Athletics Continental Tour.
“The women’s 800m again looks like being one of the stand-out races of the evening,” said BCM CEO Tim Brennan.
“It is fantastic to see the women’s 800m racing in Britain is bouncing back with lots getting closer to two minutes.”
Not that the pair will have the race to themselves. At Sportcity Khahisa Mhlanga ran impressively to finish fourth in 2:02.07 – a fraction off her lifetime best of 2:01.91 – to put her 10th in the UK Rankings and she already knows what it feels like to win on this track having enjoyed a good victory in the Loughborough International.
Also, domestically U23 runners Steph Driscoll ran a PB of 2:04.21in the BMC Gold Standard meeting at Birmingham University during the week and Molly Hudson set her PB of 2:05.24 at Trafford last month.
Also in the field is Jill Cherry whose PB of 2:04.27 was set at the Irish Milers meeting in Belfast last month. So, all in all it is shaping up to be another highly competitive race.
The men’s field has been shaken up following a super run by U23 Reece Sharman-Newell at the Birmingham Uni Gold Standard meeting on Wednesday.
In his first race since returning to Britain from his collegiate duties in America, where he is a student, Sharman-Newell shaved 0.11secs off his 2022 PB with 1:45.45 to go second on the UK Rankings behind his Basingstoke & Mid Hants clubmate Ben Pattison.
Sharman-Newell will certainly be looking to follow up that run with another fast time in a bid to claim his first Grand Prix victory having finished seventh in his other GP A race appearance at Watford last summer.
But with four of the current top 20 Brits in the race Reece-Sharman can expect a tough race. Alex Botterill will be determined to back up his victory at Sportcity and attack his PB of 1:46.52 while Thomas Randolph, who boasts a PB of 1:44.98, will be seeking to improve his season’s best of 1:46.83 which he ran at Belfast last month.
Also in the field is David Locke and the experienced pair of Commonwealth Games runner and former GP winner Piers Copeland, who was second in the Emsley Carr mile at Sportcity and James McMurray.
And some overseas quality is provided by Brazilian Leandro Alves Prates, who has run a 1:45 this year and will be anxious to improve upon his sixth in the opening GP at Sportcity.
“The men’s 800m is an event where the future looks incredible buoyant at the moment,” added Brennan.
“We have another incredibly strong field and you can virtually make a case foy anyone to win it. It should be another exciting race to watch.”
Fastest man in the 1500m field on paper is Archie Davis, who set his PB of 3:37.92 in Italy two years ago. In his only 1500m start this season he failed to finish the race in Spain last month so he will be determined to make a statement this weekend.
On form Ben MacMillan has already run 3:40.60 in Karlsruhe this season, putting him 15th in the UK Rankings and second quickest in the U23 age group and he’ll be looking for his first sub 3:40 time.
U23 rival Kane Elliott is also targeting a sub 3:40 as is Max Wharton while the field also includes the current UK No 1 U20 runner in Tendai Nyabadza.
Nyabadza has raced the 1500m twice this summer, at the BMC Gold Standard meeting at Trafford and then the Saucony GP at Sportcity and recorded PBs of 3:46.77 and 3:43.78 in both. Can he make it three in a row?
Finally, don’t ignore Canada’s Kevin Robertson, who lines up with a PB of 3:39.40 but has shown no form this summer yet.
There is a strong overseas presence in the women’s field with Kenya’s Mary Ekiru (4:16 this year), Australia’s Caitlin Adams (4:15) and Rebekah Green of New Zealand (4:15 in 2022) lining up.
Heading the British contingent will be great home favourite Jessica Warner-Judd, who will be racing her first 1500m of the year. So far in 2023 she has posted times of 15:13.95 for 5000m and 31:09.28 for fourth place in the British 10,000m Championships at Parliament Hill. Last season Warner-Judd ran a season’s best of 4:07.93 when finishing second at the Watford GP.
Always fiercely committed and competitive don’t be surprised if Warner-Judd is right in the mix for honours.
Bethan Morley finished runner-up at Sportcity in a PB of 4:14.08 which puts her third in the UK U23 Rankings while just behind her in the opening GP was Megan Davies with a season’s best of 4:16.50. Both women will be hoping to go quicker this weekend.
Hugo Milner, who ran 13:49 last season, heads a large field of 24 for the men’s 5000m while the women’s field includes England Athletics 5k road champion Ellie Wallace.
If you can’t come to the Paula Radcliffe Stadium to watch the action live – first of 22 races at 5pm finishing with the women’s 5000m at 19.55 – or watch the meeting live on-stream from Vinco at: www.vincosport.com
There is also a live scoreboard if you follow the link from the BMC website.
