Somerset Combined Events Championships
The two day event attracted athletes from as far afield as Wales, Kent and Ireland, who all took the opportunity for an early season competition. The atmosphere was superb and everyone, both elite and beginner, was encouraging to their competitors and team members alike.
Day 1
Jacob Earle and Joseph Holme competed in the Junior Boys Pentathlon, which comprised of five events : 80m H Hurdles, Shot putt, Long Jump, High Jump, and all finished off with a gruelling 800m.
The boys performed superbly - both achieving or equalling personal bests in the first four events.
After the first four events Jacob was sitting in 2nd place overall. Going into the last event, the 800 metres, he required a massive 15 second swing on the overall leader, who had topped the leaderboard since the hurdles.
Undeterred, Jacob stormed to the front from the off as he opened a large gap on his rival. He pushed all the way to the finish - coming home in 2.22. An anxious wait ensued until the leader finished. Realisation then dawned on Jacob that he had done more than enough to finish as Champion !! A fantastic achievement and proof that it is never over until the final event has finished.
Joseph Holme set himself a superb PB in the hurdles as he found himself in 11th place after event one. However, he gradually moved up the rankings with well earned PBs in the Shot, moving up to 10th and Long Jump, moving up to 8th. Joseph equalled his PB in the High Jump as he moved up to 6th, before finishing with a scorching run in the final event, the 800m, where he ran a 7 second PB of 2.32 to close the gap on those above and finish in 6th place overall.
Sam Smith and Thomas Holme, in their first multi discipline competition, completed the first four events of the Octathlon for U17 Boys. After the Long Jump, Discus, Javelin and 400m the boys were sitting in 14th and 15th places respectively.
Andy Holme (v40) competed in the Decathlon alongside two-time Commonwealth Games Decathlete Curtis Mathews. Andy wasn’t phased by the high standard of competition as he earned himself hard fought PBs in the 100m and 400m. At the end of Day 1 Andy was just behind Curtis on the leaderboard.
Day 2
In stark contrast to Saturday there was continual light rain all day, making the technical events even more challenging.
Sam Smith and Thomas Holme started Day 2 of the Octathlon with the 100m Hurdles - an event neither had done before. They showed no fear as they raced like naturals and clocked PBs for their efforts.
The High Jump was next in tough conditions bought about by the constant rain. Despite the weather Thomas cleared a seasons best of 1.44m. Sam equalled his PB of 1.53m - astonishing as he had banged his head at a lower height, gathered himself together and continued to a clear a greater height to increase his points tally.
After a good competent shot putt for both - it was time for the final event, the 1500m. However, due to Sam’s earlier injury, he wasn’t able to complete the race. Starting the 1500m however, was enough to register a completed Octathlon. This was the least he deserved for some fantastic performances over the weekend and a great competition to build on.
Thomas raced hard in the 1500m as, with very heavy legs he posted a PB of 4:58.88 - fantastic after 7 previous events.
Thomas and Sam finished 14th and 15th respectively in the competition - a fantastic achievement in their first multi events comp, against a very strong field.
Andy Holme started Day 2 of the Decathlon with the 110m hurdles - posting a new Masters club record time of 20.81 seconds. He followed this great start with a Discus PB of 19.26m, Pole Vault of 2.30m, Javelin of 24.22m and then a lactic bath of a 1500m - finishing in a very respectful 4:47.30.
Following the retirement of Curtis Mathews after the Discus, Andy finished in second place overall in the Senior Men. The competition was won by ex-CoSARCian Dan Brown.
Harewood Forest 5K
Freddie Bosworth followed his Junior parkrun PB time of 7:25 with a victory in a closely fought race, barely 24 hours later. He was 1st out of a very strong field of 63 junior and senior runners.
Link to results : https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=275065&did=323217
Harewood Forest 10k
Lee Syrett ran a great race to finish 3rd, less than 4 seconds behind 2nd, in a time of 41:37:80. Matt Bosworth wasn’t far behind in 4th with a time of 41:45:60. Peter Rattue came home in 53:30:10.
Link to results : https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=275065&did=323218
Vitality Westminster Mile
In the Vitality Westminster Mile Richard Davidson ran a superb race to record his first sub-5 minute mile in a time of 4:57.
Figsbury Challenge 5k
CoSARC finishers were Lee Syrett 4th, Matt Bosworth 5th, Sophie Wood 6th (1st female) and Freddie Bosworth 7th.
James Chant, doing his first 5k race as a year 6 student, finished in 23:23.
Vitality London 10,000
In the Vitality London 10,000 Anton Weatherhead recorded his 5th PB of the year with a time of 32:31.
Frimley 10K
On an undulating course Dave Gervais recorded a time of 40:28 in the Frimley 10K.
Salisbury parkrun
On a hot Spring morning, at Salisbury parkrun, all the CoSARC PBs were earned by club juniors Art Mitchell 19:53, Edward Klein 20:23 and Lilli Clements-Champion 22:18.
Limitless Trails Beacons 12k
The runners in the Limitless Trails Beacons 12k were treated to a rare glimpse of sunshine as they tackled a tough and demanding course in the mountains of North Wales. This was Jenna Richmond’s first taste of fell running, and she acquitted herself very well when she finished 6th in 1:31:08, and was 3rd placed female.
The runners had a tough start as they headed uphill for 4km up Tor y Foel, before dropping back down and along the canal for the final couple of kms. On the run in to the line the runners were welcomed by enthusiastic supporters ringing cowbells as the urged the them on to the finish line.
Link to results : https://my.raceresult.com/196405/results#4_E00CFF
BLUEBELL BASH TRI COUNTIES
The inaugural Bluebell Bash at Manswood Bottom, in the heart of Dorset, took place on cool, drizzly morning. The undulating course took runners through bluebell carpeted woodland and rural Dorset countryside.
In the 10K Kieran McManus ran an excellent race to finish in 53:35, which placed him 16th in a field of 132.
In the Half Marathon Sarah Robertson did extremely well to finish in 2:09:00, just missing out on a podium finish. She was placed 24th in a field of 62.
