It’s been a very busy week for some of our Beagles with a range of Open competitions leading to some great new PB’s. We also provide an insight into our Saturday off track training sessions for those looking to deliver hot performances of your own in the cross country season.
Watford Open
A popular event throughout the summer due to the opportunity to compete against the best from around the country, the Watford Open this week saw three of our Beagles take part. Isabel Forrest started the evening with her best 800m performance in a few weeks – 2:42.96. Max Sanderson returning from his injury enforced break and, more enjoyable holiday, showed that his legs are much improved with a strong run of 2:12.65. Olivia Forrest concluded the evening with a great new 3000m PB of 10:31.13.
Colchester Friday Night 5k
The Colchester Friday night event hosted by Active Training World was a test event for an Essex 5K road running championship. Two elite races – one male and one female – were held after a one mile open race and an open 5K. The entry standard for the elite race was a sub 21 minute 5K for women and a sub 17 minute 5K for men. Both Forrest sisters qualified for the elite race and lined up against a very strong field of mostly adult women. A very hot evening with many in the open event dropping out during the race didn’t suggest the best conditions, but both girls ran well with Isabel finishing in 20:31 and Olivia finishing in fourth place overall in a new PB of 18.11 – a superb 44 seconds off her previous best.
Saturday off track training
We get asked a lot about the Saturday off-track training sessions so we thought it might be useful to touch on the importance of this session in our news update! The Saturday sessions take place at a range of different locations a short drive away – what they tend to have in common is that there is usually a good hill to run up! There are a number of reasons why we train in this way but at this time of year the importance of getting ready for cross country season is as good as any. Allowing our runners to build their confidence when running over unfamiliar ground and in a range of conditions is vital to ensuring they run at their best. Not that hill training is just for those interested in cross country. It is undoubtedly one of the best ways of building leg strength – important for all our athletes. More information about this can be found in one of our earlier articles – Hill Training & Aerobic Capacity, Endurance, and Strength. – Brentwood Beagles Athletics Club. Do make time to give a Saturday session a go if your athlete is in Year 7 upwards this September (or younger with an interest in cross country – just check with your coach first)
Parkrun and junior parkrun
We had some good Beagles performances at Parkrun this weekend. Dave Tullett dominated at Harrow Lodge finishing first in 19:35. Sean Langan finished fourth at Raphael’s in 19:21 and Aidan McCarthy ran well at the same location with a time of 25;17.
Sunday’s junior parkrun performances kept up the same high standard. Evie Warn took the win at Lake Meadows juniors in a new PB of 7:38 whilst Imogen Warn ran 10:38 beating her old (pre covid) junior parkrun best by almost 4 minutes. At Harrow Lodge juniors Olivia Forrest set another female course record with her new PB of 6.52 and Sidney Allen gained a new PB of 10:26. We also saw good consistent runs from Isabel Forrest, Ollie Trevor, Bertie Allen, Patrick Langan, Hudson Jeffery and Henley Jeffery.
SEAA Championships
The SEAA Championships held over the weekend brought together the best Track and Field talent across the South of England. Max Sanderson was the sole representative for the Beagles (as the Beagles’ team were meant to be competing at the EYAL in Barnet – sadly cancelled due to the heatwave). This was an excellent opportunity for Max to compete with athletes outside of our EYAL league and beyond the usual suspects from Chelmsford AC, Havering AC, Basildon AC and Thurrock Harriers AC often attending the opens in the area.
Competing in the U15B 800M Max had a solid race in his heat on Saturday to finish 4th in 2:12 and ensure qualification for Sunday’s final.
Back at Chelmsford on the much hotter Sunday, Max went even faster finishing in 2:09.83 finishing outside of the podium. It really was a great run and we are proud of the way he attacked the race and gave it his all.
BMC Milers Club
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the other news in this weeks round-up, we are thrilled to say that two of our athletes – Max Sanderson and Olivia Forrest – have achieved the qualifying standard to become part of the prestigious British Milers Club Academy offering them access to a number of elite races around the country. We are thrilled to see their efforts recognised and allowing them to access more development opportunities.
Sprints & Hurdles Day and US Sports Scholarship Workshop
If you have an athlete U15 or over and want to know more about securing a sports or Track & Field scholarship for financial assistance to study at University in the USA – please remember to reach out to your coach or contact us through our website. We are holding a workshop to cover the topic on the afternoon of 20th August. This is the same day we have two times Commonwealth Games Sprint Hurdler, Julie Pratt-Benterman coming to coach our Summer Sprint Hurdles Masterclass – this is available discounted to club members and is suitable for all U15/U17 athletes of any ability (if U13, please speak with us first) – places have filled up rapidly but we have a very small number of places for club members that we held back. If you’re interested, please get in touch before they all go. This is your chance to be coached by an Elite Athlete!
Your Pictures & News Required!
Remember as usual, if your athletes were featured in an event in the last week or so, let us know… better still send a picture and details of their performance and we’ll include them in our next post. Reach us here.
