Stratford's athlete of the year Elaine Ledden climbs UK 100m rankings
THERE were personal and season bests galore for Stratford’s athletes at the Kidderminster and Stourport AC Open.
Athlete of the year Elaine Ledden moved up to fourth in the UK rankings for her age group after a PB of 15.1s in the V60 100m.
Ledden is also fourth in the V60 200m rankings, an event which she ran in 31.9s.
The PBs continued for Ledden in the long jump where she recorded 3.68m.
Brian Gravelsons set a new season’s best of 18.14m in the M50 discus and then followed that up with a personal best throw of 20.06m in the javelin.
Sam Plumb clocked 2:43.5 in the 800m and jumped 1.15m in the high jump, while Ella Smith set a new PB of 28s in the 200m.
Smith was also in action in the long jump where she recorded a best jump of 4.01m.
Nicola Wodzisz threw 9.1m in the U15 shot put and then 27.84m in the javelin.
U15 athlete Martha Peters clocked 2:33.8 in the 800m, while Mark Reynolds came home second in the M55 100m in 13.7s.
British Triathlon Super Series
CHARLY Marshall booked her place in the last race of the season with a sixth-placed finish in the Super Series grand final at Roker beach in Sunderland.
Already ranked 11th, Marshall knew she needed a top ten finish to grab one of only ten spots available at the last race in Eton Dorney.
And the choppy waters and windy conditions did not daunt Marshall at all.
A swim into tricky waves that made vision difficult led into a long and technical bike stage with slalom descents and sharp bends which challenged all the riders.
The two-lap run started with steep hills but Marshall pushed hard and finished in sixth to secure her place at Eton Dorney.
She also anchored the West Midlands team in the British Triathlon National finals of the youth and junior mixed relay (300m swim, 5km bike ride and 1.4km run). West Midlands came home eighth out of 24 teams.
Another Stratford triathlete, Josh Harrison, took the third leg of the Inter Regional Championships mixed relay team which finished ahead of their seeding.
Ultra Trail Mont Blanc
CHICKEN noodle soup proved to be a race saver for Adam Evans as he completed the 56km from Orsieres, Switzerland, to Chamonix, France in under 12 hours.
Evans started well but after 25km cramp struck both legs and after an agonising 8km struggle, it was time for a pause and rethink.
A30-minute food stop, which included a chicken noodle soup, chocolate, can of coke, watermelon and sugar cubes, made the difference and he finished the event in 11:40.
England Athletics U15/U17 Championships
JOEL Masters clinched bronze in the 100m final at the championships held in Bedford.
Masters was part of a strong field which included athletes from Athletics Ireland’s development academy.
After finishing second in his heat with a PB of 11.22s, Masters then came fourth in the final in an even quicker 11.21s.
However, he was awarded the bronze medal because the winning athlete was from Ireland and therefore not eligible for a medal from England Athletics.
Couch to 5k
STRATFORD AC is starting another of its successful Couch to 5k running groups on Monday, 12th September.
The group will meet at Stratford School at 6.30pm on Mondays and at Stratford Sports Club on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 6.30pm and 7am respectively.
Email chrisbloomfield9@gmail.com for more details and to sign up.
