Watford Grand Prix – 26 May 2018 – Results

Races:31
Finishers: 338
PBs 115 (34%)
Power of Ten results: Here

REPORT

800A WOMEN AND MEN

THOSE fellow runners, coaches and athletics fans who saw Alexandra Bell break two minutes for the first time knew they had seen something special.
In what amounted to a solo effort as she alone chased the pacemaker and left her rivals trailing in her wake the Pudsey & Bramley athlete produced one of the best efforts seen on the BMC Grand Prix circuit.
Many of her fellow British internationals, past and present, have tried and failed – albeit very narrowly in many cases – to break two minutes in a women’s only race but it is Bell’s name that will go down into the history books at having achieved that goal for the first time with a personal best of 1mins 59.93secs.
“I had a plan and that was to stick with the pacemaker because I knew from my training I was I good shape,” said Bell.
“I wasn’t sure about running a personal best but I went off hard and kept pushing it as hard as I could to 600 metres and then dug in.
“I am just delighted with the time.”
Remarkably it was Bell’s first race since finishing fifth in the 800m final at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane on April 13th and suggests there is much more to come from this tough Yorkshire woman as the summer progresses.
But what is certain for now is that Bell has written her name into the BMC history books and the £1,000 bonus she collected for her achievement was thoroughly deserved.
Mari Smith won the race behind her and the trio of Ellie Baker, teenager Keely Hodgkinson and Anna Silvander were all rewarded for giving chase with personal bests with Leigh athlete Hodgkinson also dipping inside the World Junior Championships qualifying standard as she clipped a second off the time she ran at Sportcity.

In the men’s race Zak Curran claimed his first Grand Prix A race victory with an impressive finishing burst to defeat junior Alex Botterill.
Curran was rewarded with a season’s best of 1:47.86 with Botterill clocking a PB of 1:47.95 to dip inside the qualifying standard for the World Junior Championships.
“The Loughborough International (third in 1:48.36) was my first race in 12 months so to run 1:47.86 is another stepping stone,” said Curran, who is now working with coach Craig Winrow.
“The aim for me this summer is get into the Ireland team for the Europeans and to do that I need the A standard of 1:47.12 while there is also a B standard of 1:47.6.”
Former Olympian Michael Rimmer, who has been re-united with coach Norman Poole, got boxed in badly but showed enough to suggest that he will get faster this summer.
Likewise junior Markhim Lonsdale, who was racing his first 800m of the summer, will surely get better and re-discover the form that saw him run 1:46.97 last year and challenge for a place in the GB team for the World Juniors.

1500A WOMEN AND MEN

Zak Curran and Ciara Mageean could well end up team-mates on the Ireland team for the Europeans in Berlin in August if their seasons work out as planned.
University College Dublin student Mageean looked a class act in the 1500m as she powered clear of Jemma Reekie and Jessica Judd in the closing stages to claim her first Grand Prix since 2015 – when she won at Solihull in 4:07.31 – and show just why she is Ireland’s current No 1.
“The pace was a bit slow to start with but I felt strong and can take a lot of positives out of this race,” said Mageean.
Reekie was rewarded with a PB of 4:10.10 in second, slicing almost two seconds off the time she set when winning the Loughborough International and fellow Scot Erin Wallace was also a big winner.
Wallace, who represented Scotland in the triathlon relay at the Commonwealth Games, shaved almost two seconds off her 2017 best set when winning the Commonwealth Youth Games title last year with 4:14.80 to go well inside the World Juniors qualifying target of 4:17.0.
Jamie Williamson also emerged, with a PB of 3:41.59 as he raced to the best win of his career in the men’s 1500m.
In a terrific last lap Williamson just had the edge over early leader Jonathan Hay and Jonathan Davies as he timed his kick to perfection to hit the front in the final 50 metres.
“That is three seconds off my PB but that was set two years ago so I was hoping for something quick this evening,” said Williamson.
“I was injured for most of 2017 but recently my training has been going really well and I have been doing PB sessions so I knew there was something fast there.
“That is my first Grand Prix victory of any sort and definitely one of my best wins ever.”
Hay only missed his PB by 0.43secs but there were PBs for the next three runners home – Andrew Smith, Kieran Wood and Kieran Kelly.

5000A WOMEN AND MEN

Having a pacemaker of the quality of Charlene Thomas was not an opportunity that Emily Hosker Thornhill was going to miss as she set out to attack her PB of 16:32.59 set on her debut last year.
Both women did their jobs to perfection Thomas taking Thornhill into new territory as she maintained her form and rhythm superbly and had enough to produce a strong last lap to not only break 16 minutes but also smash her PB with a winning time of 15:57.35.
“I am really happy with that,” said Thornhill.
“I had a PB of 15:59 on the road for 5k so I knew the time was there but I had a bad run at the BUCS Championships and only managed 16:40.
“I knew I had to give it a go this evening as conditions were perfect and Charlene was amazing so many thanks to her.
“It is only my third ever 5000m on the track but I now feel I am on my way and will only get better.”
Nine of the 15 finishers clocked lifetime bests with runner-up Charlotte Christensen, Nicole Taylor and Lucy Reid all breaking 16mins 30secs.
The men also took full advantage of the best conditions of the meeting as it came to a close with 10 of the 18 finishers setting PBs.
English National and Inter Counties Cross Country champion Mahamed Mahamed was one of those as he ran inside 14 minutes for the first time but it wasn’t enough to earn him victory as Kieran Clements kicked hard to claim a morale-boosting victory in 13:54.86.
“That last lap was a good battle and I was pleased to be able to run 59/60 seconds to hold off Mahamed, who has had a great winter,” said Clements.
“I knew I couldn’t let him go past me because if that happened the race would be lost so I was working really hard to keep him behind me.
“That’s my first BMC race for about six years and it feels good to be back.”
Bradley Goater also broke 14 minutes with 13:58.77 to improve his PB.

3000A STEEPLECHASE WOMEN & MEN

In her first steeplechase since placing eighth in the Commonwealth Games Iona Lake led from gun to tape for an emphatic victory in 10:12.71
“I have had a few setbacks since the Commonwealths with illness and injury so this felt hard,” said Lake.
“But I wanted to race to see where I am at with my fitness and I was concentrating more upon technique than chasing a time. It was good to get out there and start clearing some barriers.”
Further down the field four of the seven runners posted personal bests.
In contrast the men’s race saw one of the closest finishes of the meeting as Chris Perry unleashed a terrific burst to snatch victory from Henry Hayes virtually on the line by just six one-hundredths of a second.
“I thought Henry had gone at 200m to go but with the ‘chase you can never tell so I gave it everything and just got him,” said Perry.
“I am happy with that and it is something to build upon.”
American Hayes was rewarded with a PB in second.

Videos
On the night live coverage & videos of the races can be found at VINCO

Sponsorship
We are pleased to announce that the Men’s 5000m and Women’s 1500m are being sponsored by New Balance. The BMC is delighted to be supported by such a renowned brand.
The Men’s 1500m is being sponsored by Oxy Hood. The benefits of living and training at altitude are well documented. Ray Matthew had developed Oxy Hood altitude tent which provides an altitude simulation for athletes.