Solihull Grand Prix – 09 July 2016 – Results

Races: 28
Finishers: 318
PBs 62 (19%)
Power of Ten results: Here

Video
Videos of all the races are available through Vinco. Details available HERE

REPORT

Women
800m A
Runner-up in the opening two Grand Prix meetings at Sport City and Watford Alexandra Bell finally made it to top spot with her first victory in a Grand Prix A race.
The 23-year-old Pudsey & Bramley runner ran a terrific race following the pacemaker through the bell in 58.65secs and then maintaining her form excellently on the second lap to cross the line in a time of 2:01.29 to slice 0.03secs off her PB which she set at Watford.
“I am so, so pleased with that,” beamed a delighted bell when told of her PB.
“I wasn’t going to run as I have been racing so much but decided to come down and I am glad I did now! I have been so consistent running 2mins 01secs this season.”
Indeed Bell, who came fifth in the Olympic trials, has run under 2mins 02secs four times this summer and under 2:02.50 seven times.
Dublin runner Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner, chased hard and was rewarded with a PB of 2:01.98 and must now wait to see if she has done enough to earn a place in the team for Rio.
Revee Walcott-Nolan, who recently beat Bell at the British Championships, was third with Mhairi Hendry fourth and 1500m specialist Laura Weightman further back in eighth.

800m B-D

Victoria Park City of Glasgow veteran Phillippa Millage continued her fine season with a terrific victory in the B race.
The 35-year-old only took up running five years ago and has brought down her 800m PB to 2:05.23, a Scottish W35 record and believes she can go even quicker.
“It was a wee bit slow through 400m so then I started to pick it up and felt very strong on the second lap,” said Millage.
She was made to work hard in the home straight by Georgie Hartigan with the 20-year-old earning a PB of 2:06.48 with Julia Cooke third while in fourth there was an encouraging persona best for Harriet Knowles-Jones as she sharped up ahead of tackling the 1500m at the World Juniors in Poland next week.
In the C race early leader Chloe Anderson had victory snatched from her grasp in a big fight down the hone straight as just 0.21secs covered the top three. Pamela Marzendorfer of Austria clinched top spot on the line by just two one-hundredths of a second from Sweden’s Linn Soderhom with Anderson top Brit.
“That’s my best race of the season so I am delighted with that,” said Anderson.
Harrow’s Bettina Rottweiler won her first BMC race with victory in the D race and reckons that the blustery conditions cost her the chance of challenging her PB o 2:12.08.
“That probably cost me a second or two but I am still very happy to win though,” sad the German runner.

1500m A
New Zealand international Angie Petty is already going to Rio to run the 800m but opted for the 1500m having recently set a personal best of 4mins 07secs but on the night had to settle for second behind another Antipodean, Australian rival Zoe Buckman.
After going through 800m in 2mins 13secs Buckman opened a gap on Petty and as hard as she worked to bring her back the Australian refused to wilt and held her form well to win in 4:13.26.
“I came here to run fast but after seeing the conditions I decided the priority was just to win and I was pleased I did just that,” said Buckman.
“I knew Angie had run 4:07 he other week so I had to run a smart race and to beat her has given me a lot of confidence.”
Arguably the most pleased runner in the top three was Coventry’s 24-year-old Rowena Cole, who clipped 1.51secs off her PB with 4:18.07.
“It is nice to be back racing consistently and I was pleased with that,” said Cole.
“I wanted to test my endurance and mix it up with the 800m so it was nice to race the 1500m. Now the aim for the rest of the season is to run more PBs and not get injured.”

1500m B
Steeplechaser Aimee Pratt warmed up for the World Junior Championships with an encouraging PB to finish runner-up in the 1500m B race.
“It was good preparation for the Worlds where my target will be to reach the final and then anything can happen,” said Pratt.
“I think finishing in the top eight is realistic.”
Pratt had just returned from a two-week spell of training at altitude in Verbiers, Switzerland, with coach Vicente Modahl and is now ready to show what she can do in Poland.
On the night she had to settle for second behind Leicester’s junior international cross country runner Mari Smith.
“I wanted to run under 4mins 20secs but it wasn’t to be as I got boxed in at the start,” said Smith.
The C race saw the top three all record PBs with Ireland’s 17-year-old Sophie Murphy first in 4:33.50 and the British pair of Becky Townsend (Leeds) and Victoria Hiscock (Benfleet) just behind.

5000m A
A terrific battle on the final lap between mountain international runner Emma Clayton of Leeds and Katrina Wootton was the highlight of this race.
As befits a woman who came third in the European Mountain Running Championships last year Clayton produced a powerful surge on the final lap but the experienced Wootton, who has represented Britain on the track in the past, wasn’t going to let victory slip and she edged home by 0.72secs.
“I was really pleased with that as it was only my second 5000m in three years,” said Wootton.
“My first was in the Olympic trials (12th in 16:11.68) and while I would have liked to have run quicker this evening but it is nice to win.
“I am just trying to wean myself back onto the track but it is not easy.”
Wootton had a bad foot injury and virtually had to learn to walk again so it is good to see her back racing again and enjoying the experience.
“It is nice to be back,” she added.

Men
800m A
In stark contrast to Alexandra Bell the men’s A race winner Kyle Langford was starting only his second 800m of the summer after injury problems.
The 2015 European Under 20 champion had originally wanted to run the B race as he eases himself back into competition – his first 800m was a 1:50.20 800m for Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers in the BAL Premiership match last month – but his class was there to see as he won from the front with a season’s best of 1:48.53.
“It has been a long road back for me this year after suffering an IT band injury but it is good to be back and now I’ll be looking to see how fast I can run this season,” said Langford.
In chasing Langford Ireland’s Kieran Kelly was rewarded with a PB of 1:48.63 but Sheffield & Deane’s 25-year-old David Dempsey, who improved his PB to 1:47.96 in the BMC Gold Standard meeting at Watford last month, could only clock 1:51.55 in sixth.

800m B-H
Brighton Phoenix runner Robbie Fitzgibbon, who was fifth in the 1500m at the European Juniors last year, has been notching up some notable runs this summer and he won’t forget the Solihull meeting as he broke 1mins 50secs for the first time.
The 20-year-old, who is coached by Jon Bigg, finished over a second clear in 1:49.90 to smash his previous best by 2.66secs. Last month Fitzgibbon also broke 3mins 40secs for the first time so it has been a summer of firsts for the young man.
Thomas Atkinson of Sale Manchester Harriers came through strongly in the final 50m to win the C race in 1:51.09.
“That was promising and now I would like to end the season by beating my PB (of 1:49.31) which I ran last year (when at Wyoming University),” said Atkinson, who is coached by BMC President Norman Poole.
Hayden Carter ran a season’s best of 1:51.85 to edge out the experienced Chris Warburton to take the D race and in the E event victory went to Swansea’s David Banwell-Clode.
There weren’t too many PBs in the 800m races but Tom Horton was always odds on to get one in the H race as it was only his second outing at the distance and he won at a canter in 1:53.73.
“My coach (Bashir Hussain) has got me into the best shape of my life and I reckon there is another second or two there this season,” said Horton.

1500m A
The A race was an odd affair as only Liverpool Harrier Ben Stevenson made an effort to go with pacemaker Tony Whiteman, who did his normal excellent job through 800m.
For a while it looked like Stevenson, who boasts a PB of 3:44.70, might hold on for an unlikely victory but then 23-year-old Blackheath & Bromley athlete Philip Seseman exploded into action at the bell.
Seseman clocked a PB of 3:43.48 to win the Grand Prix A race at Watford and when he over-took Stevenson with 200m to go looked like he was heading for his second GP win of the season.
It still looked that way at 1495m but then in a desperate lunge for the line Emil Danielsson snatched victory in a PB of 3:45.42.
“I just could not have done any more and gave it everything,” said Sesemann.
“I was feeling a bit rubbish early on and didn’t want to go too early to chase as I was worried I would be there to be shot at.”

1500m B – G
Stuart McCallum revealed he will probably end his season after clocking a PB of 3:47.47 to win the B race.
“I had a good cross country season but then got injured and it has taken me time to get back into shape,” said McCallum.
McCallum was third in the England U23 Championships and Solihull was his first 1500m since then for the 20-year-old Birmingham University student.
“The aim was to win this evening and the time was okay as well,” added McCallum.
“I will probably finish my season now as my target is to get into shape for the European U23 Cross Country trials at Liverpool as I just missed out making the team last year when I came sixth. That will be my big aim for the winter.”
There was also PBs for the winners of the C, D and F races. John Cove, a 19-year-old member of Cardiff AC sliced 0.22secs off his previous best to win the C event while 22-year-old Irishman Thomas Moran clocked 3:50.16 for victory in the D event in which the top seven all recorded personal or seasonal bests.
In the F race 22-year-old Reading athlete Jonathon Roberts was a comfortable winner in 3:54.53 to carve three seconds off his 2015 best.
Dale Worton committed himself from the start in the G race and while dying in the closing stages held on for a fine win in 3:58.90.
That time is well outside the 24-year-old’s lifetime best of 3:47.56 which he ran two years ago in a BMC Gold Standard race in Watford but last year he didn’t race on the track at all.
“Tonight was only my third race back and it is a season’s best and I felt good,” said Worton. “Now I will be looking to push on for the rest of the season.”

5000m A – D
The Australian pair of Patrick Tiernan and Collis Birmingham really attacked this race following the pacemaker at 13mins 30secs pace in the early stages.
By 3k reached in 8mins 05secs 21-year-old Tiernan, who boasts a recent PB of 13:25.78 and is anxiously waiting to see if he has done enough to earn selection for the Olympics, was out on his own with a gap to Birmingham and Southend’s Adam Hickey who was also isolated.
Tiernan gamely pushed on for victory although inevitably slowed in the closing stages as the effort on his own took its toll but still finished in a respectable 13:43.84.
Hickey did well to keep his form under pressure to finish second in 14;11.6 with Winchester’s Tom Anderson emerging out of the chasing pack to grab third from 20-year-old Bracknell athlete Richard Allen who earned a PB of 14:16.32.
“The last couple of laps were tough but I am happy with that and I got a solid race which is what I wanted,” said Tiernan.
“Also the pacemaker as he did a cracking job for us.”

The Bideford 5000m boys from north Devon certainly enjoyed their trip to Solihull.
Shaun Antell got his tactics spot on only hitting the front with three laps to go of the B race and then surging clear of his pursuers to smash his personal best by almost 28 seconds with 14:21.73.
“The plan was to go with four laps remaining and wind up the pace,” said Antell.
“I have been doing a lot of speed work and it is paying off and I am really happy with that time. It is definitely my best track race ever.”
The D race saw a Bideford one-two with Antell’s training partner Aaron Richmond slashing 24 seconds off his PB with 15:09.80 to edge out clubmate Mark Jenkin, who agonisingly missed his PB by 0.13secs.
“Ronnie (Richmond) has also been going really well in training and it was great to see his smash his PB as wwel and that certainly spurred me on,” added Antell.
Victory in the C race went to Niall Sheehan as the top six all dipped under 15 minutes with PBs for Sale’s Nigel Martin and Cheltenham’s Daniel Owen.

3000m Steeplchase A
Stuart McSeweyn was second in the Australia trials and recently ran a PB off 8mins 34secs in Sweden so was a class apart in this opening race of the night.
“I was hoping to go under 8mins 30secs s I was a bit off that but it was a great experience to run in an event like this which was brilliantly organised and it is a nice track,” said McSweyn.
Doug Musson was the leading Brit with the 22-year-old a clear second.