Oxford Grand Prix – 19 July 2014 – Results

Races: 24
Finishers: 238
PB’s: 113 (47%)
Power of Ten: Here

Report

800m RACES
With internationals Hannah England and Marilyn Okoro in the field the women’s A race was always going to be one of the highlights of the meeting and, as if on cue, the storm clouds swept in and thunder rumbled in the distance.
Against that fanfare the pair tucked in behind pacemaker Julia Cooke as she reached the bell in 57.60secs with American runner Stephanie Herrick just off the pace in third.
Down the back straight England, who had just returned from a spell of training at altitude in Font Romeu, moved alongside Okoro.
But in her first 800m of the season would the Oxford City runner have the zip in her legs to pull ahead of Okoro, who has a season’s best of 2:01.57.
As the Heaven’s opened England went by Okoro at 600m and kicked hard to immediately open a gap which the Shaftesbury Barnet Harrier was powerless to respond.
As England admitted afterwards the last 50 metres was tough with her legs swimming with lactic but victory in 2:00.50 was a great confidence boost ahead of Glasgow where she will be running the 1500m.
“I only decided to run on Thursday when I got back from Font Romeu and the BMC were great in allowing me to run,” said England.
“When I heard Maz (Marilyn Okoro) was also running I was really pleased as I wanted a competitive race and hopefully we both got something out of that. I am very happy with that run.”
The time certainly compares favourably with her 2013 best of 2:00.39 when she finished fourth in the 1500m at the World Championships in Moscow and her lifetime PB of 1:59.66 from two years ago.
Okoro ran her second best time of the summer with 2:01.77 so is also shaping up well ahead of Glasgow.

The big question in the men’s race was whether Anthony Whiteman could beat his own World Masters M40 record for the second time in a week.
At Trafford in the previous Grand Prix 42-year-old Whiteman clocked an outstanding 1:48.05 to go 14th on the UK Rankings. It was always going to be a tough ask to match that even if Whiteman himself felt a sub 1:48 clocking is possible.
Again the wily competitor put himself in the right position but on this occasion City of Norwich runner Paul Godall showed he had learned from his mistakes at Trafford to come through late and pip Whiteman in the closing 50 metres.
“I was fourth at Trafford having got caught up is using to much energy down the back straight so this time I was determined to sit in and wait longer,” said Goodall.
“It was nice to win and beat Tony because he is such a great runner.”
It was also Goodall’s first Grand Prix success of the campaign having also finished fourth at Sportcity.

MILE RACES

Richard Peters retained his title but had to work much harder than 12 months ago when he out-kicked Jonny Mellor to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the British Milers’ Club.
The Bristol & West AC runner worked himself into a good position before hitting the front with 300 metres remaining. But his move wasn’t decisive and clubmate Steve Mitchell, who recently smashed his 1500m PB with 3:38.27, sat threateningly on his shoulder with early leader Mark Mitchell just behind along with Commonwealth Games bound Luke Gunn and Andrew Hayes.
But Peters kept pushing and wasn’t to be denied as he crossed the line 4:01.99 with a fast-finishing Richard Weir grabbing second just 0.09secs behind from Heyes in third.
“The priority was to win today but that felt harder than last year,” said Peters. “I have not had a great week or two since the British Championships but I know I am in good shape.”
Twelve months ago Peters clocked 3:58.70 but that spelled the end of his season whereas now he will be looking to find another gear when he runs the 1500 for England at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

American runner Erika Veidis dominated the women’s mile race following the pacemaker and leaving her rivals well behind.
The only question mark was whether Veidis would be able to keep her form when left on her own at the halfway mark but she answered that emphatically to finish strongly in 4:40.03.
Wakefield’s Jennifer Walsh made a determined bid to reduce the gap on the final lap and ran herself into a safe second in 4:47.51 ahead of another American runner Clerc Simpson.

5000m RACES

The start of the women’s 5000m had to be delayed by 15 minutes as thunder and lightning rumbled across the city and the Iffley Road track was soaked in a torrential downpour.
But then just as quickly the sun came back out, the wind died down and a good quality field, including former British junior international Charlotte Purdue, set out at a decent pace.
Inevitably Purdue was quickly to the fore once the pacemaker had pulled aside and it was good to see her pushing on after injury problems have restricted her outings this season.
But following her closely was in-form Stockport athlete Elle Vernon, who had looked so strong winning the 3000m at Trafford the previous weekend. Purdue’s AFD clubmate Louise Smalll was in attendance as the three pulled clear of the field.
Purdue then upped the pace and with two laps to go it was just her and Vernon as Small had to let go. At the bell (14:50.47) Purdue was still in front but she had no answer when Vernon hit the front with 300m remaining and finished really powerfully for the second successive week to clock 16:00.00 and show again that her 10th at the British Championships was a rare blip.
Purdue, who finished just ahead of Vernon in the trials, ran a season’s best and said afterwards she can’t wait for the cross country season to get underway and enjoy a solid winter.
Lauren Deadman probably finished faster than anyone to grab third with Lily Partridge also catching her team-mate Small who collapsed across the line.

The men’s 5000m saw arguably the biggest PB of the day as Andrew Butchart broke not just 14 minutes for the first time but also 14:45 as he destroyed his five-year-old best of 14:49.93.
“I did set that a long time ago and while I have run 5000m since it has been mostly in league races when the pace hasn’t been that fast,” said the 22-year-old Central AC runner from Dunblane, who powered across the finish line in 13:58.05.
“I thought I was fit enough to get close to 14 minutes but wasn’t sure I would go under it so I am delighted.”
William and Jack Gray were among the early pacemakers until Butchart hit the front with two laps remaining and then produced a big last 400 metres to break 14 minutes and go 12th on the UK Rankings – and second quickest Scotland runner behind Tom Farrell.
William Gray kept his form well to hold onto second also clocking a PB by 12 seconds with Wales runner Jonathan Hopkins also breaking 14:30 for the first time with 14:16.38 in third.

ANDREW Butchart’s runaway victory in the men’ 5000m A race, in which he smashed his personal best by 51 seconds, set the tone for a hugely successful afternoon in the event.
Of the 51 runners who took part in the three 5000m races – held in very hot, humid but windless conditions – there were 20 personal bests and 10 season’s bests.
The quality of the A was certainly very impressive with 22-year-old Butchart inspiring seven of the top ten to PBs while the other three clocked bests times for the year.
Butchart’s mighty improvement was the outstanding run but 21-year-old William Gray sliced almost 12 seconds off his best in second and 22-year-old Jonathan Hopkins carved 17 seconds off his previous best in third.
There were also good improvements by 22-year-old Alex Dunbar (almost 18 seconds) and 21-year-old Ian Bailey (almost seven seconds) as the top nine men all broke 14mins 30secs which is encouraging strength in depth.
The top three in the B race also clocked personal bests led by 25-year-old Dominic Shaw, whose time of 14:34.91 clipped almost nine seconds off his PB set last year.
“It has been a long time coming – and well worth the four-and-a-half hours journey from Middlesbrough!” said Shaw.
Kent AC’s John Gilbert, 33, chipped another three seconds off the PB he set at the Watford Grand Prix with 14:36.82 in second while in third 17-year-old Paulos Asgodom showed a 11 seconds improvement from his debut in the GP meeting at Sportcity in May.
Nick Earl, who won the C race, missed his 2012 PB by just four seconds in clocking 14:45.12 but behind him both Jonathan Poole and Ben Coole were delighted at breaking 15 minutes for the first time.
To underline the strength of the 5000m race this year it is worth noting the performance of 25-year-old North Somerset AC runner James Rodgers. He finished ninth in the C race in 15mins 28.26secs to carve almost 20 seconds off his previous best which he set on his debut in the same meeting last year – when he was 11th in the B race.

The mile distance is run so infrequently – mostly only thanks to the BMC – so PBs are usually the order of the day and this year’s meeting at Iffley Road was no different.
Of the 74 runners taking part in the five races – including one for Masters and the Peter Coe mile for under 17 men – 56 recorded personal bests with another 11 season’s bests.
As reported earlier on the website Richard Peters retained his title in his final warm-up before running the 1500m at the Commonwealth Games just doing enough to hold off Richard Weir and Andrew Heyes.

The B race saw personal bests for both winner Dominic Brown and Adam Hickey as they fought a good dual before crossing the line in 4:07.01 and 4:07.91 respectively.
“My last mile was a couple of years ago (4:28.4 in 2012) so that is a big personal best and I am very happy with that,” said Brown, who is a medical student at Sheffield University.
“There should be a massive 1500m PB in there somewhere as well now.”
Amazingly in the C race all 14 finishers recorded personal bests with 27-year-old Ben Harding unleashing a strong last lap to win in 4:14.34 and take off six seconds from his nine-year-old best.
The D race was set up for veteran runners and 46-year-old Madrid-based Altrincham runner David Cowlishaw took full advantage to set a new British M45 record of 4:26.34.
“The pace was perfect, the conditions were tremendous and I am very happy with that,” said Cowlishaw.
“It is my first British record and I am still a few seconds off the marks for 800m and 1500m but it would be good to have a go at them as well.
“It was also the first BMC race I have ever won as I was never good enough in the past! But it is brilliant that they agreed to put on the race and well worth coming over from Madrid.”

The E race was the Peter Coe mile and 16-year-old Danny Ray was rewarded for making the long journey from his home in Guernsey with a committed, front-running victory in 4:19.75.
“I came third in the English Schools’ 1500m the previous weekend and now this so it has been a good week for me,” said Ray.
The Frank Horwill title, incorporated in the senior A race, was retained by 15-year-old Sophie Tooley of West Suffolk, whose time of 4:54.22 was good enough to place her fourth overall.
“It was nice to run with the senior women and get pulled around because I really wanted to beat my time of last year (4:58.66),” said Tooley.