Manchester Trafford Grand Prix – 12 July 2014 – Results

Races: 25
Finishers: 226
PB’s: 100 (44%)
Power of Ten: Here

Report

MEN’S 800 A-B:

Anthony Whiteman may be the wrong side of 30 – okay he is actually 42 – but sometimes you just can’t beat desire, dedication and experience.
The Shaftesbury Barnet athlete is more often than not employed as a pacemaker at the Grand Prix meetings these days and there are few who do the job better.
But that doesn’t mean he has given up on his own racing ambitions and while Whiteman doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone any longer there was no hiding his delight when it was confirmed he had broken his own World Masters over 40 record with a winning time of 1:48.05.
“I am quite shocked with that as when I did 1:48.2 in Indianapolis last year the conditions were absolutely perfect and it is a super fast track,” sad Whiteman.
“I would have been happy running 1:49 tonight.”
Using all his experience Whiteman held back when Robert Needham, winner of the Sportcity Grand Prix, kicked hard down the back straight after the bell was reached in 52.5secs.
But Needham couldn’t shake off his rivals and Paul Goodall was next to hit the front as a large pack came off the bend together. Having worked himself into a good position Whiteman took the lead in the last 50 metres and even afforded himself a glance over his shoulder before punching the air in evident delight at winning his first A race in several years.
Matthew Fayers came through for a close second with Bowness third.

Showing similar race craft David Proctor of Sale Harriers Manchester timed his finish to perfection to win the B race and give himself a morale boost after a testing past year.
Coming through very late Proctor just caught Zak Curran on the finish line after the Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow athlete had hit the front hard at 600mm.
“I missed last year due to low iron levels and the stress of a new job and also had a few problems over the winter so it is nice to come back and win,” said Proctor, who ran 1.50.41 to Curran’s 1:50.54.
“This was the first opportunity I have had to have a real go at running a fast 800 and hopefully I can get closer to my PB of 1:48.2 by the end of the season.”
Curran was also reasonably pleased with his performance while David Banwell-Clode was third.

C-E RACES
David Dempsey may have a tough decision to make this winter as to where his future lies in the sport. Already an accomplished 400 hurdler – he ran 51.7secs in the British Championships – Dempsey is beginning to show that he may have a future at 800m after an impressive win in the C race.
Showing tremendous strength down the home straight after kicking hard at 650 metres Dempsey shattered his PB with 1:50.08 – faster than the B race and good enough for sixth in the A.
“I did an 800m at a Trafford Open meeting two weeks ago and ran 1:53 so was keen to have another go and just went with it,” said Dempsey.
“This was a big surprise for me. Maybe I should try the 800m next season!”
Luke Minns finished a close second with Graham Hogg third and for English Schools’ champion and Angie Smit’s fiancé Sam Petty fourth.

MEN’S 1500M A-B

Frank Baddick has had to wait a long time to win a Grand Prix A race – and improve his personal best. The 28-year-old had actually never finished in the top three in an A race before – he won a B race five years ago – but has been one of the most consistent performers in BMC events over the past ten years.
It was two years ago that he set his previous PB of 3:42.22 but was buried a bit as he finished eighth at the Solihull Grand Prix. But there was no hiding his delight at winning on Saturday as he burst from the pack down the home straight after Chris Warburton and Rory Chesser had pushed on at the bell reached in 2:43.91.
“That was very satisfying as it has been a wait to improve my PB and this has been a pretty average season to date,” said Baddick.
Derby’s Richard Weir clinched second in the scramble for the line with Warburton third. England U23 champion and recent British Championships runner-up Will Paulson of Stroud ran a PB of 3:43.81 in seventh just behind Commonwealth Games steeplechaser Luke Gunn.
There were also PBs for junior Daniel Cheeseman and Jack Crabtree.

Another happy winner was Alex Bruce-Littlewood, who clipped almost two seconds of his best with 3:45.84 to take top spot in the B race.
“I have never won a BMC race before so that is a real confidence boost for me,” said he Blackheath & Bromley Harrier.
“And I know I can go quicker as I seemed to be running in lane two the whole way. Hopefully I will be into the A race for the next Grand Prix.”
To complete a Home Countries top three Central AC’s Andrew Butchart was runner-up and Carmarthen junior Kyran Roberts was third, the latter a good PB for the 18-year-old.

3000m STEEPLECHASE

Ireland runner Darragh Rennicks led from start to finish but it was only in the final two laps that he finally shook off the challenge from Notts AC runner Doug Musson to clinch victory in a personal best of 9mins 13.00secs.
“This is my first ever BMC race and my first year of running the steeplechase,” said Rennicks, who competes for Bohermeen in County Meath.
“All the boys back home said the BMC races are the ones to come over to England for to get personal bests and I really enjoyed it here. It was well worth the trip over.”

WOMEN’S 800 A-B

When New Zealand champion Angie Smit requested a late entry for the 800m there was never any chance she would dawdle around and be content to kick for victory.
The 23-year-old from Christchurch wanted the race as a sharpener ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and has one eye on beating her personal best of 2mins 00.03secs last year when she went on to make her senior international debut in the New Zealand team for the World Championships in Moscow.
The manner in which she attacked the race and won in a time of 2min 00.59secs, after reaching the bell in just under 59 seconds and then surging clear of the field to win by over two seconds clearly showed that her first sub two is not far away.
“That is my fastest ever time to win a race so I am really pleased with that,” said Smit. “I wanted to break 2mins 01secs before the Commonwealth Games (her best time this season had been 2:01.53 which she set at home in Wellington last March) and while I would have loved to have beaten two minutes it didn’t quite happen tonight.”
Had either Katy Brown or Alexandra Bell been able to get closer to Smit then she would have found that extra kick but those two British girls can take great encouragement from their own performances as they both recorded personal bests.
Smit now moves on to the Welsh International Games in Cardiff on Tuesday hoping for another competitive outing – and maybe that sub two?
Racheal Bamford’s preparations for the Commonwealth Games appear to be going nicely as she clocked her second personal best in 24 hours.
After running 4mins 32secs for the mile at the Morton Games, Dublin, the previous night Bamford showed a good turn of speed to win the B race in 2:05.97.
“These BMC races are amazing and just shows you don’t need to keep travelling abroad to find fast races as they always provide decent pacemakers,” said Bamford.
Megan Edwards ensured a swift start and kept her form well despite the fact that Bamford and Glasgow junior Mhairi Hendry came by her in the final 200 metres.
“I am really happy with that personal best,” added Bamford.

WOMEN’S 1500M A-B
There was no faulting Julia Cooke’s attitude as she was the only runner to follow the pacemaking as Alexandra Bell towed her to 800m in 2mins 15secs. That left the Cheltenham runner, who has made such big progress under Bud Baldaro’s guidance this summer, a long run for home and she was force to dig deep as the pack reeled her in on the final lap.
But Cooke held on for a deserved victory and her first ever success in a Grand Prix A event.
“It is the first time I have crossed the line to win such a big race and that feels really good,” said Cooke.
“I had just hoped for a faster time but I was really tying up in the last 100 metres. But I am really chuffed to in.”
Fife runner Jenny Tan finished the fastest to grab second with Katie Snowden, who had led the charge on a frantic last lap, third.
Lucy Hayes marked her best ever Grand Prix win with a personal best of 4: 30.52 in the B race. Sarah Mercier of Guernsey led at the bell (3:16) but couldn’t hold 19-year-old Hayes as she sped clear for victor with local athlete Sarah Barker third.

WOMEN’S 3000M
Elle Vernon showed a nice change of gear to sprint clear of her rivals to win the A race in 9:10.34, which is a PB outdoors although inferior to her indoor best of 9:012.
Vernon was one of a group of four who broke clear at halfway way with Stevie Stockton pushing the pace followed by Gemma Kersey and Georgina Outten.
By the bell, reached in in just under 8:04, Outten had dropped away and Vernon took off to deliver the sub 70 seconds last lap that husband and coach Steve Vernon had requested.
“After a disappointing British Championships it was nice to get stuck into a good race again and feel like I was competitive,” said Vernon.