Tough shortlist revealed
It has been a long and wonderfully hot season for track and field athletes and while many long ago hung up their spikes, a couple reserved their best performances as autumn closed in. Those track and field youngsters feature prominently in the latest short-list for the Running Bath and Bath Chronicle performance of the month competition, as do a couple of more senior Team Bath runners taking advantage of the busy road running scene in September. Once again it adds up to a varied and challenging shortlist for our judges before deciding who gets the pair of training shoes – to the value of £80 – from Bath’s leading athletics retailer. Why not pop in for a chat and top class advice from their experienced team?
■ JENNA BLUNDELL
The 17-year-old finished off a great summer with her first national schools’ medal as she struck bronze in the senior girls’ heptathlon at the English Schools’ Combined Events Championships in Bedford. Blundell has suffered more than her fair share of injuries over the past year so her success in breaking the landmark 5,000 points barrier for the first time with a score of 5,014, which included four outright personal bests while she equalled a fifth, was a remarkable achievement. Blundell added a silver in the team competition with support of clubmates Rebecca Ousby (Kingswood School) and Renee Jelf (King Edward’s).
■ KIRAN CARTER
Has also enjoyed the best season of his young career as the 14-year-old Team Bath athlete shook off longstanding injury problems with an unexpected bronze medal in the under-15s high jump in the England Athletics Championships. Carter cleared 1.76m, which was just two centimetres below his personal best of 1.78m which he recorded at the South West Schools’ Championships in June, and places him joint 13th in the UK rankings and third best in the South West. Competing
■ JOEL MATTACKS
in the T20 category at the National Disability Age Group Championships for under 20 athletes – held in conjunction with The England Athletics Age Group Championships – Mattacks claimed a silver medal in the 400m in 59.86 and a bronze in the 200m, clocking a personal best time of 24.78. Finally he finished fourth in the 100 in 12.49 – all despite being a year young for the age group.
■ JOSH TAYLOR
Leading from the gun, Taylor claimed his best win of the year in the Chippenham Half Marathon, clocking a time of 1hr 15:48 to leave him almost two minutes clear of Team Bath clubmate Gary Dunstone (1:17:43). It was also Taylor’s best time of 2018 and just outside his personal best of 75:22 which he set in Bath two years ago. In addition Taylor led Team Bath to the team title with support from Dunstone, Stuart Henderson and Lee Allen.
■ MARCIN OLECH
A fine season for Olech ended on a high as he impressed on duty for Team Avon in the Youth Development League National Finals in Bedford. Olech won golds in both the U20 men’s B string long jump and triple jump events to help Team Avon finish a fine fourth overall against some very strong clubs.
■ OWEN DAVIES
There are moments in an athlete’s career that will always linger for personal reasons – and Davies experienced one such moment in the Cardiff 10k last month. He went into the event knowing he was in personal best shape but just a little worried about a tight hamstring, a concern that was only heightened when the start was delayed and the runners were forced to stand around at the line. But Davies kept his focus and after a cautious start finished strongly – not least with a determined sprint finish as he saw the time on the gantry clock – to cross the line and celebrate his first sub 40-minutes clocking with an official mark of 39:59 – carving 36 seconds off his previous best set over the same course last year.