‘British 10k course is too slow,’ says Goodman

ATHLETICS RICHARD GOODMAN confronted temperatures nearing 30 degrees celsius on his return to racing after a five months’ injury lay-off.

Goodman recorded 31:19 in the British 10K at Westminster, placing 11th in a high-quality field. He was one of several runners critical of the organisation by Virgin Sport, saying: “The course needs revising to appeal to more elite athletes. There are too many hairpin turns slowing the pace at the front.”

Adam Firsht, 15, overcame a field of older, and on paper faster, 800m runners in the Southern League in Winchester. His winning time of 2:01.7 was a 1.7-second improvement on his previous personal best. The Brighton & Hove athlete also contested the 400m, placing second in 54.8 in his first official race at the distance.

Sophie Dowson, 19, achieved a season’s best pole vault clearance of 3.70m at the Hampshire Grand Prix Open in Basingstoke.

Idan Gal-Shohet gained long jump victories on successive days, competing in the Southern League at Parliament Hill and the Medway & Maidstone AC Open in Gillingham. His winning marks were 6.50m and 6.52m respectively.

Jayden Klein, 12, entered the national U13 high jump rankings with a clearance of 1.33m at the Watford Open Graded Meeting. Maccabi London Harrier Klein is already nationally ranked at 100m and 200m, with times of 13.94 and 28.83 achieved at previous Watford meetings. All these marks were achieved when Klein was 11.