Meeting Start Time: 5:15 pm
Closing Date: Closed
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WATFORD GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
FORMER World Indoor champion Jemma Reekie is one of a group of international runners fine-tuning their preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the fourth adidas/sportshoes.com BMC Grand Prix at Watford.
Reekie, who was named in the Scotland squad for the 800m and mile, goes in the two-lap event looking to beat her season’s best of 2:00.45 and dip inside two minutes.
One of Britain’s finest female mile-distance runners in recent years – she was fifth at the World Championships in Tokyo last year – remarkably Reekie has never won a BMC Grand Prix race.
Admittedly it’s been a while since she lined up for one with her last GP appearance back on May 26th 2018 when she was runner-up, also at Watford, in the 1500m.
Earlier that month she was also second one 800m at Sportcity, clocking 2:03.91.
Reekie is joined in the field by Erin Wallace, who is also in the Scotland squad for the 800m and mile for the Glasgow Games which start
Wallace is racing her first 800m of the summer having focussed upon the 1500m, in which she placed fourth at the UK Championships last month.
Her last 800m was actually at the BMC Record Breaker Meeting at Tooting at the end of August last year when the 26-year-old clocked 1:59.62, just outside her 2024 lifetime best of 1:59.20, recorded at the BMC Grand Prix at Sportcity.
Wallace does have a GP win to her name, the last coming at Watford when she won the 1500m (4:08.10) in 2021 so maybe that is an omen for her?
A top quality women’s A race – reflecting the event’s stutter as part of the World Athletics Continental Challenger Tour – also boasts a third runner seeking to sharpen up her form ahead of the Commonwealth Games with Ava Lloyd selected for the Wales team and looking for a confidence boosting performance.
Her season’s best, in her only two laps event so far this summer, came in Stockholm last month with 2:02.85 and her PB remains the 2:02.17 she ran to win the B race at the Tooting Record Breaker meeting last year.
The field also boasts two strong French athletes and a Canadian, all of whom are looking to run low two minutes.
And let’s not forget leading British junior Bethany Trow, who has been a regular Grand Prix high-achiever this summer with a win at Birmingham University and two seconds at Stretford and Loughborough University.
So maybe Khalisa Mhlanga’s BMC Watford record of 1:59.35, set three years ago, could be under threat?
“By Saturday evening the conditions will be very good racing weather,” said Tim Brennan, meeting organiser and GP director.
Archie Davis is heading to Glasgow to race the mile for England and on paper is the fastest in the men’s 800m A race though his 1:44.72 dates back five years now.
The 27-year-old has been in good form this summer setting a PB of 3:33.72 in Nice, last month and will have his sights set on beating his season’s best of 1:48.11 set at a BMC Gold Standard meeting, in May.
Davis faces some tough competition though with Reece Sharman-Newell the fastest man in the field on this year’s times having posted 1:45.47 in America, where he is a student at the Texas A&M University, in May.
The 23-year-old will certainly be looking to bounce back from a disappointing run at the UK Championships when he was knocked out in the heats.
David Race beat him in that heat and subsequently finished ninth in the final. The 22-year-old has made good progress this summer winning the Grand Prix at Birmingham University and finishing third at Loughborough University.
Add in William Rabjohns, who set a BMC U20 record of 1:45.51 at Watford last year and American 1:45.67 man Cass Elliott and you potentially have one heck of a race.
“I think it is very hard to say who is favourite for the men’s 800m as there are so many good runners in the field,” added Brennan.
“Likewise the women’s field is also very strong. As well as the likes of Gemma, Erin and Ava you have Rebecca Grieve, who is in the Scotland squad for the 4x400m relay at the Commonwealth Games and recently ran a 51secs split.
“She has also run 600m in 85secs so if she can find something for that last 200m she could run a very quick time.”
Two-times Olympian Andrew Butchart has enjoyed a terrific career so it is great to see him line up at Watford ahead of tackling a 5000m and 10,000m double in Glasgow.
The 34-year-old British and Scottish international steps down to 3000m, a distance in which he is the Scottish national record holder at 7mins 37.56secs.
Butchart has only raced three times this summer on the track, all over 5000m with a season’s best of 13:22.55 in Brussels, in May.
He also finished runner-up in the Novuna UK Athletics Championships last month in 13:27.52. His lifetime best remains the superb 13:06.21 back in 2019.
“We are delighted to welcome back Andrew, who previously held the BMC record at the distance (7:43.57 at Watford, 2021) before losing it to Simas Bertasius (7:42.07, Watford 2025),” added Brennan.
“It will be interesting to see what he can do and with a strong field including the likes of James McMurray, Will Barnicoat, Jacob Cann and Matt Ramsden plus some strong runners rom overseas I’m hoping we all see something in the 7mins 40secs.”
The women’s A race also looks interesting with Kate Axford, whose last GP was a 4:08.13 PB at Bury in 2024 and Tilly Simpson both chasing a sub nine minutes time.
In the men’s 3000m steeplechase the British pair of Will Battershill and Mark Peace both have the European Championships qualifying standard of 8mins 20secs in mind and the pace will be set accordingly with recently crowned England Athletics U20s champion Dillon Millard taking it out.
The pair were originally due to duel it out at the Birmingham Uni GP but Pearce didn’t make it due to a slight niggle so hopefully this time the pair can really attack their target.
And let’s not forget the 1500m races with Thomas Bridger leading a strong British challenge against talented Frenchman Benoit Campion, who boasts a PB of 3:34.31 while in the women’s race Shakira King, Ellie Leather and Hollie Parker are among the entries.
The action starts at 5.15pm and the programme of 32 races culminates with the men’s 3000m A race at 9.15pm.
Spectator tickets will be available on the gate to, if you can’t make it in person, check out the live coverage provided by Vinco at: www.vincosport.com
Watford BMC Records
| Men | Women | ||||||
| 800m | 01:45.10 | Richard Hill | 10Jun06 | 01:59.33 | Lynsey Sharp (Mx) | 24Jun17 | |
| 01:59.35 | Khalisa Mhlanga | 23-Aug-23 | |||||
| 1500m | 03:36.01 | James West | 23-Aug-23 | 04:03.09 | Nancy Chepkwemoi | 27Jun15 | |
| 3000m | 7:42.07 | Simas Bertasius | 12JUL25 | 08:52.33 | Georgie Grgec | 12JUL25 | |
| 5000m | 13:28.60 | Mizan Mehari ETH | 05Aug98 | 15:06.26 | Calli Thackery | 11-Jun-22 | |
| 3000m STCH | 08:29.96 | Andrew Lemoncello | 30Jun07 | 09:24.38 | Tatiane Da Silva | 11-Jun-22 | |
| U20 Men | U20 Women | ||||||
| 800m | 01:45.51 | William Rabjohns | 12JUL25 | 02:00.37 | Jessica Judd | 15May13 | |
| 1500m | 03:40.56 | George Coutie | 08-Jun-24 | 04:09.13 | Lyla Belshaw | 12JUL25 | |
| 3000m | 08:01.48 | Darragh McEhinney | 29Jun19 | 09:13.58 | Joanne Harvey | 14Jun08 | |
| 5000m | 13:28.60 | Mizan Mehari ETH | 05Aug98 | 15:34.21 | Emelia Gorecka | 09Jun12 | |
| 3000m STCH | 08:38.07 | Zac Seddon | 09Jun12 | 10:11.86 | Pippa Woolven | 09Jun12 | |
