Photos https://www.facebook.com/britishmilersclub from David Lowes
Report from Kevin Fahey
THE opening British Milers’ Club Grand Prix meeting, supported by Saucony, was the perfect platform for Britain’s top young runners to put down a marker for the summer season.
The meeting saw a total of nine British runners achieve qualifying standards for the European Under 23 and Under 20 Championships in Norway and Estonia respectively later this summer. The BMC also hosted 400m and 400m Hurdles races for the first time with an additional three age group qualifications coming in those races.
For the under 23s Ben Pattison dipped inside the 1mins 47.00secs standard for the men’s 800m with 1:46.77 while in the women’s 1500m runner-up Erin Wallace of Giffnock North clocked 4:13.02 to beat the 4:14.00 target.
That race was won by Ireland’s Sarah Healy, who also seems certain to be at the Under 23 Championships.
There were two fine performances in the 5000m with Stroud AC’s Tom Mortimer particularly impressive as he surged to victory in the men’s event.
Now in his fourth and final year of a mechanical engineering course at Loughborough University, Mortimer had to run the second half of the race on his own but still finished well inside the qualifying mark of 13mins 53.00secs as he clipped almost four seconds off his PB with 13:39.79.
“It is great to get that qualifying time ticked off,” said Mortimer.
“The pace was good at the start at 13mins 32mins but I was a bit surprised to suddenly open a gap and win it so well.
“But to be honest getting the qualifying time is probably the easy part this year as the trials will be really competitive. We have some great talent out there at the moment with the likes of Charlie Hicks, who ran that ridiculous 13:34 in America and Rory Leonard.
“We have some great talent so getting into the team is going to be very tough.”
With the qualifying time under his belt Mortimer will now sharpen up his speed with some fast 1500ms and maybe a 3000m as he prepares for a tactical showdown against his domestic rivals.
Ribble Valley’s Eleanor Bolton had to work as equally hard to maintain her concentration and form as she kept her focus on the women’s Under 23 qualifying target of 16mins 05.00secs.
Bolton went into the race with a best of 16:06.81 when placing seventh in the 2020 Muller British Championships last September but had shown she was in good form over the distance with a swift 15:58 in the Podium 5k road race last month.
She paced her effort well to finish fifth in 15:58.38 with overall victory going to British international Jennifer Nesbitt in 15:40.10.
Behind Mortimer in the men’s A race junior Henry McLuckie dug in to finish ninth in 14:06.7, well inside the European U20s qualifying standard of 14:25.00.
That target was also beaten by two other British runners in the B race with Alastair Marshall (14:16.3) and Dean Casey (14:24.1) recording PBs in fifth and ninth respectively.
The desire to race and take advantage of not just the pacemaker but the reasonably benign conditions was no better illustrated than in the men’s 1500m A race where six of the 12 finishers ran lifetime bests – including two European U20s qualifying times.
A competitive race up front ensured that winner Jeremy Dempsey (3:42.49), runner-up James Heneghan (3:43.10) and Ethan Hussey (3:43.17) all posted PBs with Hussey the leading junior finishing inside the qualifying target of 3:46.00.
Then just behind Hussey Falkirk’s Kane Elliott notched up a lifetime best of 3:44.00 in fifth, also a qualifying standard.
For Dempsey the win represents a good start to the season as he has also clocked PBs of 1:50.6 for 800m and 8:02.97 for the 3000m in the BMC Gold Standard meeting at Birmingham University.
It was also Dempsey’s first Grand Prix A race win – four years after he placed eighth in the B race at the same meeting!
Remarkably the winners of the other five 1500m races – Ben West, Mitchel Cox, Kristian Imroth, Oliver Way and Gavin Smith – all ran lifetimes bests as did 26 other runners.
The women were equally impressive with Alexandra Millard, Jessica Spilsbury and Ellen-Mary Kearney clocking PBs in winning the B, C and D races respectively.
The Trafford GP meeting was also being supported by UK Athletics and identified as a qualification opportunity for the Tokyo Olympics while the inclusion of 400m races was following a request by British Athletics.
European Indoor 800m champion Keeley Hodgkinson stepped down to the 400m and ran a PB of 53.73secs while there was also a PB of 46.37secs for men’s 400m winner Niclas Baker, who claimed the scalp of Martyn Rooney. Alex Knibbs ran a season’s best of 51.09secs to win the 400m hurdles.
In a great start for the Grand Prix campaign 269 finishers contested the 29 races with 123 PBs.
Women’s 800m – Alex Bell Interview
GREAT Britain international Alexander Bell is a woman on a mission.
That’s why she was left with mixed feelings despite opening her season with her fastest ever 800m in another terrific victory at the first Saucony British Milers’ Club Grand Prix meeting at Trafford.
The Pudsey & Bramley runner is never afraid to take on the pace and in her normal committed style reached the bell in just over 57 seconds.
She then powered around the second circuit in splendid isolation to cross the line in a time of 2mins 00.15secs in her first outing over two laps this year.
Only Leigh junior Keely Hodgkinson has run quicker this year with her PB of 1:59.03 when she won the European Indoor Championships 800m title, in Austria, in January.
But for Bell victory wasn’t enough; the Olympic Games qualifying standard of 1mins 59.50secs set by UK Athletics was what she was after so having come up short left her a little frustrated.
“The result I had was not the time I had in my head and which I was going for, which was the Olympic qualifying standard,” said Bell.
“The plan is to get that time out of the way early as I don’t want to leave it to the trials. I hate scrapping around for races and chasing times. I just don’t like that situation at all.
“But I suppose it says a lot that I’m not that happy with running two minutes flat in my first 800m of the season!”
The Ireland pair of Louise Shanahan and Jenna Bromell chased hard but were never close enough to exert any pressure on Bell and give her that extra push she needed down the home straight to get under two minutes.
“Through 400m and 600m I ran times I had never done before so that has given me a lot of confidence,” added Bell.
“One of my strengths is that last 50 metres so with a bit more competition hopefully I can get that qualifying soon.
“It is six weeks to the trials and while that seems along way off it isn’t really. It is a good start but I can’t help but want more.”
Bell’s committed style of racing should certainly be an inspiration and it was good to see that three of the 800m race winners all set personal bests.
Kettering junior Indienne King went into the meeting with an outdoor best of 2:11.17, which she ran two years ago when finishing runner-up in the England Athletics U17 Championships.
Indoors she had already clocked 2:10.92 for another national silver in the England Indoor Championships but this win in the C race represents another step up and lifts her to fifth in the UK Rankings.
Kettering teenager Alice Bennett was rewarded for her positive tactics with a PB of 2:12.32 to win the D race and carve over two seconds from her 2019 PB.
It also puts her third in the UK U17 Rankings, headed by Cleethorpe’s Ella Greenway, who ran a season’s best for third in the B race won by Edinburgh AC’s Hannah Cameron (2:07.32).
Last but not least Trafford junior Erin Grime ran strongly to win the E race in a time of 2:16.29 to lop two seconds off the mark she ran on the same trac in a Gold Standard meeting last summer.
Men’s 800m – Archie Davis interview
ARCHIE Davis may have good reason to look back at his excellent win in the men’s 800m as a significant moment in realising his ambitions this season.
The 22-year-old Brighton Phoenix runner admitted afterwards that he wasn’t expecting to break 1mins 47secs for the first time with another personal best – amazingly his fourth in success at the distance – as he got his tactics spot on to claim victory in 1min 46.65secs.
“The aim was to win the race and at 600m I was a little worried that I might have left it too late but I was feeling very comfortable so knew I would finish strong,” said Davis.
“I had to go around the bend but I just focussed on my form, kept my knees driving high and just edged past people.
“This difference for me this year is I am a lot stronger and I can hold on to finish well in the final 100 metres.”
That represents his second PB of the season having already posted a best of 1:47.26 to win the Worthing Open just last weekend.
Before that over two laps last August Davis clocked 1:48.53 at Worthing and improved that to 1:48.51 a few weeks later at Bromley so he is certainly the form man at the distance.
The manner of the win has left Davis feeling buoyant about his prospects at both 800m and 1500m, which he still regards as his main event having made his GB senior international debut at the European Indoor Championships in March.
“I have been lucky to PB quite a few times recently but Saturday evening felt like a significant jump,” added Davis.
“Last week at Worthing was a good start for me and gave me a lot of confidence for the Trafford meeting. I definitely feel I can go faster and would like to think I could manage a 1:45 in the right race.
“But next up for me will be a 1500m as I feel I am in better shape for that event. I got a huge boost after making the team for the European Indoors and I know this is a big year for me.
“I have always felt I could run a fast 1500m but it hasn’t materialised yet but now I feel that I am capable of running the Olympic Games qualifying standard (3:35.00) – and I wouldn’t have said that two months ago!”
Victory also represented Davis’ second success in a Grand Prix A event having previously won also over 800m at the Eltham GP two years ago.
Behind him Basingstoke & Mid Hants runner Ben Pattison was rewarded for his terrific finish with a season’s best of 1:46.77 which was under the qualifying standard of 1:47.0 for the European Under 23 Championships.
But U23 rival Alex Botterill (City of York) just missed that standard with 1:47.09 in third as did Preston’s Tiarnan Crorken in fourth, though he can’t be too unhappy with a PB of 1:47.22. Indeed, four of the eight finishers ran lifetime bests with a further three season best times to underline what a competitive race it was.
It proved to be a familiar pattern with the other men’s 800m races as well as four of the six winners recorded PBs.
Edinburgh AC’s Joe Ewing won the B race in 1:49.61, Cardiff’s David Locke clocked a PB of 1:49.98 to win the D race, his first time under 1min 50secs and both Trafford’s Jonny Stock (1:53.43) and Sale Harriers Manchester teenager Elliot Savage (1:54.72) notched up lifetime bests in the F and G races respectively.
A word also for BMC President and respected coach Norman Poole as his athletes filled the first four places in the C race led by William Onek.
| Euro U23 Qualification | ||
| 800 | 01:46.7 | Ben Pattison |
| 5000 | 13:39.8 | Tom Mortimer |
| 1500 | 04:13.0 | Erin Wallace |
| 5000 | 15:58.4 | Eleanor Bolton |
| 400H | 51.09 | Alex Knibbs |
| Euro U20 Qualification | ||
| 1500 | 03:43.2 | Ethan Hussey |
| 1500 | 03:44.0 | Kane Elliott |
| 5000 | 14:06.7 | Henry McLuckie |
| 5000 | 14:16.3 | Alastair Marshall |
| 5000 | 14:24.1 | Dean Casey |
| 400 | 46.64 | Charlie Carvell |
| 400 | 53.73 | Keely Hodgkinson |
