It’s been a crazy week of activity for our Beagles with all sorts of championship events taking place and leading to some brilliant results for our champs. We are so incredibly proud to see how everyone has got on but also how much the Beagles family has supported all the activity. Be that parent’s driving to events and supporting from the sidelines, our officials helping run events, or our coaches doing on the day support – we are incredibly grateful for the difference it makes.
Essex Year 7 / 8 Cross Country Championships
Huge congratulations to all the year 7 and 8 Beagles who took part in Wednesday’s Essex Schools cross country races at Writtle. With three Beagles making the podiums for their races and nine earning their Essex schools vest for the upcoming intercounties race, we could not be prouder of their achievements!
Year 7 girls
Sophie Bickerstaff 3rd 13:13
Aria Sabado 10th 13:47
Ava o’Neal 48th 15:49
Caitlin Phillips 50th 15:49
Isobel McLennan 61st 16:02
Dia Paul 75th 16:21
Year 7 boys
Joe Sandford 3rd 12:28
Daniel Smith 17th 12:52
Dylan Kenly 88th 13:59
Adam Armour 126th 14:35
Matthew Cottee 186th 15:25
Year 8 girls
Summer Smith 1st 11:33
Esme Thomas 10th 13:22
Sophie Halford 11th 13:24
Hollie Poyton 14th 13:55
Eliza Hobden 38th 14:57
Year 8 boys
Frankie Edwards 17th 13:45
Ollie Johnson 68th 14:17
Adam Staunton 77th 14:24
Thank you to Laura Durn for the photos!
Essex and Eastern Indoor Championships Day 1
Day 1 of the Essex and Eastern Indoor Championships at Lee Valley Athletics centre saw several Brentwood Beagles in the 60m, 60m Hurdles, and Shot Putt.
First up in the U13 boys was Ronnie Marchant, setting a new PB of 10.10sec. This was swiftly followed by Jake Mitchell U15 boys, new PB of 8.79sec and Frank Courtney making his debut as a Beagle in the U17 men with 8.34sec (PB).
James Gillingham, senior men 60m, qualified for the final convincingly with a powerful demonstration of speed setting a new lifetime best of 7.22, bettering his 2013 time of 7.28.
In the U15 girls 60m, Evie Abbott and Katie Lowe continued the run of PBs for Beagles athletes with 8.78, and 8.62, respectively.
Later in the afternoon Ronnie, U13B, returned to the track though this time to face the 60m Hurdles, setting his second PB of the day with 13.89sec and picking up an Essex championship bronze medal. Evie, U15G, also setting her second PB of the day for her 60mH with 10.57.
In the Shot Putt field event Caitlin Phillips, U13 girl, finished 6th at her first competition attempt and gained a PB of 4.52m. Eleanor Angeli, U15 girls, also threw well finishing 12th with a 6.17m effort. Also in the Shot Putt, Ronnie Marchant added a second Essex bronze medal to his collection with his throw in the U13 boys competition – 4.45m.
As evening approached the 60m Finals included some of our Masters Age Group athletes, Stuart Carter and Justin Waithe both running at their best with Stuart collecting a new PB of 8.32 and a fourth place finish. Justin was marginally behind him in 5th matching his seasons best of 8.45.
The evening concluded on a high with the senior mens 60 Final, seeing James Gillingham once again at his best picking up another PB – 7.20, an Essex silver medal in a dead heat and an Eastern bronze medal.
Amazing effort today from all and brilliant to see so many PBs, SBs and medals. Thanks to Mark S for the photos from Day 1.
ISA National Cross Country
On Saturday, five of our Beagles were very much braving the elements at Worksop College and competing in this year’s ISA National Cross Country Final.
First up in the year 3/4 boys race, we saw some brilliant running from Colm Forrest who went with the front runners and showed great resilience to finish the 1500m race fourth in 6:16 – just one second behind third!
Jamie Murphy ran in the year 5/6 boys race over 2000m sticking well with the pack and growing in confidence through the race to finish 43rd in 8:41.
The year 8/9 girls race saw two Beagles in the top 10. Over 3.18km, Isabel Forrest showed brilliant determination to finish on the podium with her run of 12:23. And Sophie Halford finished 9th with her confident effort – 13:27.
Finally in the year 10/11 girls race, Olivia Forrest went for total domination and led from start to finish over the 3.6km course. Despite a hailstorm mid race, she finished almost a minute ahead of the competition in 13:09 to take gold.
Well done to everyone for your amazing efforts and resilience given the conditions.
Tokyo Marathon
Our most travelled Beagle award this week goes to Elliot Worth who flew to Japan to take part in the Toyko marathon – a brilliant feat in its own right but Elliot was also pursuing his Abbot’s Marathon six star medal. For those of you new to the world of marathon’s this is a specially awarded medal for those athletes who have completed the six major marathons around the world – Toyko, London, Chicago, Boston, Berlin and NYC. Elliot has been pursuing this medal since 2010 and we are so pleased that he now has the set! Whilst Elliot did not enjoy his Tokyo marathon, his time of 3:26 is still one to be proud of.
National Primary School Championship
Several of our Beagles travelled to Loughborough today to compete in the National Primary Schools Cross Country event. Held at Prestwold Hall, this provides our younger athletes with a rare opportunity to take on a large field of athletes from across the country. With conditions somewhat muddy given the recent weather, it really was a challenging cross country!
First up was Ollie Kindler in the year 4 event over 1.6km who produced a really solid run to finish 80th (8:15) and in the top half of the competitive field.
Lianne Esterhuysen ran in the year 5 2.4km race and really showed her strength to stick with the front runners and give her best to finish 8th overall! A super time of 10:06 too.
The year 6 girls race over 2.7km saw Madison Kindler take on the field and run superbly to push out in front and build a great lead finishing in first place by over 25 seconds with her run of 10:27.
Finally the year 6 boys race saw both Jamie Murphy and Ollie Trevor running over 2.7km in a very competitive race. Excellent commitment from both saw strong results with Jamie in 143rd (12:51) and Ollie just behind him in 165th (13:02).
Well done to all of you for taking the opportunity to gain same valuable competition experience and ensure that the Beagles were represented in such a positive way at another national event!
Thanks you to Daniel E for the photos!
Chelmsford 5K and Half Marathon
Sunday also saw the popular Chelmsford 5k, 10k and half marathon events take place. With an enticing flat course on offer, Beagles Adam Armour and Yvo Heidemans took on the 5k and half marathon respectively. Adam produced a fantastic run, to finish third overall in the 5k and second male with his time of 20:51! Congratulations Adam. Yvo, who will be representing the club in April at the London marathon, really showed how much his training plan is paying off during his half marathon with an amazing run of 1:32.33 to finish 94th overall and 58th in his age group. We wish you every luck in the rest of your training Yvo! Remember, all adult members have a coached plan for an ‘A’ race included within their membership and can kick off the process of by booking a session per our website here.
Essex and Eastern Indoor Championships Day 2
Day 2 of the Essex and Eastern Athletics Association Indoor Championships saw Brentwood Beagles in force in the longer sprints, middle distance and field events.
First event of the day was the U15 girls 300m and we were thrilled to see both Stephanie Smith and Nicole Hawkins qualify through the heats to the final with a one, two in their heat and times of 44.48 and 44.90 respectively.
Shortly after Lee Boka took part in the U17 Men’s 200m with a seasons best of 24.48. Ella Gilder-Briggs looked strong in the U17 Women’s 200m with her heat win and 27.59 time qualifying her for the final.
It was really pleasing to see such a strong turnout of Beagles in the U15 girls 200m and even more so that all 4 progressed through the heats in to the Semi-Finals with 3 indoor PBs, Katie Lowe 28.37 PB, Nicole Hawkins 28.11 PB, Honey Peck 27.99 PB and Ava Carter 27.49. Finally in the 200m heats was U13 Caitlin Phillips with a new PB of 32.40.
The Final of the U17 women 200m saw Ella improve on her heat time with a seasons best of 27.44, collecting an Essex Bronze medal in the process.
The 200m U15 girls semi-finals saw Nicole setting 28.73, Katie 28.80, Ava 27.40 and Honey bettering her earlier PB with a new indoor best of 27.62. Whilst not progressing further through the rounds the earlier PBs bode well for the outdoor season.
The Final of the 300m U15 girls saw more Beagles medals with Stephanie setting a new indoor PB of 43.94 and collecting both the Essex and Eastern Silver medals, and Nicole gaining the Essex and Eastern Bronze medals also setting a new PB of 44.65.
A couple of our Beagles tried their hand at the field events on Sunday – Honey Peck grew in confidence throughout the U15 girls high jump competition to jump to a brilliant new PB of 1.45m to finish 5th. Whilst Isabel Forrest also set a new PB in the U15 girls triple jump of 7.63 metres to pick up Essex and Eastern bronze medals.
Over 800m, Daniel Smith (U13) continued to build his confidence in the event and ran to a new PB of 2:47.42 – demonstrating with a last sprint how much was left in his legs! Aria Sabado (U13) finished just outside the medals in 4th but gained a new personal best of 2:47.72.
Frankie Edwards (U15) ran well in his 800m heat to pick up a seasons best time of 2:32.04. Jude Hearn – also U15 – had a very strong run in his heat to finish 1st with a strategic performance of 2:17.80. Later in the final he pushed himself to stick with the leaders and finished 3rd in 2:13.65. Jude collected Essex silver and Eastern bronze medals for his race.
Our U15 girls also had great 800m runs. Isabel Forrest finished her heat first in 2:34.68 with Missy Tiller doing the same in 2:26.95. The final saw a very competitive race with Missy finishing second and improving on her heat time – 2:26.10. Missy collected Eastern silver and Essex gold! Isabel also improved on her heat time – 2:34.19 and collected Essex bronze!
Laura Durn raced over both the 800 and 1500m during the course of the afternoon and picked up great new PB’s in both events. Her 800m run saw her finish 4th in the senior women’s race with 2:43.11. Whilst in the 1500m vets event she finished first claiming Essex gold with her time of 5:43.64.
The U17 women’s 1500m race was a Beagles masterclass with all the medals on offer going to our athletes! First home was Olivia Forrest in a new championship record of 4:31.43 earning her Essex and Eastern gold. Both silver medals went to Evie Warn with her run of 4:58.03. And a season’s best run of 5:21.02, meant Jemimah Knightbridge claimed Essex and Eastern bronze medals.
Louis King became U20 Essex 1500m champion with his run of 4:48.91, which also saw him collect the Eastern silver medal.
Final performance of the day was Max Sanderson who contested a closely fought U17 men’s 1500m race. A really attacking run saw him narrowly finish second in 4:00.36 – claiming Essex and Eastern silver.
Congratulations to everyone who competed over the weekend! We are really proud of all the brilliant performances and the amazing medal haul that you have collectively earned from your amazing commitment to training. We can’t wait to see your outdoor performances when track season starts soon!
Thanks to @coach66flix for the photos and to everyone who turned up and supported our athletes this weekend! In particular, our officials – Marc Delea, Kate Hearn, Vicky Trevor and Elaine Forrest who worked just as hard as our athletes! We really do have an amazing Beagles family.
Parkrun and Junior parkun round up
We start at Chelmsford for this weeks’ round up where Adam Armour (21:01) improved 26 seconds compared to the previous Saturday, finishing 29th overall. At Raphael, Matthew Jones (21:17) ran well to finish 25th, with fellow Beagle Emily Brewington (22:39) finishing 43rd and 5th female.
At Brentwood, Matthew Delea (21:09) came 2nd overall, just 21 seconds behind the first finisher. Robert Barke (29:01) and Erin Delea (34:20) also ran well. At Valentines, Oliver Trevor (23:29) ran strongly to finish 42nd (1st JM10), matching his course best time.
Over at Wickford, regular Scott Brooks (19:21) came 3rd overall from 142 runners. Finally, all the way over in Japan at the Futakotamagawa event, Elliot Worth (22:11) was preparing for the Tokyo Marathon the next day, finishing 32nd from 231 runners on a cold & windy morning.
On Sunday, plenty of runners were out at Hutton Rec, led by Rafe Matthews* (10:29) who finished 4th overall. Just 1 place behind was Jessica Thomson* (10:45) while in 8th was Chloe Thomson* (11:35). Max Morris* (12:12) came 11th, Joshua Thomson* (13:11) 14th, Jude Matthews* (13:36) 19th with Nadia Price (17:29) on volunteering duties again.
At Harrow Lodge, Summer Smith (07:03) dominated finishing 1st by well over a minute. Coming 4th, was Blossom Smith (09:11) while just a couple of places back in 6th was Ezra-Zion Gooch (10:26). Willow Smith (10:55) also ran well to finish 10th.
Over at Lake Meadows, we had just the one representative, with regular Sophie Bickerstaff (08:38) running well to finish 6th and 1st female. Also just the one runner at Chelmsford juniors where Nora Heidemans (10:15) took on the course for the first time to finish 18th.
Coming up
This weekend a number of our Beagles travel to Nottingham to represent Essex at this year’s intercounties cross country final. This event also serves as the cross challenge final and is one of the real highlights of the cross country calendar. We expect there to be a live stream available so keep an eye out for details!
