For several seasons Chiltern Harriers has been involved in the Southern Athletics League, a competition for vets, seniors, U20s and U17s across the south. This has been in the form of composite teams with Bedford B and Vale of Aylesbury, neither of which have been particularly successful.
 
So this year the club have joined up with Wycombe Phoenix who have operated at a good level by themselves in this league. The South Bucks name continues the composite that has worked successfully in the YDL Upper Age Group for U17s and U20s for many years.

There will be no official track session at Merchant Taylors this Thursday (2nd June), due to the Jubilee bank holiday.

The track will still be open, so you can still go to the track and train if you so wish.

Normal training will resume from the week after (9 June).

Chiltern Harriers U13s and U15s had another good match in the second YDL match of the season. Despite having a few gaps in the team, athletes were flexible in helping the team out and covered plenty of events. The team was a creditable third in the seven-team division.
 
It was another peasant day in Southampton. Good conditions for athletics.
 
U15 Boys
A small team of five worked hard and there were some very strong efforts. Callum Powell won A string 800m in 2.20.2 with Aidan Suleyman gaining a PB of 2.26.4 to be third in the B string. In 1500m Alex Hughes was second in A string in 4.51.2 and James Holdsworth won the B string in 4.56.5. The team were short of sprinters but Cameron McGuffin made an excellent club debut, 28.2 in 200m and 44.9 in 300m. Callum helped out in long jump and threw a javelin PB of 21.89m to be third. James Holdsworth helped in discus and Aidan in shot and hammer. Cameron threw B string discus and Alex B string javelin. The 4 x 300m relay team of James, Callum, Alex and Aidan were third.
 
U15 Girls
A fuller girls team scored good points. Abi Masters ran PBs of 14.1 and 28.7 in the short sprints, and Ffion Harman and Florence Lee-Rubis ran well in 300m. Lucy Wilkinson and Olivia Clarke looked after 800m and Lily Jessop-Tranter had another good race to be third in A string 1500m in 5.00.0. Marlie Nkoane was second in B string in a PB of 5.06.1. Olivia Clarke and Rebecca Lawson scored useful points in 80m hurdles. Rebecca and Marlie helped out in long jump, and Olivia and Florence kept the momentum going in high jump. Lucy was second in hammer with a PB of 22.27m and third in javelin, Lily won B string hammer and Ffion was second in B string javelin. The sprint relay team was fifth (Abi, Ffion, Florence, Lucy) and the 4 x 300m team was third (Lily, Rebecca, Marlie, Olivia).
 
U13 Boys
The U13 boys saw good efforts all round. Felix Danielli was fourth in 1200m in a PB of 4.00.9, Hugo Mundy second in B string. In 800m Charlie Quantrill was second in A string and Luke Coultate won the B string. In 75m Lenny Brooks-Klingenschmid and Felix Danielli gained PBs and Aarav Johnson and Lenny looked after 150m. Charlie and Lenny scored very useful points in hurdles and Jacob McCall and Isaac McCall looked after long jump. Felix continued his good afternoon with a PB of 1.26m in high jump and Lenny won the B string. Hugo Mundy was second in A string shot with a PB of 7.17m and was third in javelin with 21.27m, both PBs. Jacob helped out in B string shot and Luke in B string javelin. The 4 x 100m relay team of Aarav, Charlie, Luke and Felix was third.
 
U13 Girls
Zoe Partridge and Carys Jones ran 75m with Kara Gorman and Zoe running 150m. In middle distance Evelyn Wildman was third in A string 800m, Carys second in B string. Kara Gorman ran a PB 4.01.1 to win 1200m, with Nia Clarke making it a double win in the B string. Nia and Megan Lockwood scored good hurdles points and Nia continued her good day with a PB in A string long jump, Megan looking after B string. Evelyn was second A string high jump with Carys getting a win in B string. Evelyn and Kara gained shot PBs and the 4 x 100m team of Nia, Megan, Carys and Kara were fifth.
 
The next match is at Guildford on July 3rd.

What a hot one it’s been, and the racing has been equally fiery this weekend.​

CHAC’s women were nailing it over 5k, with a number of parkrun victories yesterday - Saturday 21 May. Louise Fry led them home in Marlow (19.31), Ali Young in Amersham (22.00), Sue Elliott at Cassiobury (19.58 - a course PB), and Katie Royals at Black Park (21.01 - also a course PB). There was also an all-time PB of 20.59 for Sylvia Moss at Cassiobury and a course PB for Heidi Folkard at Gadebridge (26.42).

The storms stayed away long enough for some superb 800m running from Chiltern athletes on Wednesday.
Many PBs achieved, often by big margins.
Race 1
Rebecca Lawson U15                     2.40.31 PB
Maya Davis U13                              2.40.51 PB
Eleanor Horne U15                         2.44.15 PB
Carys Jones U13                              2.52.73 PB
 
Race 2
Luke Coultate U13                          2.32.21 PB
Lydia Cross U15                               2.35.23 PB
Nia Clarke U13                                 2.38.63 PB
Jacob McCall U13                            2.47.69 PB
Isaac McCall U13                             2.53.17 PB
 
Race 3
Ian Lawson V55                               2.24.40 PB
Issy Robinson U15                          2.27.31 PB
 
Race 4
Marlie Nkoane U15                        2.28.54 PB
Emily Ford U15                                2.29.81 PB
 
Race 5
Izzy Martin U15                               2.21.19 PB
Lucy Wilkinson U15                        2.28.19 PB
 
Race 6
Lily Jessop-Tranter U15                 2.20.56 PB
Jack Martin U13                              2.25.56
 
Race 7
Felix Danielli U13                            2.20.79 PB
Alex Hughes U15                             2.24.19 PB
 
Race 8
Tom Ford U13                                  2.18.40 PB
James Holdsworth U15                 2.19.03 PB
Frankie Baxter U17                         2.20.19 PB
 
Race 10
Alex Paul SEN M                             2.07.19 PB
Ethan McCall U17                           2.09.10 PB
Max Baxter U17                              2.13.42 PB
 
Race 12
Euan Pinder U17                             2.03.44 PB
 
Race 13
Thomas Askey U20                         2.03.40
Archie Pinder U17                          2.04.05 PB
 
Race 14
Isaac Jessop-Tranter U17              2.00.76
 
BMC Race 2
Oakley Denson                                 1.54.64 PB                          

Saturday  - clear blue skies, warm temperatures
There were 100m wins for U13 Boy Felix Danielli in 14.24 and U17 woman Mila Luker in 13.33. Aaliyah Cain was third in the U17W race in 13.62. Zeno Chiappe ran 15.32 in the U13 boys race. In the U15 Boys final Enzo Chiappe was fifth in 16.50. Sarah Cross was third in the senior women’s race in 13.70. In the U15 Girls event Abigail Masters ran a PB 14.11 in the heat to make the final where she was fourth in 14.12. Also involved in the heats were Iris Foreman (14.90), Georgia Potts (15.14) and Syra Raza (15.489).

In 300m Max Roughton won gold in the U15 boys race in a PB of 41.41. Several U15 girls contested the heats with Yasmin Warnes (45.76), Ffion Harman (46.07) and Florence Lee-Rubis (46.74) making the final. Also running well was Charlotte Hewson in 47.98. The final saw Yasmin take bronze in 45.76 with Ffion fourth in 46.07 and Florence sixth in 47.32. U17 Jo Snelling was fourth in her final in a PB of 46.35.

Alice Brown won gold in the U20 women’s 400m in a PB of 62.29 with Grace Thorpe third in 65.00. (approx. – results not up yet) U20 Thomas Askey ran a PB of 53.50 to be third and U17 Felix Palmer won silver in his race with a PB of 54.43. (approx. – results not up yet)

The 1500m was the middle distance race of the day and U13 Kara Gorman won gold in a PB of 5.04.13. Charlie Quantrill (PB of 5.00.38) and Felix Danielli (PB of 5.01.68) won silver and bronze in the boys version. The U15 girls race was split into two time trials with Lily Jessop-Tranter best placed overall in fourth with 4.58.11. Also running well were Marlie Nkoane (5.10.43), Olivia Clarke (5.17.93) and Jocelyn Davies (5.34.51). Aidan Suleyman front ran for a win in the boys’ version in 5.01.59. Allegra Massey (bronze in 4.55.99) and Sofia Lomas (fifth in 5.23.15) were involved in the U17 women’s race and Charlotte Docwra was second in the U20 event in 5.08.48. Laurie Gawne ran 4.27.25 to be second in the U20 men’s race and Rowan Gawne was on PB form to log 4.43.00 and be fifth in the U17 race. Short hurdles saw a win for Zoe Partridge in the U13s in 16.68.

In the field Chisom Nwafor took the honours in U17 women’s long jump. Chisom jumped 6.04m with a legal wind and 6.22m with a slight tailwind to win comfortably. This gives Chisom the qualification to take part in the European U18 Championships in Jerusalem later in the summer. Chisom is currently ranked no 1 in Europe. Also doing well in the U17 long jump were Mila Luker (PB of 4.73m for fourth) and Sofia Lomas (PB of 4.70m for fifth). The U15 girls long jump had a big field of 16. Florence Lee-Rubis won silver with a PB of 4.38m and there were good efforts from Ffion Harman (6th in 4.15m), Rebecca Lawson (8th PB of 4.04m), Yasmin Warnes (4.02m), Charlotte Hewson (4.02m), Yasmin Warnes (3.94m) and Georgia Potts (3.89m). In the boys U15 long jump Samuel Attia won silver with 4.71m, Enzo Chiappe 5th with 3.83m and Mattie Gemmell 10th with 3.22m.

In the throws, U15 Lucy Wilkinson won two golds in hammer (PB of 20.47m) and javelin (19.26m) Ffion Harman won silver in javelin with 15.16m and Florence Lee-Rubis won bronze with 12.56m. Allegra Massey won bronze in U17 women’s javelin with 13.79m. Sarah Cross won Senior women’s javelin with 29.99m.
  
Sunday – grey, showery, cooler
Chisom Nwafor continued her good work on Sunday with a PB win in 200m in 25.46. Aaliyah Cain was fourth in 28.29. U13 Felix Danielli gained another county title with a 200m win in 29.52. Luke Coultate ran 31.00. Elizabeth Nickless ran 31.17 in the U15 girls 200m to be fourth and Sarah Cross ran 28.00 (approx. – results not up yet) in the senior women’s race to be third.

There were some great 800m races to enjoy. Evelyn Wildman was just pipped for silver in the U13 girls race with a good time of 2.37.37 and Nia Clarke ran well to be fourth in 2.41.39. The U13 boys race was a high quality affair. Felix Danielli finished fast to be third in 2.26.23 just ahead of team mate Jack Martin (2.26.26). Also running well were Hugo Mundy (2.35.05), Luke Coultate (24.42.43) and Theo Roughton (2.45.33). There was a Chiltern 1-2 in the U15 Boys race with Rory Hilton coming home in front with a PB 2.19.41 ahead of Max Roughton in 2.20.85. Mattie Gemmell ran 2.42.36 and Charlie De Sousa 2.50.81. In the U17 men’s race John Nickless equalled his PB of 1.59.98 in a very closely fought three-way battle. After leading most of the way John had to settle with bronze. Frankie Baxter scored a season’s best 2.22.22 to be fourth in the U17 women’s race.

Perhaps the best middle distance event of the weekend was the U15 girls 800m. This featured three heats of eight, narrowing to a final of eight three hours later. So tactics and recovery skills were important. In heat 1 Issy Robinson ran 2.29.66 to be second so qualified well. Heat 2 saw a good run from Lydia Cross, fourth in 2.36.42 and a PB from Rebecca Lawson of 2.43.84. In heat 3 Lily Jessop-Tranter and Izzy Martin ran sensibly to qualify in first and second in 2.31.74 and 2.31.89. Also in heat 3 Alice Peckham scored a PB of 2.32.97, Lucy Wilkinson ran 2.36.21, and Genevieve Donald 2.53.56. In an exciting final Lily had a great run to win bronze in 2.25.35 with Izzy sixth in 2.30.20 and Issy eighth in 2.35.55.

Jo Snelling won bronze in 300m hurdles with a PB of 51.74. In the U20 400m hurdles Rufaro Chikwanda won gold with 73.14 and Jess Cook was second in 77.91.
​
In the field there were three high jump wins: Evelyn Wildman, 1.20m in U13 girls, Felix Danielli 1.20m in U13 boys, and Mattie Gemmell 1.30m in U15 boys. In U15 girls Ffion Harman and Florence Lee-Rubis both jumped 1.30m but Ffion shared silver, Florence was in fourth on countback. Chisom Nwafor gained yet another gold with 1.55m in U17 women’s high jump. Chisom scored gold number four with 12.30m in shot and Frankie Baxter was fourth with 6.78m. Sarah Cross won Senior women’s shot with 9.05m. Elizabeth Nickless won silver in U15 girls discus with 12.26m and Amber Galley won U17 women’s silver with a PB of 21.57m.

Chiltern Harriers U13s and U15s made a good start to their Youth Development League season with third place at Southampton last Sunday, May 8th.
 
U15 Boys
A small team worked hard and covered several events. Issa Philips-Pope was third in 100m in 13.1 and bagged a 200m PB of 26.5. Issa also contributed with an 18.07m javelin PB. Aidan Suleyman ran 46.3 for 300m and helped with 3.61m in long jump and 12.61m in discus. Callum Powell ran well for second in 800m in 2.22.8 and added 3.62m in long jump. The 1500m pair of Alex Hughes (4.53.6) for second in A string and James Holdsworth (5.04.9) for third in B string did well with Alex also contributing in shot and discus. James helped out in javelin. The 3 x 300m team was third.
 
U15 Girls
There were some excellent performances from the U15 girls. Lily Jessop-Tranter and Lucy Wilkinson ran 100m with Abigail Masters and Emily Ford tackling 200m. Ffion Harman ran a PB of 45.0 in 300m as did Lydia Cross in 49.1. In 800m Olivia Clarke ran a PB to be second in 2.27.8 and Izzy Martin also PB’d in B string in 2.25.8. Issy Robinson and Jocelyn Davies did well in non-scoring 800m. In an excellent 1500m Lily Jessop-Tranter was third in A string in 5.00.1 and Emily Ford third in B string in 5.01.3. Florence Lee-Rubis with 14.3 and Ffion Harman with 15.3 both scored PBs in 75m hurdles. The 4 x 100m team were 6th and the 4 x 300m team second.
In the field Olivia Clarke and Jocelyn Davies looked after high jump and Florence Lee-Rubis and Marlie Nkoane did long jump. Izzy Martin and Olivia Clarke scored points in shot and Lydia Cross and Issy Robinson tackled discus. Lucy Wilkinson and Lily Jessop-Tranter scored useful points in hammer and Lucy continued her helpful work in the field in javelin along with Emily Ford.
 
U13 Boys
Tom Ford logged a good win in A string 800m with 2.25.0 and Hugo Mundy won B string with 2.34.7. In 1200m there was further success with Jack Martin second in A string (3.57.6) and Kit Dixon (4.14.0) winning B string. Aarav Johnson ran PBs in 75m and 150m. He was supported in sprint B strings by Tom Ford and Jacob McCall. The 4 x 100m relay team was fifth. In the field Jack Martin jumped an excellent long jump PB of 4.20 while Isaac McCall scored 3.25m in B string. Jack also tackled high jump. Hugo Mundy scored useful points in shot and javelin supported by Jacob McCall and Aarav Johnson.
 
U13 Girls
Maya Davis and Zoe Partridge ran 75m with Zoe running 150m. Middle distance was good with Evelyn Wildman second in 800m A string in 2.35.2 (PB) and Nia Clarke second in B string. Kara Gorman was second in 1200m A string in a PB of 4.01.1 and Carys Jones was fourth in B string. Nia Clarke and Carys Jones ran hurdles and the relay team was sixth. In the field Evelyn Wildman and Carys Jones scored good points in high jump and Nia Clarke and Kara Gorman did long jump. In the throws Maya Davis did shot and Zoe Partridge javelin.
 
The second match is soon on Saturday 22nd, again at Southampton. 

Good Evening, Race Report fans. I hope you have managed to have a great weekend. Things are all well here in the Bates Motel, which I’ll leave you to decipher…​

Kicking things off with yesterday’s parkrun, there were all-time parkrun PBs for Sylvia Moss (21.06 at Ricky) and for James Palmer (17.48, at Wendover Woods of all places!) Louise Fry and Mairead O’Rourke both took home the accolade of first lady, at Wycombe Rye (19.38) and Amersham (22.17, also a course PB), respectively. Alex Hughes was first overall at Amersham in 18.41 (a huge well done!) and there were course PBs for Gill Baxter (35.37) and Grant Whitaker (22.51, albeit it came complete with broken finger..)