Weekend update
This weekend saw more athletes achieve qualification standards for major events as many opened their outdoor season. Over 800m, Jemma Reekie, Laura Muir and Adelle Tracey all hit Olympic standards in Walnut, California, as did Eilish McColgan over 1500m.
At the famous Mt Sac Relays in Walnut, California, British athletes were well represented in many of the individual events. In the women’s 800m, Jemma Reekie (handicap -3.2) ran an outdoor PB to win in 1:58.27. She timed her winning move to perfection as she moved alongside Melissa Bishop (CAN) with 120 metres to go and had the strength to push on and claim the victory.
Laura Muir (handicap -3.6) came through in the closing stages to take second place from Bishop in a time of 1:58.46, while Adelle Tracey (handicap -2.2) hit the exact Olympic qualifying time of 1:59.50 as she placed fourth overall. Ellie Baker (handicap -1.5) hit a personal best time in the women's 800m B race as she recorded a time of 2:00.24. She went through at the bell in 57.80 and kept her form to finish third in a lifetime best, an improvement from 2:02.02.
Eilish McColgan (handicap -3.4) clinched fourth in the women’s 1500m as she ran inside the Olympic qualifying standard once again. As the leading trio of athletes moved away in the middle stages of the race, McColgan ran a lonely race in fourth as she chased them down. The American, Elle Purrier finished in a world leading time of 3:58.36 and the Scottish athlete maintained her composure to cross the line in 4:03.89. Holly Archer (handicap -1.4) was ninth in 4:08.81.
Josh Kerr (handicap -6.7) was the highest placed Briton in the men’s 800m as he finished fifth in a time of 1:45.74, his second quickest time ever over the distance. Guy Learmonth (handicap -6.5) was next in 1:46.86 for eighth while Kyle Langford (handicap -6.3) was ninth in 1:47.08.
At the BMC Grand Prix at the home of Trafford AC in Stretford, Tom Mortimer (handicap -5.9) produced one of the best performances to date as he moved inside the European U23 Championships qualifying standard with a time of 13:39.79 over 5000m. He won by just over 13-seconds from pre race favourite Jonny Davies (handicap -6.3).
Despite a first lap clocking in around 57 seconds, Alex Bell (handicap -2.2) held on to record a time of 2:00.14 to win the women’s 800m to win by 3-seconds.
Archie Davis (handicap -5.8) won the men’s equivalent in a thrilling finale with several athletes in contention for the victory in the home straight. The Brighton athlete glided through on the outside of the pack to win from Ben Pattison (handicap -3.9). Their times were 1:46.65 and 1:46.77 respectively.
In the mixed 400m race, European Indoor 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson (handicap -2.1) sharpened up for the outdoor season, clocking a personal best of 53.73.
Jeremy Dempsey (handicap -5.2) was the 1500m winner in a PB of 3:42,49 ahead of James Heneghan (handicap -5.0) and U20 runner, Ethan Hussey (handicap -3.6) with 3:43.10 and 3:43.17 respectively.
At Stretford, five athletes recorded qualifying standards for the European U23 Championships, while seven athletes did the same for the European U20 Championships.
At the Battersea Park Under Lights 5k Jack Rowe (handicap -6.0) was the fastest 5k runner of the weekend with a victory in 13:36. With a track PB over the same distance of 13:37.85, Jack could be an outside contender for an Olympic place, although Marc Scott (handicap -7.4), Mo Farah (handicap -7.5) and Andrew Butchart (handicap -6.8) will be also in the running!
Naomi Taschimowitz (handicap -0.1) smashed her road 5km PB to win in 16:16 ahead of Naomi Mitchell (handicap -0.5) who was back in the game after her appearance at the GB marathon trials in April. Mitchell ran a PB of 16:18.0 ahead of Michelle Pearson (handicap 0.6) in 16:26.5. The depth of the racing was fantastic with 23 women breaking 18 minutes and 39 men under 15 minutes.
UK runbritain rankings for endurance events and age groups
Other results from the weekend are on the following links: