Jo Pavey on top of the ladder
Last week, Jo Pavey (handicap MINUS 2.6) was sitting in 35th position on the runbritain National Ladder but after her gritty and inspiring performance at the Commonwealth Games, that had everyone in the stadium up on their feet and everyone at home shouting at the televisions, she has leapt to the very top of the ladder, hurdling other Commonwealth Games medallists along the way!
Jo won a bronze medal in the 5000m on Saturday night and had everyone, from all of the home nations, on the edge of their seats as she battled with three Kenyan athletes on the home straight. Her blistering finish almost got her the silver but the line came a little too soon and so bronze it was on this occasion.
What makes this performance even more inspirational is the fact that she lowered her handicap score from MINUS 0.9 to MINUS 2.6, making an improvement of 1.7, which is a great start to the month of August by anyone's standards and she could give us all a run for our money in the Reward Running competition, if she intends to race more regularly through this month. Jo was 35th largely because she had only done four races this year (and no others since 2012) and you need to do five recent ones to best score in the handicap system.
Their actual scores are:
Jo Pavey - MINUS 2.607
Julia Bleasdale - MINUS 2.315
Lynsey Sharp - MINUS 2.311
Laura Weightman - MINUS 2.289
There have also been changes on the men's ladder. Before the start of the Games, Andrew Osagie (handicap MINUS 6.5) was on the top of the ladder but his disqualification from the 800m heats means he hasn't recorded a performance since 18th July at the IAAF Diamond League in Qatar and so he has begun to slip and is now in 4th. Meanwhile, Michael Rimmer (handicap MINUS 6.6) has jumped to the top after running well in the heats and semi finals of the 800m and finishing 7th in the final. Andy Vernon (handicap MINUS 6.6) is now in second after his 6th place in the 5000m. Mo Farah (handicap MINUS 6.5) is now in third place after alack of racing has seen his score slide from MINUS 6.7.
Their actual scores are:
Michael Rimmer - MINUS 6.561
Andy Vernon - MINUS 6.552
Mo Farah - MINUS 6.461
Andrew Osagie - MINUS 6.454
Do you know what your position is on the National Ladder? If you have claimed your handicap score, you will be on the ladder. You will find your ladder position and your position within your gender, age group and post code on your profile page on the right hand side just underneath your photograph.
If your postcode ranking is missing it may be because we don't know it yet. All you need to do is click on 'What are these?' and you will be instructed on how to tell us where you live.