12th February 2018

WEEKEND UPDATE

British athletes were in action all around the world this week, with a trio of Scottish performances leading the way in Boston, whilst Asha Philip scored victory at the IAAF World Tour in Dusseldorf and there were PBs aplenty in Madrid. However these three high profile meetings aside there was plenty of other action, home and abroad, to please athletics fans.

 

Newham & Essex Beagles 60m Sprint Series, Newham, 7 February

CJ Ujah (coach: Stuart McMillan) was in scintillating form on Wednesday night as he smashed his personal best and cemented his place firmly at the top of the Power of 10 60m rankings for 2018, whilst also moving into the top 10 all-time. After a 6.61 run in his heat, the Diamond League 100m winner stormed to a 6.53 win in the final, much to his delight. He’ll now head to the Spar British Indoor Championships as firm favourite.

In the women’s equivalent Imani Lansiquot (Steve Fudge) was also on personal best form, twice revising her old best with 7.29 and 7.26 runs. Second and third in series two, 200m and 400m specialists Maya Bruney (John Blackie) and Cheriece Hylton (Ryan Freckleton) also set personal best marks of 7.45 and 7.47 respectively.

Results

Perche Elite Tour, Rouen, France, 10 February

Holly Bradshaw (Scott Simpson) competed indoors for the first time since 2014, and delivered a fantastic clean card all the way to 4.60m, where she eventually bowed out to finish second to Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi.

Results

 

Meeting Elite en salle de Metz, Metz, France, 11 February

David King (James Hillier) equalled his 60m hurdles personal best set last year as he finished third over in France. After a 7.64 season’s best to win his heat, the Bath based athlete went one hundredth quicker in the final, just missing out on the win. Charlie Grice (Jon Bigg) was also third in the 1500m; however his 3.41.49 performance was just short of both his season’s best and the World Indoor qualifying mark. In the long jump, Dan Bramble (Frank Attoh) was sixth with a 7.60m effort.

Results

 

IFAM Indoor, Ghent, Belgium, 10 February

British athletes set three Birmingham 2018 World Indoor Championship qualifying marks in the space of 50 minutes over in Belgium, Marilyn Nwawulor (Lloyd Cowan) leading the way with an 8.13 60mH clocking to finish third, to take a chunk off her old best. In the flat equivalent, Bianca Williams (Cowan) also set a personal best of 7.28 for third, whilst Katie Snowden (Rob Denmark) set an indoor personal best of 4.10.09 to finish runner-up.

Elsewhere Elliot Giles (Bigg) ran a 3.44.18 season’s best for fourth in the men’s 1500m and Nick Goolab (Craig Winrow) and Adam Clarke (Geoff Watkin) finished in the same order as they had done earlier in the week in the men’s 3000m, setting season’s bests of 7.54.41 and 7.55.93 respectively. There was also a 53.28 season’s best for Zoey Clark (Eddie McKenna) to win the 400m B race.

Results

 

Scottish Universities Indoor Championships, Glasgow, 10 February

Laura Muir (Andy Young) sharpened up ahead of a 3,000m outing at the Spar British Indoor Championships next weekend with a time trial over 1500m, stopping the clock at 4.05.37, which was both a Championship Record and Scottish Native Record.

Results

 

Midland Indoor Championships, Birmingham, 10-11 February

Sophie Hahn (Joe McDonnell) continued her fine indoor form, equalling her PB of 8.09 which she set only last week in Loughborough.

Results: Link to follow

 

Barcelona Half Marathon, Spain, 11 February

Ben Connor (Steve Vernon) jumped to eighth on the British half-marathon all-time list thanks to a fantastic 61.11 run in Spain, good for eighth in a strong field. Just one place and 45 seconds back was Luke Traynor, his time of 61.55 lopping over two minutes off his old best and moving him to third on the Scottish all-time list. Jonny Mellor (Vernon) was tenth with a 63.17 run.

In the women’s race, Sonia Samuels was the leading Brit in seventh, her 72.39 effort seeing her home 10 seconds and a single place in front of Katrina Wootton (David Dix), who took over a minute off her personal best.

Results

 

Cinque Mulini, San Vittore Olona, Italy, 11 February

Gemma Steel (Liz Nuttall) produced a strong showing on the mud in Italy, as she finished sixth behind a string of Africans in the 86th edition of this 6km race.

Results

 

41e Groet uit Schoorl Run, Schoorl, The Netherlands, 11 February

Callum Hawkins (Robert Hawkins) tested his speed on the roads in The Netherlands, and was a clear winner in the 10km race in 29.03. This bodes well as he gears up for the marathon at the Commonwealth Games in April.

Results

 

Meeting Elite en salle Féminin du Val d’Oise, Eaubonne, France, 9 February

Katarina Johnson-Thompson was in action for the second time this winter competing in a tri – discipline event consisting of the 60mH, high jump and shot put. A strong 1.93m clearance put her in the lead after the high jump, but an 11.49m shot put saw Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam take the lead, which she held to the conclusion after edging out KJT 8.35 to 8.36 in the hurdles.

Results

 

Meeting de Paris, France, 7 February

Dina Asher-Smith (John Blackie) twice improved her 60m season’s best, with 7.21 and 7.20 runs in the French capital, the latter seeing her home fifth in the women’s final. In the men’s event Ojie Edoburun (Steve Fudge) finished second with a 6.63 effort, just shy of his personal best set last week.

Results

 

BMC Sheffield Open Series, Sheffield, 6 February

Nick Goolab (Craig Winrow) got the better of Adam Clarke (Geoff Watkin) as both men went sub eight in Sheffield in an exciting 3000m clash. Goolab ultimately had the better finishing speed, stopping the clock at 7.55.00, with Clarke posting 7.57.40. There was also an 8.00.57 personal best for Paulos Surafel (Winrow) in third.

Results