Manchester Sportcity Grand Prix – 27 May 2017 – Results

Races: 28
Finishers: 307
PBs 118 (38%)
Power of Ten results: Here

Report

MARKHIM Lonsdale took the limelight at SportCity as he broke the 15-year-old British Milers’ Club Under 20 men’s 800m record held by Ricky Soos
The 18-year-old smashed his personal best with a time of 1mins 46.97secs to eclipse Soos’ mark of 1:47.18 set in 2002 and earn himself a £250 bonus for breaking 1mins 47secs in a Grand Prix fixture.
The eighteen 800m races certainly provided plenty of excitement with a UK Age 15 best of 1:50.05 by Halifax teenager Max Burgin as he raced to victory in the C race.
There were also European Junior Championship qualifying marks by Ben Greenwood behind Lonsdale in the A race plus teenager Anna Burt in the women’s 800m A race and yet again for Harriet Knowles-Jones in the 1500m.
In addition 16-year-old Burt added the Commonwealth Young Games qualifying mark over two laps while 15-year-old Anna Smith (1500m), Oliver Dustin and Alex Botterill (both 800m) are in contention for the trip the Bahamas.

MEN’S 800M
The gasp-inducing moment of the night undoubtedly came from Markhim Lonsdale’s tremendous victory in the 800m.
As Markhim crossed the line to stop the clock a fraction under 1min 47secs at 1:46.97 the appreciative crowd broke into spontaneous acclaim having witnessed a special performance by the 18-year-old.
The time not only smashed his previous best of 1:48.77 but also lifted him to fifth in the UK but also first place in the UK Under 20 Rankings and seventh in the All-Time U20 lists.
That’s not bad for just his second race of the summer season and first 800 after a 400m loosener in the North East Counties Championships (though a PB of 48.77secs was a hint of something special to come).
“I knew nothing about the record so that is brilliant,” said Lonsdale.
“This is only my first 800m of the season so to come out and run a PB like that is a real surprise. I knew I was in good shape after the 400m but thought I would be running around 1:49.
Not to be over-looked behind Lonsdale Under 20 rival Ben Greenwood (Perth Strathay) also broke his PB to finish fifth in a time of 1:48.80 to go second on the UK Rankings and, crucially, was inside the qualifying standard of 1:49.00 for the European Junior Championships – which he had just missed by 0.09secs at the Loughborough International the previous weekend.
Former Olympian Tom Lancashire gave his legs a rare stretch over two laps and was third behind 2014 Commonwealth Games finallist Guy Learmonth.
MEN’S 800M B-C
Unleashing a terrific finish Loughborough-based John Bird notched up a PB of 1:48.90 as the top three men broke 1:50 in the B race.
“That’s a big PB by nearly a second so I am very happy with that,” said Bird who is coached by Rob Denmark.
Apart from Lonsdale the other jaw-dropping performance in the men’s 800m races came from teenager Max Burgin in the C race.
Burgin only turned 15 the previous Friday (May 23rd) having recently notched up a UK and European Age 14 record of 1:52.08 at the BMC Gold Standard meeting at Trafford last month.
Going through the bell in a shade under 53 seconds Burgin bided his time as he tracked junior Ryan Green through 600m before striking down the home straight.
“I’m still in shock with that time and I guess it will only sink in later,” said Burgin.
Morpeth junior Green was rewarded for the battle with Burgin with a PB of 1:50.56 in second as he sliced 1.37secs off the PB he set when winning the F race at Solihull two weeks earlier – so he took full advantage of his automatic promotion to a higher level race.
OTHERS
The top four in the E race all ran PBs as they dipped inside 1:52.5 led by junior Josh Allen edging out teenager Oliver Dustin, whose time of 1:51.61 lifted him into second behind Burgin the UK U17 Rankings.
F winner Andrew McAslan also notched up a PB as did teenager Jed Skilton in the I race with 1:56.62 which sliced over two seconds from his best.
“That was well worth the five hours drive from Poole,” said the 16-year-old Dorset teenager.

MEN’S 1500M A
It won’t go down as one of his greatest wins but James McMurray did what he had to do to win the A race.
“The pace really slowed down on the penultimate lap so then it was just a case of waiting to kick and make sure of the victory,” said McMurray, who made his decisive move down the back straight.
“I have done quite a few 800m races recently and this was my first 1500m and I am sure there is much more to come.”
The top four all came out with season’s bests and tellingly there was just one PB in the windy conditions, Matthew Wigelsworth in sixth (3:48.67).
MEN’S 1500M B-C
In the B race Tonbridge athlete George Duggan did just enough to dig out victory from Norway’s Abduljaleel Hir in the closing strides while there was a PB for Coventry’s Jeremy Barnes in third.
Croydon’s 22-year-old Dominic Nolan is confident that he can break 3mins 50secs this summer after a morale-boosting win in the C race.
“That is just under two seconds off my PB and I feel there is a lot more left in the tank,” said Nolan, who kicked past Matthew Arnold with 200m to go after the AFD runner had made a bold run for home at the bell.
OTHERS
City of Derry runner Fintan Stewart was rewarded for his long run for home after reaching the bell 20 metres clear with a PB of 3:52.90 to win the D race.
Stewart didn’t falter at all on the final lap and came home almost five seconds clear of Sale Harriers Manchester junior Jake Spilsbury, who was rewarded with a PB of 3:57.45.
There was also a PB for winner Nathan Marsh (3:56.31) in the E race, in which 10 of the 14 runners recorded lifetime bests.
MEN’S 5000M A-B
Both men’s 5000m races delivered terrific sprint finishes revealing just how much was resting on each event,
In the A race it was a matter of personal pride that drove Leeds City runner Emile Cairess to a lung-bursting desperate sprint to the line to edge out Preston’s Parick Dever as just 0.17secs separated the pair at the finish in a 58-seconds last lap.
“AT BUCS Patrick beat me like that so I was determined to get him back,” said Cairess, who is a student at St Mary’s University.
“I cannot believe it to be honest as that is a big PB for me.”
Cairess certainly showed a fair turn of speed in that last 200m to break 14 minutes for the first time with his winning mark of 13:59.82 and looks capable of getting inside the European U23 qualifying standard of 13mins 55secs.
“I am sure I am capable of 13mins 55secs but whether I will get the opportunity of doing it now is another thing,” added Cairess.
“I have now had four tough races in as many weeks and it is time to get back into a block of training.”
For aspiring 5000m runners it is worth noting that twelve months ago in this same race the 19-year-old made his debut at the distance and dropped off the pace after 1k to finish 13th in a time of 14:31.16. What a difference a year makes.
Reflecting the solid pace throughout and the swift finale to the race the top five all clocked PBs with a further eight lifetime bests down the field for a total of 13 PBs from the 19 finishers.
The B race had a big prize resting upon as it was incorporating the trials for the European U20 Championships. Only Stroud’s Tom Mortimer had achieved the qualifying mark of 14mins 20secs on his debut in Solihull two weeks earlier but that didn’t prevent him from forcing the pace at the head of the field early in a bid to shake off his junior rivals.
Ultimately the pace wasn’t fast enough – though Scott Beattie dropped out just after 3k – for that so at the bell Mortimer was locked alongside junior rivals James Gormley, Ben Dijkstra with Will Richardson a stride behind as the quartet prepared to slug it out for the two automatic places.
Gormley won that battle while Mortimer dug deep to overhaul Dikstra in the final strides to secure the second spot and, as the only man with the qualifying time so far, his place in the team for Grosseto.
“I feel I can go quicker but I also have the 1500m in mind,” said Gormley.
Not so Mortimer for whom it was the 5000m or bust.
“I have never beaten Ben before so I am just thrilled,” said Mortimer.
Again 13 of the 21 finishers clocked PBs while in the C race Houghton Harriers’ junior Alex Brown led over half the field to lifetime bests.