It has been a busy weekend, with club members turning out in force at both the Last Friday of the Month 5k and today's Bovi 10k.

Last Friday of the Month 5k – 28 August
Four club members took on the popular (and very competitive) Last Friday of the Month 5k in Hyde Park and all produced strong performances.

Leading the way was Graham Collett, who clocked an impressive 19:23. Ben Hannen continued his strong form with 20:50, while Sylvia Moss ran 22:01. Simac Konkader completed the line-up, finishing in 24:36.

The third and final match in the series of YDL Lower Age Group matches was held at Oxford on Saturday August 1st. All the five teams struggled to field athletes due to the school holidays but Chiltern was particularly badly hit.
 
Nevertheless, there were some excellent efforts on show from the Chiltern contingent and several made their league debuts. The weather was warm and sunny.
 
U14 Girls
This team featured some great performances. Nia Beckford won A string 75m hurdles in a PB of 13.08 and Nia also recorded PBs to be second in A string 100 (13.52) and A string long jump (4.20m). Also on good form was Chloe Willson who ran well to win A string 1500m in 5.09.22 and also made a good contribution in A string javelin and B string 75m hurdles.
 
Sunaya Nanda made it a double win for Chiltern in 1500m, winning B string in 5.12.65. Sunaya also made a useful contribution to be fourth in B string shot. Another middle distance double came from Aura Lue Fong and Millie Killingback in 800m. Aura ran a PB of 2.32.52, Millie off her best with 2.57.66. Amelia Hanstein had a good run in non-scoring 800m to run 2.49.11.
 
Another athlete with a busy day was Elly Konkader who was third in A string 200m and B string 100m, and fourth in A string shot. Hetty Lobb made her league debut with fourth in B string 200m and ran her first competitive 800m in non-scoring in an encouraging 2.52.01. Elly, Chloe, Hetty and Amelia ran well to finish fourth in the 4 x 100m relay.
 
U14 Boys
A small team covered as many bases as possible. Jack Dalton won 800m in 2.22.93 and gained a high jump PB to be second in 1.42m. Jack also helped with second in A string javelin. George Aliaj was second in A string shot with a PB of 7.62m and looked to be on for a 100m PB too but fell heavily a few metres short of the line. Jerry Rushton was fourth in A string 200m and Arthur Evora was fourth in A string 100m, third in A string discus, and third in A string hammer. Harry Griffiths ran well on debut to be second in B string 800m in a PB of 2.39.55. Harry, Jerry, Arthur and Jack were second in 4 x 100m relay.
 
U16 Girls
 
Bethan Lloyd had a great day including first in A string javelin with a PB of 24.07m. Bethan also ran well for a PB of 13.00 to be second in 80m hurdles and also did well in 300m flat, third in A string in 45.77. Also having a good day was Juliette MacDougall who won A string 1500m (4.50.54) and B string javelin (17.72m). Juliette also achieved a strong long jump PB of 4.36m to be fourth in A string. Maya Davis was a convincing winner of A string 800m in a PB of 2.21.32 and was second in B string 300m, also in a PB of 46.20. Nell Frost made it a double win in 1500m, running 4.56.48 to win B string. Bliss Bushay was fifth in A string 100m and 200m, and Ursula Mounsher was fourth in B string 100m, fifth in B string 200m, second in B string hurdles. The 4 x 300m team of Bliss, Bethan, Juliette and Nell was third.
 
U16 Boys
Harrison Lawrence was second in A string 800m, third in A string shot and fourth in A string long jump. Colin Miles was also busy with a big 1500m of 4.34.90 to be fourth, and was second in A string discus, third in A string high jump. Josh Woodward was second in B string 800m, and Oliver Atkinson ran a PB of 2.19.63 in non-scoring 800m. Harrison, Josh, Colin and Oliver were third in 4 x 300m relay.
 
Chiltern ended the season in a solid third place. Many athletes have made progress within the league structure and several gained league debuts.

Tell me more, tell me more!
Was it really that fast?!
Tell me more, tell me more!
I know I’d have come last…

Well, it’s been another strong couple of weeks’ racing for the Club, despite the heat that has had all normal people hiding in their refrigerators. (I got chills, they're multiplying.) Fortunately, this lot be Greased Lightning and you're in for a Megamix.  

The third in the four-match series of the Southern Athletics League took place on Sunday at Little Marlow where the Wycombe and Chiltern team were hosting. It was a sunny day with pleasant temperatures and a blustery wind that came and went. Chiltern Harriers provided several athletes contributing to the team score which at the end totalled 263.5 points, enough for a strong second place this time in the match of six teams.
 
Sarah Cross did her usual strong job of scoring well across a range of events - second in A string pole vault, third in A string javelin, and fifth in A string triple jump. Issy Robinson also had a good day, winning 2000m steeplechase in her debut at the event in 7.52.59 and placing her 12th in the national rankings. Issy also ran well for third in A string 400m hurdles. Katie Repper had a good run to win B string 3000m in 10.45.50 and Jess Orr was second in B string 1500m.
 
On the men’s side Ash Finch was second in A string 5000m whilst Aran Davidson was second in B string. James Henderson, Jack Turner, and Neil Turner all ran well as non-scorers. Ash also made his debut in 3000m steeplechase running a creditable 11.11.42 to be fourth in A string. Isaac Jessop-Tranter, Edward Johnson and James Malin all started the 1500m but were interrupted a by a freak weather incident. After the race had been going 600m spectators noticed a plastic bag and some other rubbish being blown strongly across the infield. Unfortunately, this mini-tornado also managed to pick up the two tin covers of the pole vault and toss them across the track. The race had to be stopped for the sake of safety, and after lengthy discussion the race was not rerun.
 
The final match is at Bromley on August 8th where the team will hope to remain top ten in the division of eighteen.

The two Chiltern Harriers taking part in the SIAB match at Belfast last weekend both gave a great account of themselves.
 
Emile Morti was running for England Schools in the 110m Hurdles. The hurdle hight was lower than at English Schools and Emile had another great run to win in 13.05, a PB at that hurdle specification. Tom Ford was running in the 3000m for English Schools and ran an excellent PB of 8.36. to be second.

Good Evening, Race Report fans. I apologise for the radio silence over the last few weeks. No excuses, just laziness (which I’ll call ‘malaise’ because that seems so much more the sort of thing a Jane Austen heroine would say when it’s hot).

The prestigious English Schools Championships were held at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 July.
 
There were some excellent performances from the Chiltern Harriers athletes who were   representing their county schools associations in a variety of disciplines on what was an extremely hot couple of days.

 
Evelyn Wildman has been selected to represent Great Britain in the U18 European Championships, taking part in the 2000m steeplechase.

This achievement follows a breakthrough season in 2025, where she achieved strong PBs in 800m (2.13.68) and 1500m (4.32.19). This was also the year she began to explore the steeplechase.
In her first race at the 1500m steeplechase at the YDL Upper Age Group in Winchester in April 2025, Evelyn achieved the English Schools standard in a very promising 5.13.68.
By the time the championships happened in July Evelyn was the UK leader and duly won the championships in new Championships Record of 4.54.54.

Stepping up to the 2000m steeplechase in 2026, while juggling her GCSEs, Evelyn made her debut in the event in early April where she ran 6.49.68. This was a strong start but just outside the European qualifying standard of 6.45.00.
A 6.46.10 in Bury St Edmonds in early May was followed by a stunning run at the BMC PB Classic event in Loughborough on June 6th. Evelyn’s time of 6.34.06 became the leading time in Europe and third on the UK all-time list for the age group.
In the meantime, PBs in 800m (2.08.26) and 1500m (4.25.46) confirmed Evelyn was in good shape on the flat too.
The final piece in the jigsaw was to finish top two at the European Trials meeting in Cardiff on June 27th. Evelyn ran another strong race to win in 6.41.92, again achieving the qualifying standard and confirming her place in the Great Britain team.
​
The Championships take place in Rieti, Italy from 16 to 19 July. The women’s 2000m steeplechase heat is first on the track at 9.35am on the Thursday morning, meaning Evelyn will need to conquer her allergy to early starts.
Evelyn has been coached by Steve Perkin for over 5 years, in which time he has supported her development and offered support and guidance throughout. Evelyn’s progress reflects the dedication Steve has shown to his coaching over close to two decades at Chiltern Harriers.

Do join us in congratulating Evelyn and wishing her all the best for the championships!

Evelyn Wildman competed on the Saturday in 2000m Steeplechase. Conditions were good with temperatures lower than the mid-week heatwave, and there was also a pleasant cooling breeze. The track at Cardiff features a water jump outside lane 8 which Evelyn hadn’t encountered before but she coped fine with the new configuration. Evelyn had another very good race to win in a time of 6.41.92, beating the qualifying standard of 6.45 for the second time.
 
Emile Morti was in action on the Sunday, again with pleasant, but blustery, conditions. Emile was taking part in the 110m Hurdles and won his heat in a new PB of 13.93 with a legal wind reading. Emile pushed on to a faster time to win the final in 13.71, just a hundredth outside the qualifying standard, but with a +5.1 wind reading it was not eligible for consideration.
 
So, two great wins at this prestigious meeting for the Chiltern duo. The GB team for the European U18 Championships which take place in Rieti, Italy July 16-19 will be announced later this week with Evelyn hopeful of being on the list.

This week’s Race Report – embarrassingly – is actually a wrapping up of the last few weeks. I don’t think it’s possible to pre-emptively blame this on the lateness / earliness of the England v Mexico game, but I’m happy to try!

Man v Horse
The legendary Man v Horse race took place on 13 June in Llanwrtyd Wells. The unique 22-mile event pitches human runners against horses and riders over challenging terrain. This year the horses came out on top (boo hiss…..)
​
Representing Chiltern Harriers: Glen Martin, Seb Lawrence, Matt Lawrence and Matt Channer combined to complete the relay in 4:01:23. Ed Wright tackled the course solo in 4:37:08. Mike Sheppard also ran solo, finishing in an impressive 3:34:56. Next year, to add to the jeopardy, organisers are rumoured to be considering holding the event at 7000 ft above sea level at 1am...