The Beagles have definitely kicked off 2025 with enthusiasm and some brilliant results. We have seen great displays on track, in cross country and some field events too! We’ve also seen a number of Beagles selected to represent Essex in the Sports Hall regional round and in the Cross Country – both for Essex and Essex Schools. Congratulations! Also a massive thank you to everyone who contributed to our foodbank collection – your support was greatly appreciated.
Essex Cross Country Championships
A cold and frosty Essex Cross Country Championships saw some brilliant results for our Beagles. Well done to everyone who turned out to compete!
A huge congratulations to all our under 11 runners who turned up to run in the development race over 1.5k. Amazing running from so many young athletes with limited cross country experience! First Beagle home and first girl was Lianne Esterhuysen 6th overall in 5:59. Colm Forrest was our first male finisher in 11th – 6:09. A great run too from Austin Lever in 20th – 6:27 and from Jude Deal in 23rd- 6:31. Blossom Smith was our second girl in 26th – 6:37, with Isobel Larner 29th – 6:42 and Emily Brewington 30th – also 6:42. Isabelle Holme was 39th – 7:00, Iola Thomas 45th – 7:22, Evie Foley 49th – 7:32 and Una Morton 59th – 9:24. The future of Beagles endurance looks very bright!
Our under 17 women ran over 5.4k, which saw an amazingly dominant Beagles performance with our three women all in the top four and all picking up Essex vests! Winning the race was Olivia Forrest who led throughout and finished in 20:25. Taking the bronze medal was Evie Warn who started very strongly – 21:27. And in fourth place was Mara Thomas who had an amazingly consistent run to finish in 21:45.
The under 17s men’s race, over 6.1k saw Max Sanderson finish 5th after a strong run – 21:21 and earn his Essex vest. Also running well, and enjoying a singalong en route, was Preston Taylor who finished 9th in 21:59.
A good turnout from our senior men who had a very challenging time on the hilliest 3 lap course over 12k. First Beagle home was Alex Young who finished 55th overall in 46:53. Not far behind in 59th was Robin Smith – 47:28. And following him home in 62nd was Scott Brooks – 47:57. Also having a good run was Keith Thornton in 145th – 57.26 and Yvo Heidemans in 166th – 61:07.
Our under 13 and under 15 athletes also had a great Championships producing 3 individual medals, 2 team medals and 6 Essex vests between them!
Leading the way were our U13 girls over 3.1k, with Madison Kindler out front and taking the win in 11:58. Sophie Bickerstaff finished 4th in 12:30 and Amalie Twydell was 6th in 12:58. All three picked up Essex vests! Well done.
The boys race saw some good runs from our Beagles boys. Also over 3.1k, first Beagle home was Max Cheetham in 21st – 13:15. Following in quick succession were Cameron Young in 26th – 13:28 and Adam Armour in 31st – 13:37. Also having good runs were Mason Grindrod in 43rd – 14:21 and Henry Greenwood in 46th – 14:33.
Our under 15 girls, over 4.3k, also produced dominate performances with Summer Smith taking the victory in 16:16 and Heidi Woodley taking silver in 16:28. Both also collected Essex vests! Izzy Young finished 14th in 18:56, Missy Tiller 15th in 19:09, Isabel Forrest 19th in 19:53, Esme Thomas 21st in 20:01 and Daisy Middlemiss 38th in 22:06. The girls also collected silver medals for finishing as second team!
Finally our U15 boys who also ran over 4.3k and matched the girls by also finishing as silver medalists as a team! Well done to Orly Morton in 8th – 15:57 who also collected an Essex vest! Jude Hearn was 14th in 16:47, Jake Mitchell 16th – 16:48, Mattie Delea 17th – 16:54, Matthew Jones – 21st in 17:04, Frankie Edwards 40th – 19:22, Ollie Johnson 42nd – 19:28 and Joshua Lever 47th – 20:20.
Well done again to all who ran and thank you to all who came out and supported!
Essex Sports Hall
Huge congratulations to the following athletes who have been selected to represent Essex in the Sports Hall Regional Round on the 1st February, following their hard work in the three local events.
U11s – Elsie Martin-Bouchareb, Isla Foley, Zac Niyazi, Oliver Nevill, Daniel Ayandare
U13s – Max Cheetham
U15s – Evie Abbott, Luca Patrick
New Years Day Open
With the windy weather causing some cancellations for outdoor events, Lee Valley was the place to be this New Year’s Day! A good range of indoor events saw some brilliant Beagles performances and a great way to start the new year.
First races of the day were the 60m which saw Stuart Carter have a good race showing real speed in the middle section. A good sprint of 8.38. Max Cheetham took on the distance for the first time and won his heat with a dominate performance of 8.19.
The 800m races saw lots of Beagle bests – a brilliant, confident run from Daniel East saw him stride away from the competition to finish with a new PB of 2:06.64. Missy Tiller ran well in her race pushing strongly in the early laps for a finish time of 2:22.81. Madison Kindler produced another dominant run to lead from beginning to end and took another new PB – 2:18.42. Also running from the front throughout was Amalie Twydell who also picked up a PB – 2:36.22. And running in the same race and ensuring a Beagles one / two finish was Adam Armour who finished very strongly for a 5 second PB – 2:38.59.
Max Cheetham had another great result in his second race of the day, this time over 200m. A strong run and a new PB of 26.85. Finally making their indoor debuts were brothers Austin and Joshua Lever. Both running over 200m and doing a great job with the banked track – Joshua sprinted to 32.46 with Austin running 32.57.
Knowle Run
Celebrating it’s 50th edition, this year’s Knowle Run in Kent saw some brilliant running over the famously hilly course, by our Beagles. A special congratulations to Summer Smith who took the win in the U15 girls race.
U15 Girls – Summer Smith 1st 16:24, Isabel Forrest 5th 18:15, Amber Walker 16th 21:22, Daisy Middlemiss 25th 23:25
U15 Boys – George Bangs 17th 17:34, Joe Sandford 21st 18:04
Glasgow Cross Challenge
Three of our Beagles travelled to Scotland today and faced the freezing Glasgow temperature to compete in the latest round of the Cross Challenge.
First up was another strong performance at under 13 level by Madison Kindler. Running over 3km she dominated the race and tackled the hills and icy conditions with aplomb to take another win – 10:40.
The 6km U17/20 race saw both Olivia Forrest and Evie Warn run strongly. A competitive field and a tough course still saw both of our Beagles demonstrate resilience and strength. Olivia ran with the lead pack for a large portion of the race finishing 5th overall and taking bronze in the U17 race – 21:09. Evie had one of her best races of the season and looked strong throughout to finish 13th overall and 5th U17 in 22:02.
BFTTA
Just one Beagle at the first BFTTA event of the year – Stuart Carter had a great two sprints over 60m matching his time in both races to pick up a seasons best of 8.26. Well done Stuart!
SEAA Age Group Championships
The SEAA age group indoor championships at Lee Valley saw a great opportunity for some of our athletes to pick up some valuable indoor competition experience.
Lianne Esterhuysen was competing in her first competition as an under 13 over 800m. Saturday saw her come third in her heat having run a sensibly paced race for a PB of 2:40.64. Sunday in the final she almost matched that time with a run of 2:40.80 to finish 6th.
Two more Beagles competed over 800m in their first competitions as U17’s. Missy Tiller finished third in her heat just missing out on a place in the final – 2:26.08. And Mattie Delea was second in his heat – 2:07.34. We also had Amalie Twydell in her first 800m as an under 15 finishing 4th in her heat with a run of 2:36.99.
Finally Luca Patrick had a very busy day taking on three events and collecting three PBs in his first outing as an U17. A great 200m sprint saw a new best of 26.08, the long jump competition saw a PB of 5.36 and the triple jump a PB of 11.39.
Essex Schools Cross Country
The Essex Schools Cross Country Championships took place in Hawkwell. Following successful qualification for their districts last year, a number of Beagles ran today to try and earn places in the Schools South East intercounties (top 20 finish) and at the English Schools Cross Country Championships (top 6). Full results aren’t available as yet but congratulations to all of the Beagles who ran, particularly those who qualified.
Junior Girls – Summer Smith 1st, Heidi Woodley 2nd, Sophie Bickerstaff, Amalie Twydell, Sophie Halford, Aria Sabado
Junior Boys – George Bangs, Ollie Johnson
Intermediate Girls – Evie Warn 3rd, Olivia Forrest (unfortunately sent the wrong way by the marshals when leading the race), Katie Hawkins
Intermediate Boys – Jude Hearn, Mattie Delea
Senior Girls – Mara Thomas 2nd, Jemimah Knightbridge
Senior Boys – Max Sanderson
SEAA Cross Country
The Southern Cross Country Championships took place at Beckenham Place Park and saw some great running from our Beagles.
First race of the day was the U15 boys over 4.5km with Jude Hearn producing a solid run to finish 51st out of the 200+ runners with his time of 15:32.
The U13 girls produced the best Beagles results of the day with Madison Kindler producing another great win over 3km (10:53) and leading the rest of the Beagles girls to silver medals as a team! Sophie Bickerstaff finished a brilliant 15th (11:42), Amalie Twydell was super in 26th (12:01) and Aria Sabado has a strong run to finish 35th (12:12). Well done girls!
Just one U13 boy today – also running over 3km, Adam Armour gave his all to finish 138th (12:26).
The U15 girls were unlucky to finish just outside the medals as fourth team over 4.5km. A brilliant display of strength though with Summer Smith 4th (15:40), Heidi Woodley 7th (15:43), Isabel Forrest 49th (17:59) and Esme Thomas 71st (18:35).
Max Sanderson produced a great solo effort in the U17 men’s race over 6km to finish 14th in 19:47.
And finally our U17 women over 6km saw Evie Warn produce a fierce sprint at the start before suffering with a leg twinge and pulling out. Olivia Forrest recovered from a slow start to finish 4th (22:23) whilst Mara Thomas continued to show great progress by finishing 23rd (24:23).
BMC 3000m
A trip to Sheffield saw Max Sanderson and Olivia Forrest take advantage of a rare opportunity to test themselves over an indoor 3000m…. That’s a lot of laps! Good efforts for the early season with Max running 8:54.28 and Olivia 10:04.34.
London Indoor Games
This weekend saw several of our athletes compete at the London Indoor Games at Lee Valley. On Saturday the U17s were the focus with Eleanor Angeli kicking off her throws season with a best shot put of 6.72 metres. Also in field events, Luca Patrick had a best jump of 5.30m in the long jump.
On the track, Luca also had a good run over 200m picking up a new PB of 25.95. We also saw new PBs in middle distance – Jake Mitchell ran a new best of 2:18.17 front running his race throughout. Also out front and picking up a new indoor PB of 2:04.96 was Mattie Delea. Mattie doubled up on the race and PB front, by also running brilliantly over 400m and taking a new best of 54.82.
Sunday saw our U13s in action with Madison Kindler just marginally outside of her best time over 800m – 2:18.54. Natanya Itiola took on the 60m for the first time with two good efforts to produce 8.94 and 9.05. She also produced an indoor 200m PB of 30.05.
Finally, having a particularly busy day of three events, Daniel Ayandare produced some great performances that saw him pick up new personal bests. First in the long jump a best effort of 3.68m, a best high jump of 1.25m and two strong 60m sprints of 9.09 and 9.08.
King Henry VIII Relays
A prestigious weekday schools event in Coventry saw several Beagles competing for their schools. The King Henry VIII Relays have a rich history of notable runners and is an interesting mix of tarmac and mud! Girls relay teams run as 4 legs with the boys doing 6 and all runners running 3.7km.
Heidi Woodley ran the leg of her life, leading the New Hall team on the first leg and keeping all challengers at bay. Her time of 13:12 not only saw her putting her school, New Hall, in first place (a position they didn’t relinquish), she also ran the fastest leg of all female runners on the day! Well done Heidi. Also running well were Olivia Forrest (13:28), Missy Tiller (14:54) and Isabel Forrest (15:14).
On the boys side it was two good performances for Coopers & Coborn School with Orly Morton running a fifth leg (13:18) and George Bangs running second in his team(14:57)
Parkrun round up (New Year’s Day)
New Years’ Day saw a good selection of local events for runners to start the year with a 5k run. At Billericay, Simon Knightbridge (18:59) took 2nd overall while not far behind in 6th was Sophie Bickerstaff (19:39).
A Brentwood, surprisingly firm conditions allowed for some good times over the hilly course. There was a Beagles 1-2 with Alex Young (18:51) running strongly to take 1st, just 9 seconds outside his course PB. Also running well into 2nd was Scott Brooks (20:03), while Elliot Worth (22:26) took 7th just ahead of Keith Thornton (22:33) 8th. Daniel Jaycock (24:28) took 18th and Ellie Gray (29:07) finished 44th.
At Harrow Lodge, Robin Smith* (18:28) took 2nd with Summer Smith (19:16) 3rd and 1st female. Lianne Esterhuysen (21:55 PB) took 10th and 2nd female, paced by Rob Trevor (21:56) 11th. Daisy Middlemiss (23:34 PB) and Daniel Esterhuysen (24:13) also enjoyed good runs.
Parkrun & junior parkrun roundup (4/5 Jan)
Winter made its arrival known this weekend with parkrunners enduring a cold frosty morning on Saturday while our brave juniors were out in the cold slush of Sunday.
At Raphael, we had 4 Beagles out taking on their 5k runs. Simon Knightbridge (17:53) broke the sub-18 minute mark for the first time in over a year as he finished 3rd. Lorraine Massarella (22:38), Max Massarella (24:13) and Lola Massarella (29:00) were also in attendance, taking on the course for the first time.
At a frosty Brentwood, we also had 4 runners out. Elliot Worth (22:33) finished 12th with Daniel Jaycock (22:49) just behind in 15th. Ellie Gray (24:10) ran strongly putting in a determined sprint finish to hold onto her 22nd place (3rd female) while Dylan Hussain (39:27) also ran well..
On Sunday, the poor weather caused cancelations and kept many runners at home in the warm but a hardy few were out at local events. At an icy Billericay, Sophie Bickerstaff (08:15) shrugged off the conditions to power to a 1st place finish, with fellow Beagle Isobel Larner (09:25) running strongly into 2nd. Liam Worth (10:23) finished 5th.
At Great Notley, Adam Armour (08:45) took 1st place while at Harrow Lodge our 4 runners were lead home by Blossom Smith (08:38) in 2nd with Willow Smith (09:42) in 6th, Jack Collier (10:25) 7th and Harry Collier (11:03) 9th.
Parkrun and Junior parkun round up (11/12 January)
Despite the sub-zero temperatures over the weekend, we still had plenty of Beagles out taking part in their 2k & 5k runs.
We start our Saturday round-up at Chelmsford where Cameron Young (20:50 PB) and Isabelle Young (21:10 PB) both ran strongly to finish inside the top 50 and also claim new course bests. Emily Brewington (23:07) was also in attendance running for the first time and also running strongly.
At Brentwood, Max Sanderson (17:10) finished just outside his course best but still nearly 2½ minutes clear of the 2nd place runner! Keith Thornton (22:48) also ran well, finishing 24th overall. At Billericay, it was a Beagles 1-2 with Scott Brooks (18:37) finishing just ahead of Simon Knightbridge (18:52). Sophie Bickerstaff (19:06 PB) continued her great progression of late with a 5th place finish and 1st female, setting a new course best in the process by an impressive 13 seconds.
Finally, just the one runner at Chalkwell Beach as Adam Armour (20:49) ran well to finish 26th on his debut at this event.
On Sunday, an even colder morning greeted our junior runners. At Harrow Lodge, Willow Smith (09:25) ran well to finish 4th, Zachary Watson (10:29) finished 7th and Freya Brewington (13:43) 22nd.
Sophie Bickerstaff (07:40) was the sole Beagle at Lake Meadows but she powered on to finish 1st by 45 seconds while touring at Colchester juniors was Adam Armour (07:33) who ran well to finish 2nd.
Finally at Hutton Rec., Nadia Price (09:32) was first Beagle over the line finishing 2nd, Max Morris (09:56) was 5th, Jessica Thomson* (10:05) 6th, Liam Worth (10:18) 8th, Alexandra Johnston (10:23) 9th, Chloe Thomson* (10:56) 12th and Joshua Thomson* (12:14) 15th.
Parkrun & junior parkrun roundup (19/20 Jan)
We start this weeks’ roundup at Billericay where an impressive Scott Brooks (17:40 PB) took 1st place and recorded a 37 second course best. Running well into 12th was Adam Armour (20:48) who made his debut at the 5-lap event, while also running were Elliot Worth (21:14) – 17th, Kurt Brooks (22:24) – 27th, Isabelle Young (22:46 PB) – 34th and Dylan Hussain (27:44) – 131st.
At Chelmsford, Phil Price (20:07) took 27th, Emily Brewington (21:38) 62nd and Nadia Price (34:35) 696th while touring at Orpington was Keith Thornton (22:04) who placed 7th overall. At Raphael, we had 2 runners with Simon Knightbridge (18:13) taking 4th and Stuart Bennett (31:31) 238th and finally at Brentwood, Matt Earing* (27:32) took 30th.
On Sunday we had junior runners at a 3 of local events, starting with Amalie Twydell (07:32) who ran strongly at Great Notley to take 1st finisher (and we think a course record) by almost 2 minutes. At Harrow Lodge there was a good turnout with 9 Beagles attending. First over the line was Lianne Esterhuysen (08:06), closely followed in 2nd by Emily Brewington (08:25). 5th went to Ezra-Zion Gooch (09:01), 6th Jacob Stanley (09:05), 8th Willow Smith (09:14), 13th Finley Smith* (09:50), 16th Danel Esterhuysen (10:21), 24th Freya Brewington (10:55) and 43rd Liza Esterhuysen (12:35).
Finally at Hutton Rec., a good turn out as well with Adam Armour (08:28) leading from the front to take 1st. Alexandra Johnston (09:51) ran well to take 5th, Nora Heidemans (10:01) 7th, Max Morris (10:07) 9th, Liam Worth (10:13) 10th, Joshua Barke (10:23) 11th, Ted Lobo* (10:59) 13th, Sophie Lobo* (11:23), 16th Chloe Thomson* (11:25), 20th Joshua Thomson* (12:20) and Nadia Price (16:43) who was on tail-walking duties.
Parkrun & junior parkrun roundup (26/27 Jan)
A busy weekend of competition meant just a few 5k runners were talking on Parkrun this weekend, but there were 4 Beagles in attendance at Raphael. Simon Knightbridge (18:08) was 4th overall while running well and 1st female was Missy Tiller (19:58) (17th overall). Keith Thornton (20:41) took 20th while also taking part was Freya Brewington (31:39).
Elsewhere we had solo representatives at 5 other parkruns. At Brentwood, Matt Earing* (28:17) finished 41st, at Billericay Scott Brooks (18:11) took 1st, Nadia Price (1:05:21) tail-walked at Harrow Lodge, Will Gazzard (19:35) ran well at a muddy Thomas Mills to finish 2nd, while Elliot Worth (20:42) took on Ingrebourne Hill for the first time, finishing 14th.
On Sunday, we had juniors out at a number of 2k runs. At Harrow Lodge, Willow Smith (09:17) finished 8th, just ahead of Jacob Stanley (09:20). At Hutton Rec., there was a strong turnout of runners with Beagles dominating the front of the field. Jamie Murphy (08:11) took 1st place, with Nadia Price (09:19) 3rd and 1st female. 4th went to Max Morris (09:23), closely followed in 6th by Alexandra Johnston (09:30). Joshua Barke (10:01) took 7th, Ted Lobo* (10:22) 8th, Bailee Abrahams (10:25) 9th, Camilla Nash (10:33) 10th, Sophie Lobo* (10:51) 11th and Izzy Lobo* (11:29) 15th.
Just the 2 runners at Lake Meadows where Sophie Bickerstaff (07:44) ran strongly to take 1st place while Liam Worth (09:34) took 8th. Finally, touring again (this time at Felixstowe) was Adam Armour (08:16) who took another 1st place token from a field of 33.
Well done to all our representatives at parkrun. Can we please remind you that we can only pick up your results in the parkun club report if you register yourself as being part of the club in your parkrun profile. Unfortunately, the automatic club report only works on the Saturday parkruns so we are unable to spot performances at junior parkruns beyond the local ones we monitor (Harrow Lodge, Hutton Rec., Chelmsford, Lake Meadows, Great Notley and Northlands). Feel free to contact us if you need help setting up your profile or if you want to tell us about your runs further afield.
Coming up
The schools inter county cross country event takes place this weekend in Newbury – good luck to the Beagles representing Essex and good luck to all representing Essex in the regional sports hall round this weekend.