News & Press Reports for 2003

Gloucestershire Cross Country League, Dursley

Under 13 boys: 22 Michael Greene 9.44

Under 13 girls: 8 Zoe Shearman 9.23

Senior Ladies: 20 Helena Trigg 25.59, 21 Emma Jeffery 26.08

Senior Men: 15 Peter Lloyd (V40) 33.21, 51 Keith Short (V50) 36.09, 55 Jeremy Mower 36.21, 107 Dave Spackman (V55) 40.42, 114 Terry Sysum (V45) 41.49, 124 Andy McKenzie (V40) 46.15. Senior mens team 8th, vet mens team 8th

BMC Cross Country Classic, Bristol

Emily Pidgeon smashed the course record for an emphatic victory at the British Milers club cross-country classic in Bristol. But it was not the Under 15s or Under 17s record that the 14-year-old Gloucester AC runner beat – it was the Under 20s record set last year by British international 800m runner Charlotte Moore. Pidgeon opted to line up for the junior womens’ race to give herself a harder test ahead of the Reebok Challenge in Liverpool, which also incorporates the trials for the European Championships. She was given a test in the opening two laps as Oxford’s Hannah England and Sara Ponsford tracked her around the four-lap 4K course.

But then Pidgeon, with plenty of encouragement from coach David Farrow and her Gloucester training partners, pulled clear to win by 25 seconds and carve 41 seconds off Moore’s best set last year. “It was a good, hard run and I’m pleased with that,” said Pidgeon. “I just maintained my pace and the other girls dropped away.”

Training partner Sarah Hopkinson got the day off to a flying start when she convincingly won the junior girls’ race. Over the two-lap course, the 12-year-old proved too strong for Cornish girl Katie Knowles and Hopkinson finished 15 seconds clear.

The third triumph for the Farrow training group was supplied by youngster Ben Coldray, who won the minor boys’ race by 10 seconds.

Peter Kellie took another positive step back on the comeback trail after breaking a foot at the end of the summer. Kellie only started training again in October and is still way short of his best. He could not quite hold on to Tamworth’s Paul Moores, who edged clear to win by eight seconds, but Kellie was happy with his run in second place with Gloucester AC club-mate Alex Felce third.

Minor boys (1K): 1 Ben Coldray 3.13

Junior boys (2K): 4 Richard Farrow 7.03

Senior boys/junior men (4K): 2 Peter Kellie 12.25, 3 Alex Felce 12.34, 18 Richard Davenport 14.28

Senior men (4K): 16 Lloyd Pritchard 13.22

Junior girls (2K): 1 Sarah Hopkinson 7.12

Senior girls/junior women (4K): 1 Emily Pidgeon 14.04

Sodbury Slog

22 Peter Lloyd (M40) 1,06.23 (2nd V40); 79 Ian Summers 1,11.41; 236 Terry Sysum (M40) 1,20.30; 431 Will Cronshaw 1,31.02; 542 Andy McKenzie (M40) 1,36.01 (779 finishers)

City athlete Emily Pidgeon is in line to win a top national sports award. The 14-year-old Gloucester Athletic Club runner has been nominated on the short-list for the Most Promising Newcomer Award at the prestigious Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year Awards ceremony

Pidgeon, along with Somerset swimmer Stacey Tadd and yachtswoman Hannah Mills, has been invited to the prize ceremony at the Park Lane Hotel in London on November 26. Pidgeon's nomination is a reflection on her emergence as one of Britain's most talented young female athletes.

"We are obviously pleased and it is very flattering," said coach David Farrow. "But a nice occasion like this has to be tinged with just a little caution as there is always a slight concern over too much too soon as this age."

Under Farrow's careful guidance Pidgeon is already an English Schools' champion at cross country and on the track. This summer she became the youngest distance runner to represent Great Britain when she was selected for an U20s match in Italy.

The girls will get the chance to rub shoulders with a wide range of sporting celebrities, including those on the shortlist for the Sportswoman of the Year award. That shortlist of 10 includes runners Paula Radcliffe and Kelly Holmes.

Reebok Cross Challenge & Birmingham League, Senneleys Park

Gloucester Athletic Club's Emily Pidgeon set her stall out for the winter season with an impressive victory in the Reebok Cross Challenge event at Senneleys Park, Birmingham, on Saturday. She destroyed the rest of the field in the U15 girls 3K race, breaking away from the lead group at 1000m to win by 33 seconds in 12.12. Pidgeon has now pencilled in appearances at the Reebok Challenges in Liverpool and Cardiff as well as the Final in Nottingham, so the stage is set for intriguing head to head meetings with the reigning Reebok Cross Challenge Champion Non Stanford (Swansea Harriers), who won at Falkirk but was absent from Birmingham. Pidgeon was unable to challenge for the title last season because of injury.

The junior races started with the U13 girls 2.5K race, where Gloucester AC's Sarah Hopkinson set the pace with Lucy McLoughlin of Stockport Harriers. McLoughlin fell and dropped out, leaving Hopkinson on her own with a 50 metre lead which she still held at the top of the hill leading to the finish. She was chased by Falkirk Reebok race winner Eilish McColgan, daughter of Liz McColgan, who whittled away the lead down the hill and into the finishing straight, and with a determined finish, outsprinted Hopkinson to the line to win by one second in 10.58. The two will look to renew their rivalry at Liverpool on November 22nd.

The gutsiest performance came from Ben Coldray in the U13 boys 3K race. Running against boys up to two years his elder, and in his first race of this class, he stuck to his task admirably and came from lying in 6th place to snatch 4th on the line with a spirited sprint finish in 12.31.

The U20 ladies race saw Kate Goodhead looking to build on her second place finish from Falkirk. In a high class field, she was leading the race at two thirds distance, before the lead group, including European Junior Championship medallists Laura Kenney and Dani Barnes, started to split up as the more senior runners pulled away, leaving Goodhead to finish eighth in 17.54 over the 4K course. Goodhead lies second overall after the two fixtures.

The 10K senior mens race also incorporated the first Birmingham League fixture, with Gloucester hoping to finish around mid table in Division 2. Last year the club finished 6th of the 13 teams in the division, but this year, having lost both Mo Hill and Bill Griffiths, know they will face a tough battle. The situation worsened on the day when Simon Kellie fell crossing the stream on the second lap, twisting his ankle. He tried to carry on for the rest of the lap, but was clearly unable to run comfortably on the injury, and dropped out to avoid causing any long term damage. Peter Kellie, having missed nearly two months training with a broken foot and resumed training only three weeks ago, was the club's first scorer, surprising himself with his 11th place in 36.54. Peter Lloyd was next in, having an excellent race and beating Severn AC's Chris Harvey in a sprint for the line to finish 36th in 39.57. He was followed by Lloyd Pritchard, 44th in 40.15. The A team was completed by Ian Summers in 102nd (44.28), Dave Gresswell in 108th (45.09) and Keith Short in 110th (45.17) for a total of 411 points on unofficial results.

The B team consisted of Angus Wells in 112th (45.17), Mike Short in 124th (46.15), Humphrey Phillips in 137th (48.46), Anthony Lake in 140th (49.08), Terry Sysum in 148th (50.37) and in Martin Chopping 152nd (53.34) with Andy McKenzie in 159th (57.10) for a score of 823

Team results: 1 Cheltenham 85, 2 Telford 132, 3 Cannock & Stafford 155, 4 Severn 187, 5 Wolverhampton & Bilston 251, 6 Birmingham Rowheath 275, 7 Nuneaton 290, 8 Solihull & Small Heath 345, 9 Worcester 356, 10 Bromsgrove & Redditch 386, 11 Gloucester 411, 12 Chase 423, 13 Kenilworth 469

B teams: 1 Cheltenham 292, 2 Severn 430, 3 Telford 452, 4 Birmingham Rowheath 532, 5 Wolverhampton & Bilston 575, 6 Nuneaton 713, 7 Gloucester 823

Stroud Half Marathon

Gloucester AC details from the Stroud Half Marathon (1703 finishers):

45 Peter Lloyd M40 1,19.10; 110 Jeremy Mower SM 1,23.49; 143 Dave Gresswell SM 1,25.56; 206 Adrian Lavery M40 1,29.18; 385 Catherine O'Carroll SL 1,35.39; 541 Phil Whitmore M40 1,40.00; 652 Kim Owen SL 1,43.13; 714 Will Cronshaw SM 1,45.08 (pb); 806 Chris O'Carroll M55 1,47.33; 1056 Bogdan Jochym M50 1,55.01; 1071 Glenda Stanley L35 1,55.33 (pb); 1203 Mike Storey M50 1,58.54; 1374 Cath Nicoll L35 2,06.58 (pb)

Reebok Cross Challenge, Falkirk

Gloucester AC's Kate Goodhead made the long journey to Falkirk for the first Reebok Cross Challenge of the season. Running in a high class field in the combined senior/U20 womens race, she finished in 11th place overall in a time of 24.18. This placed her as second U20 a mere eleven seconds behind 9th place Jennifer Pereira of Medway & Maidstone AC

Gloucestershire Cross Country League, Dursley

U13 girls: 7 Zoe Shearman 8.52

U17 women: 3 Lucy Williams 17.18, 7 Jenny Summers 22.44

U17 men: 1 Alex Felce 16.37

Senior women: 23 Emma Jeffery 31.46, 28 Beryl Sampson (LV45) 32.48

Senior men: 15 Peter Lloyd (MV40) 40.48, 56 Ian Summers 44.59, 62 Jeremy Mower 45.36, 110 Adrian Lavery (MV40) 50.42, 132 Andy McKenzie (MV40) 58.07

Worcester Beacon Race, Malvern

16 Peter Lloyd M40 48.20; 57 Jeremy Mower 54.38

Clarendon Way Marathon

Three Gloucester Athletic Club distance runners took part in the Clarendon Way Marathon, a 26.2 mile multi-terrain point to point race between Winchester and Salisbury in Wiltshire, on Sunday. Following the Clarendon Way footpath, the event included 1500 feet of ascent and a number of stiles and gates to negotiate. Although conditions were dry underfoot, the ground was very uneven and stony in places and a number of runners suffered falls during the race. Runners also had to contend with a cold headwind over the whole course, slowing race times. Race winner out of the field of 185 in the full marathon event was Neville Baker of Headington Road Runnrs in a time of 2 hours 55 minutes and 32 seconds. Also in the race was Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the famous writer and explorer, doing the race as part of his training programme. Fiennes finished 130th in 4 hours 22 minutes 41 seconds

Ian Summers finished in 43rd place in 3 hours 31 minutes 52 seconds, Neil Scowby finished in 95th place in 4 hours 2 minutes 37 seconds, Andy McKenzie finished in 146th place in 4 hours 37 minutes 24 seconds

Avon Track & Field League (4th fixture – Yate)

Gloucester AC’s Senior Mens and Senior Ladies teams have both won the Avon League titles

U13 Girls

100m: A 3 Sarah Williams 14.8; B 4 Megan Forster 16.4

200m: A 2 Sarah Williams 29.9; B 4 Megan Forster 34.7

800m: A 1 Zoe Shearman 2,41.8 pb

Long jump: A 3 Sarah Williams 3.85; B 3 Zoe Shearman 3.16; guest Megan Forster 2.88

U15 Girls

100m: A 1 Laura Collier 13.7; B 4 Lisa Lewis 15.0

200m: A 1 Laura Collier 28.5; B 5 Lisa Lewis 31.0

Long jump: A 4 Laura Collier 3.78; B 3 Lisa Lewis 3.57

U17 Ladies

100m: A 1 Sophie Lambert 13.3

200m: A 2 Sophie Lambert 28.5

Long jump: A 2 Sophie Lambert 3.60

Senior Men

100m: A 6 Dave Gresswell 14.5 pb; B 2 Steve Broughton 11.9

400m: A 5 Justin Sysum 62.1 pb; B 3 Terry Sysum 70.5 pb

1500m: A 3 Simon Kellie 4,15.1; B 3 Jeremy Mower 5,00.1

5000m: A 3 Ian Summers 18,48.1; B 1 Dave Gresswell 19,03.9

400m hurdles: A 2 Jeremy Mower 72.4; B 1 Ian Summers 78.4

4x100m relay: 1st (Summers, Lawes, J Sysum, Broughton) 52.4

Triple jump: A 1 Steve Broughton 13.70 pb; B 2 Justin Sysum 10.46

High jump: A 3 Steve Broughton 1.65 pb; B 2 Ian Summers 1.40 pb

Hammer: A 1 Justin Sysum 39.11; B 1 Andy McKenzie 30.17

Javelin: A 4 Justin Sysum 38.01; B 1 Ian Summers 33.55; guest James Lawes 26.82

Vet Men

100m: A 4 Terry Sysum 14.4 pb; B 2 Andy McKenzie 14.6 pb

5000m: A 2 Peter Lloyd 18,03.4; B 2 Terry Sysum 22,05.2

Senior Ladies

100m: A 2 Kathryn Purcell 13.3; B 1 Lucy Williams 13.7

200m: A 1 Kathryn Purcell 27.2; B 1 Amy Whitcher 30.9

800m: A 1 Emma Jeffery 2,39.3

3000m: A 1 Emma Jeffery 11,57.4; B 1 Cath Nicol 16,07.5

400m hurdles: A 2 Gemma Collier 71.1; B 1 Kathryn Purcell 81.9

4x400m relay: 1st (A Whitcher, K Purcell, Pike, Williams) 4,45.6

Long jump: A 2 Alex Purcell 4.09; B 1 Amy Whitcher 3.52; guest Hannah Pike 4.09

Discus: A 1 Lorraine Shaw 43.56 (league record); B 1 Paula Whitcher 16.44

Shot putt: A 1 Lorraine Shaw 11.96; B 1 Kathryn Purcell 6.51; guests Paula Whitcher 6.06, Cath Nicol 4.95

Vet Ladies

100m: A 1 Lorraine Shaw 15.1; B 2 Paula Whitcher 20.1

Match scores

U13 girls: 1 Yate 116, 2 Bristol 98, 3 Bath 94, 4 Gloucester 58, 5 Forest of Dean 57, 6 Bitton 23, 7 Clevedon 17, 8 Stroud 7

U15 girls: 1 Bristol 117, 2 Yate 88, 3 Bath 70, 4 Bitton 57, 5 Gloucester 48, 6 Forest of Dean 23, 7= Dursley & Clevedon 9

U17 ladies: 1 Yate 51, 2 Bristol 47, 3 Gloucester 28, 4 Clevedon 26, 5 Bitton 22, 6 Dursley 10

Senior ladies: 1 Gloucester 176, 2 Forest of Dean 38, 3 Stroud 36, 4 Bath 31, 5 Clevedon 19, 6 Bitton 16

Senior men: 1 Gloucester 198, 2 Stroud 135, 3 Bristol 120, 4 Bath 109, 5 Yate 108, 6 Forest of Dean 35, 7 Dursley 16, 8 Bitton 15, 9 Severn 10, 10 Clevedon 8

Overall: 1 Bristol 733, 2 Yate 574, 3 Gloucester 508, 4 Bath 474, 5 Stroud 257, 6 Forest of Dean 202, 7 Bitton 191, 8 Clevedon 159, 9 Dursley 55, 10 Severn 35

Final League positions

U13 girls: 1 Yate 40, 2 Bristol 35, 3 Bath 29, 4 Gloucester 29, 5 Bitton 23, 6 Forest of Dean 18, 7 Clevedon 10, 8 Stroud 7

U13 boys: 1 Bristol 39, 2 Yate 37, 3 Bath 31, 4 Stroud 21, 5 Clevedon 19, 6 Forest of Dean 19, 7 Gloucester 17, 8 Bitton 13

U15 girls: 1 Bristol 39, 2 Yate 34, 3 Bath 33, 4 Bitton 29, 5 Gloucester 21, 6 Forest of Dean 20, 7 Clevedon 19.5, 8 Dursley 6.5, 9 Stroud 3

U15 boys: 1 Bristol 40, 2 Bath 34, 3 Yate 31, 4 Bitton 26, 5 Stroud 25, 6 Dursley 17, 7 Gloucester 12, 8 Forest of Dean 11, 9 Clevedon 5, 10 Severn 4

U17 ladies: 1 Yate 38, 2 Bristol 37, 3 Bitton 31, 4 Clevedon 27, 5 Gloucester 17, 6 Forest of Dean 13, 7 Dursley 11, 8 Bath 5

U17 men: 1 Bristol 40, 2 Stroud 32, 3 Yate 30, 4 Severn 24.5, 5 Clevedon 23, 6 Bath 22, 7 Forest of Dean 19.5, 8 Gloucester 9, 9 Dursley 6, 10 Bitton 6

Senior ladies: 1 Gloucester 39, 2 Bath 33, 3 Forest of Dean 22, 4 Yate 21, 5 Bristol 21, 6 Bitton 21, 7 Stroud 19, 8 Clevedon 9, 9 Dursley 4

Senior men: 1 Gloucester 38, 2 Bristol 36, 3 Stroud 34, 4 Yate 26, 5 Bath 26, 6 Severn 17, 7 Forest of Dean 14.5, 8 Dursley 12.5, 9 Bitton 12, 10 Clevedon 1

Overall: 1 Bristol 39, 2 Yate 37, 3 Bath 30, 4 Gloucester 30, 5 Stroud 23, 6 Bitton 20, 7 Forest of Dean 16, 8 Clevedon 13, 9 Severn 7, 10 Dursley 5

AAA U17 & U15 Championships

Emily Pidgeon completed a marvellous double by winning the AAA Under-15s 1500m title at Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium yesterday. In the process, the 14-year-old Gloucester Athletic Club runner removed another one of Olympic and World Championship athlete Jo Pavey's records from the history books. Pidgeon blew away her rivals with a devastating final 800 metres that saw her clinch victory by more than five seconds in a time of four minutes, 29.28 seconds. "That beat Jo Pavey's record of 4.30.23 so I am very pleased," said Pidgeon. It was on the same track last month that Pidgeon removed Pavey's long-time English Schools' record when she won the junior girls' 1500m race. "The Schools was always my number one target and I also ran a better time there [4.27.70] but I am very pleased with both victories," explained Pidgeon.

Avon Track & Field League (3rd fixture – Yate)

U11 Girls

75m: A 3 Rebecca Summers 13.3

600m: A 5 Rebecca Summers 2,18.9 pb (club record)

U13 Boys

100m: A 2 Ben Coldray 15.0; B 1 Mark Creese 15.3

200m: A 4 Mark Creese 30.8

800m: A 1 Ben Coldray 2,20.5 pb; B 2 Mark Creese 2,40.4

U13 Girls

200m: A 3 Zoe Shearman 30.9

U15 Boys

100m: A 5 Ashley Gardner 16.6

Discus: A 5 Ashley Gardner 15.39

Shot put: A 5 Ashley Gardner 6.27

U15 Girls

100m: A 3 Laura Collier 14.4

200m: A 3 Laura Collier 28.8

1500m: A 1 Emily Pidgeon 4,44.6 (league record); B 1 Sarah Hopkinson 4,50.7

U17 Men

100m: A 4 Aled Jones 14.3

200m: A 6 Aled Jones 28.7

800m: A 4 Aled Jones 2,38.3

Senior Men

100m: A 6 Rob Peck 14.8; B 4 Neil Scowby 13.9

200m: A 5 Andy Creese 26.9; B 4 Ian Summers 30.1

800m: A 6 Jeremy Mower 2,23.6; B 4 Neil Scowby 2,26.7

3000m: A 3 Ian Summers 10,39.9; B 1 Jeremy Mower 10,45.7

110m hurdles: A 4 Ian Summers 25.8; B 1 Jeremy Mower 27.8

4x400m relay: 3rd (McKenzie, Summers, Peck, Sysum) 4,59.4

Long jump: A 6 Terry Sysum 4.13; B 4 John Whitcher 3.49

Discus: A 3 James Lawes 26.29 pb; B 4 Andy McKenzie 19.08

Shot put: A 4 James Lawes 8.63; B 3 Ian Summers 7.32

Vet Men

100m: A 3 Terry Sysum 15.0; B 1 Andy McKenzie 15.2

3000m: A 5 Terry Sysum 13,10.7; B 2 Andy McKenzie 13,27.4

Senior Ladies

100m: A 3 Kathryn Purcell 13.6; B 2 Amy Whitcher 15.1

400m: A 3 Gemma Collier 66.3; B 1 Amy Whitcher 74.1

1500m: A 4 Emma Jeffrey 5,27.9

100m hurdles: A 1 Gemma Collier 19.0

4x100m relay: 1st (A Whitcher/Collier/P Whitcher/Purcell) 58.7

Hammer: A 1 Zoe Derham 57.92; B 1 Bola Ogun 41.50

Javelin: A 2 Paula Whitcher 16.20; B Amy Whitcher 14.50

High Jump: A 3 Gemma Collier 1.20; B 1 Zoe Derham 1.05

Triple jump: A 4 Zoe Derham 7.48

Vet Ladies

100m: A 2 Paula Whitcher 17.9

Domestic Grand Prix Series Final, Cwmbran

Gloucester thrower Lorraine Shaw had to overcome a travelling nightmare to win the women's hammer at the UK Domestic Series final at Cwmbran. Shaw, who competes in the World Championships in Paris in a fortnight, had started from her Tuffley home in plenty of time but was caught up in traffic on the motorway. She had to divert through the Forest of Dean and arrived only 40 minutes before the start of her event. Shaw was able to produce a throw of 64.72 metres, which was enough to win the competition. This effort was below her recent performances, particularly in Greece where she managed 66.38 for fourth place in a Grand Prix event.

Gloucester AC's Richard Davenport fell in the 400 metres hurdles at the ninth hurdle when in second place and was last, but took 3rd place in the 400m in 47.87.

London Grand Prix, Crystal Palace

Peter Kellie returned to action over the weekend for the first time since taking the bronze medal at the European Under-20s Championships. The Gloucester AC runner was fourth in an invitation 3000m at Crystal Palace on Friday night, finishing in eight minutes 40.05 seconds in sweltering conditions. The race was part of the Norwich Union London Grand Prix. "The temperature in the shade was reported as 29C with 46 humidity," said Kellie's coach David Farrow. "It was really tough conditions for the distance runners and Peter handled it very well. "With 50m to go we thought he might get second, but he was just run down in the home straight. Nonetheless, he beat a few good lads."

In the Under-20s women's race, 14-year-old Emily Pidgeon again showed great maturity, taking on the pace after three slow opening laps. The English Schools' 1500m champion could not hold on to her lead, however, and had to settle for fourth in 9.47.6 behind a trio of Britain's top young women runners. "Fourth was the sort of position we were looking at before the race in view of the field and it was a good effort by Emily," added Farrow.

Midland Men’s Track & Field League (4th fixture – Stourport)

Points for Graded Officials – 15

Final team totals – Gloucester 191

Cheltenham Open Meeting

1 mile

U13G: 1 Sarah Hopkinson 5,14.1 (UK U13 best, UK ages 11 and 12 best)

U13B: 1 Richard Farrow 5,13.7 (pb), 2 Ben Coldray 5,16.8 (pb)

U15G: 1 Emily Pidgeon 4,57.4 (UK U15 2nd best)

600m

U13G: 1 Sarah Hopkinson 1,40.6

U15G: 1 Emily Pidgeon 1,40.5

European Junior Chamionships

3000m steeplechase Final:

19-year-old Peter Kellie (Gloucester AC) paced his effort superbly to collect a surprise Bronze medal in 8:55.69, trouncing his previous best of 9:02.37 to an extent beyond his wildest dreams.

His race report is a wonderful example of what you can do if you don’t panic: “I was hoping for a top eight finish and maybe a time sub-9 minutes. I was not even thinking about a medal.  “On the first couple of laps, they went off really quick and I was second from the back, thinking, ‘If they keep this up, I’m not going to get into the top eight!’ But I knew a couple of them had gone too quickly and I stuck to my plan, which was to take it at the right pace.  “I started to go a bit quicker with three laps to go and started to pick a few of them off. Into the last lap, the Finnish guy (Janne Ukonmaanaho, cheered on by his home crowd) went into third past a Spanish athlete (Angel Mullera, who subsided to sixth by the finish) and I thought, ‘I might be able to catch him…’  “I picked it up on the last bend but my coach David(Farrow) was down there and he shouted, ‘Wait!’ He knew that if I went too soon, the Finnish guy would be lifted by his crowd as he chased me down the home straight. And so did I.  “So I didn’t give it my full effort until I hit the finish straight. I went past him, but then I hit the last barrier. I fell at the World Youth Championships a couple of years ago, and I thought, ‘Oh no! This can’t happen again.’ I stumbled but I managed to stay up on my feet and I just got it on the line.”

The margin between Kellie and the local hero was 0.37sec. “I am over the moon,” said Kellie, who won the AAA Under 20 title last month in 9:13.63.

The Gold medal in Tampere went to Ruben Schwarz (Germany) in 8:46.21 and the Silver to Maricel Ionascu(Romania) in 8:53.31.  But the GB plaudits went to the nerveless Kellie. The vastly experienced international endurance runner Chris Robison, at the Championships as an observer coach, said: “Peter ran it brilliantly. He has a really sensible head on his shoulders. He just kept chipping away at them and got his due reward.”

4x400m Final:

Norwich Union GB – Richard Davenport (Gloucester AC), 400m hurdles Champion Rhys Williams (Cardiff AAC), Adam Charlton (Huntingdonshire AC) and Ryan Preddy (Gloucester AC) – finished fourth, just a couple of strides short of a medal, in 3:09.36 in a medals battle that went all the way to the line. Germany won in 3:08.31, Poland were second in 3:08.62 and Russia third in 3:08.81, having edged ahead of GB entering the final straight.

Cheltenham Open Meeting

100m

U11G: 1 Cleo Lambert 15.0 (pb, club record)

U13B: 5 Michael Greene 15.7

U13G: 2 Sarah Williams 14.0 (pb)

U15G: 1 Laura Collier 13.8, 2 Lisa Lewis 14.8, 3 Lucy Benton 14.9

U17G: 1 Sophie Lambert 12.8 (club record)

SL: 1 Kathryn Purcell 13.3 (pb, club record)

300m

U13B: 2 Michael Greene 55.1

U13G: 1 Sarah Williams 48.0 (pb, club record)

U15G: 2 Laura Collier 47.2 (pb, club record)

JL: 2 Gemma Collier 47.0 (pb, club record)

400m

JL: 1 Lucy Williams 63.9

400m Hurdles

JL: 1 Gemma Collier 71.4

1000m

U13B: 2 Ben Coldray 3,09.1

3000m

U15G: 1 Ruth Smith 11,47.8, 2 Lucy Benton 11,47.8

U17B: 1 Alex Felce 8,51.9

Long jump

U15G: 1 Lucy Benton 3.40, 2 Ruth Smith 2.65

High jump

U15G: 2 Lisa Lewis 1.40 (pb, eq club record)

Shot putt

SL: 1 Kathryn Purcell 6.37 (pb, club record)

Cheltenham Open Meeting

100m

U13G: 2 Sarah Williams 14.5

U15G: 3 Laura Collier 13.8

200m

U13G: 2 Sarah Williams 30.3

U15G: 1 Laura Collier 28.5

800m

U13B: 1 Richard Farrow 2,22.8

Hammer

M40: 1 Andy McKenzie 27.13

Discus

M40: 1 Andy McKenzie 21.77

Gloucester trio to represent GB

Peter Kellie and Ryan Preddy are today celebrating being called up into the Great Britain team for the European U20s Championships in Tampere, Finland.

The pair will join their Gloucester AC team-mate Richard Davenport on the plane for Scandinavia next week for the four-day championships that begin on Thursday July 24th. Kellie will line up for the 3000m steeplechase while Preddy will join Davenport in the 4x400m relay squad. Davenport is also in the individual 400m.

"It is fantastic news and I'm really chuffed," said Preddy. "I thought I had a decent chance of making the team but it was great to finally get the news. "And it is great to have Pete in the team along with Richard. The three of us should have a good time out there."

Davenport was also delighted that his training partners will be joining him. "It is fantastic news and it will be great to have three Gloucester boys out there," said Davenport. "I'm really looking forward to it and we should have great fun together."

The selection of the Gloucester trio is also a huge tribute to their coach David Farrow.

Farrow, who runs the Personal Fitness Centre in Cheltenham and lives in Tewkesbury, has taken all three athletes from novice status to international level and is understandably proud of his achievement. "Last summer we mapped out a plan to get all three lads selected for the European U20s Championships," said Farrow. "Despite the pressure of exams, work, injuries and other obstacles we have done it and I am thoroughly delighted for them all. It's a great hat-trick."

In theory Farrow and Gloucester could have had a fourth athlete in the team, as Emily Pidgeon is the only Briton with the qualifying time for the 3000m. But as the new English Schools' 1500m champion is still only 14 Farrow didn't want to expose her to that level of competition just yet though her time will no doubt come.

Avon Track & Field League (2nd fixture – Yate)

U11 Girls

75m: A 7 Rebecca Summers 12.7 pb

600m: A 6 Rebecca Summers 2,21.7 pb

Ball throw: A 5 Rebecca Summers 15.04 pb

U13 Boys

1500m: A 3 Mark Creese 5,16.4

U13 Girls

100m: A 2 Sarah Williams 14.4; B 2 Zoe Shearman14.9

200m: A 1 Sarah Williams 29.7; B 1 Emily Baker 30.6 pb

800m: A 3 Zoe Shearman 2,55.8; B 3 Emily Baker 2,59.6

4x100m relay: 1st (Edwards/Shearman/Baker/Williams) 61.0

Long jump: A 2 Sarah Williams 3.98; B 3 Katie Edwards 2.98

Shot putt: A 1 Katie Edwards 5.40 pb

U15 Boys

Javelin: A 4 Ashley Gardner 17.41

U15 Girls

100m: A 2 Laura Collier 13.2 pb

200m: A 1 Laura Collier 28.5

U17 Men

100m: A 8 Aled Jones 13.8

400m: A 8 Aled Jones 68.1

Javelin: A 3 Aled Jones 24.38

U17 Ladies

800m: A 3 Jenna Sysum 3,00.6

Shot putt: A 4 Jenna Sysum 5.35

Senior Men

100m: A 3 Wayne Booth 11.5

400m: A 2 Wayne Booth 52.8; B 2 Keith Short 58.1

1500m: A 5 Keith Short 4,40.3; B 4 Terry Sysum 5,54.8

5000m: A 3 Ian Summers 18,38.2

400m hurdles: A 4 Ian Summers 80.5; B 2 Andy McKenzie 90.7

4x100m relay: 2nd (Summers, Short, J Sysum, Booth) 50.8

Triple jump: A 1 Marc Graham 11.82 pb; B 1 Andy McKenzie 7.69

Hammer: A 1 Justin Sysum 39.52 pb; B 1 Sean Penny 33.92 pb; guest Andy McKenzie 27.17

Javelin: A 2 Justin Sysum 38.57; B 1 Ian Summers 31.52; guest James Lawes

Vet Men

100m: A 4 Terry Sysum 14.8; B 2 Andy McKenzie 16.3

5000m: A 4 Terry Sysum 22,46.2; B 2 Andy McKenzie 24,52.3

Senior Ladies

100m: A 1 Amy Whitcher 14.1 pb

200m: A 1 Lucy Williams 27.8 pb; B 1 Amy Whitcher 30.1

800m: A 2 Lucy Williams 2,30.6; B 1 Emma Jeffery 2,37.6

Discus: A 3 Amy Whitcher 15.52 pb; B Paula Whitcher 15.38 pb

Shot putt: A 4 Paula Whitcher 5.69

Vet Ladies

100m: A 1 Paula Whitcher 17.2 pb

English Schools Championships

A Week that began with a fire ended with Emily Pidgeon blazing a trail to break a 15-year-old record at the English Schools' Track and Field Championships. The hotel blaze that marked her Great Britain debut in Italy the previous weekend clearly didn't have any lingering affects for the 14-year-old Gloucester AC runner. Seven days later, she not only set about winning her first track and field title in style but also broke the championship record in the junior girls' 1,500m.

Pidgeon's time of four minutes 27.7 seconds eclipsed British Olympic athlete Jo Pavey's 15-year-old outstanding championship best record of 4.27.9. "We had the record in mind and it was a great run by Emily to break it," said coach David Farrow.

Pidgeon really powered around the last lap in Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium to take the record and underline what an amazing talent she possesses.

"I really enjoyed the race and it was certainly better than last year when I was third," said Pidgeon, a student at Cheltenham College. Making my Great Britain debut was great but winning this title was always my target."

There was also gold for Richard Davenport in the senior boys' 400m hurdles in a time of 52.35, over 2 seconds clear of second place.

Alex Felce took bronze in the intermediate boys’ 1500m in 4,06.48.

Cheltenham Open Meeting

200m

U13G: 1 Sarah Williams 39.5

U15G: 1 Laura Collier 28.4

U17L: 1 Lucy Williams 27.9

JL: 1 Amy Whitcher 30.8

SL: 2 Kathryn Purcell 27.5

400m

U17L: 1 Lucy Williams 61.6

JL: 1 Amy Whitcher 74.2

High jump

U15G: 2 Lisa Lewis 1.35

Discus

JL: 1 Amy Whitcher 15.21

JM: 2 James Lawes 22.04

M40: 1 Andy McKenzie 22.44

Shot putt

JM: 2 James Lawes 9.61

M40: 1 Andy McKenzie 7.29

GB U20 International match – Italy

Gloucester AC’s two representatives shone in the Junior International in Nove, Italy.

Richard Davenport helped the Great Britain team to a one-two finish in the 400m as he finished 2nd in 47.74 behind fellow team-mate Adam Charlton who timed 47.38.

Emily Pidgeon, the youngest ever female athlete to represent Great Britain in a middle distance track race, surpassed expectations by claiming second place in the 3000m in 9,29.34, with team-mate Laura Kenney third in 9,29.71. Kenney’s time was a UK Athletics A standard time for the European Junior Championships to be held in Finland on 24-27 July, yet she still could not beat the 14-year-old Gloucester AC superstar.

BMC Grand Prix meeting, Watford

Sarah Hopkinson set a new European and UK age 11 all-time 800m best time of 2,16.2 in the BMC Grand Prix meeting at Watford, a time that is also the 4th best in the UK U13 all-time list.

800m D: 1 Sarah Hopkinson (U13) 2,16.2 (UK U13 all-time 4th; UK age 11 all-time best)

3000m steeplechase: 4 Peter Kellie 9,06.51

Midland Men’s Track & Field League (3rd fixture – Nuneaton)

Points for Graded Officials – 15

Final team totals – 1 Kettering 257, 2 Stratford 228, 3 Nuneaton 206, 4 Gloucester 192, 5 Bromsgrove & Redditch 191, 6 Birmingham Rowheath 188, 7 Kidderminster & Stourport 178, 8 Newark 168

Position after three matches – 1 Kettering 24, 2 Nuneaton 18.5, 3 Stratford 16, 4 Birmingham Rowheath 15, 5 Bromsgrove & Redditch 14.5, 6 Kidderminster & Stourport 8 (510 points), 7 Gloucester 8 (485 points), 8 Newark 4

Cheltenham Open Meeting

100m

U13B: 1 Richard Farrow 14.6

U13G: 1 Sarah Williams 14.8, 2 Mikalia Osiadocz 15.4, 3 Bryony Narbeth 15.5

U15G: 3 Lisa Lewis 14.7

U17L: 1 Sophie Lambert 13.3

SL: 3 Kathryn Purcell 13.8

300m

U13G: 1 Sarah Williams 49.8 (pb and club record)

400m

U13B: 1 Richard Farrow 64.0

800m

U13B: 1 Ben Coldray 2,22.9

U17M: 1 Alex Felce 1,57.8

400mH

JL: 1 Gemma Collier 71.1

Javelin

U15G: 3 Lisa Lewis 11.98 (pb and club record)

Hammer

JM: 2 Justin Sysum 42.59

M40: 1 Andy McKenzie 28.16

Emily Pidgeon has been selected to represent Great Britain in next weekend's Under-20s international against Italy.

The 14-year-old Gloucester Athletic Club member will become the youngest ever athlete to represent Great Britain on the track in a middle distance event if she accepts the invitation to compete in the 3000 metres in Nove, a couple of hours from Venice, on Saturday. "Emily's selection is quite justified because of her recent performances," said coach David Farrow. "It is a superb achievement to be picked to represent Great Britain and it is very exciting."

Having only just celebrated her 14th birthday on June 1 Pidgeon, her family and Farrow are still debating whether she should tackle the race against the Italian national squad and a regional team.

But there is no doubt it represents a significant achievement by the prodigiously talented youngster, who has already embarrassed many of her older rivals by running the fastest 3000m in the country by an Under-20s athlete this summer with a personal best of 9 minutes 28.74 seconds.

Interestingly she will not be the youngest ever athlete to represent Britain as that accolade belongs to Olympic bronze medallist Katherine Merry, who was 13-years-of-age when she made her international debut. "The great Sonia Lannaman was also 14 but I think it is safe to say that she is one of the youngest and definitely the youngest distance runner to be picked for Britain because the others were all sprinters," said a spokesman for UK Athletics. Both those athletes went on to fulfil their teenage potential by representing Great Britain at the Olympics and performed at the highest level.

Pidgeon isn't the only Gloucester athlete in the team. Fresh from his personal best of 46.93secs in finishing runner-up in the AAA Under-20s Championships, Richard Davenport has been selected to run the 400m.

Gloucester AC's 400 metre prospect Richard Davenport has earned his place in the Great Britain team for the European under 20 championships.

Davenport, 17, who lives at Littledean in the Forest of Dean, was second in the AAA Championships and European trials, which were held at Bedford yesterday.

The young star, coached by David Farrow, clocked a personal best time of 46.93 seconds, five hundredths of a second behind winner Adam Charlton of Huntingdon AC.

He was also third in the 400 metre hurdles, in a time of 53.1 seconds.

In the triangular match between Great Britain, America and Russia at Glasgow's Scottstoun Stadium, Gloucester's Lorraine Shaw took third place in the hammer. Russian Olga Kuzenkova won the event with a throw of 70.03 metres, with American Anna Mahon second with 69.77. Shaw's best was 66.10 metres, further than her throw in last weekend's European Cup final in Florence. In that event, she was sixth with a throw of 64.18 metres.

AAA U20 Championships, Bedford

3000m steeplechase: 1 Peter Kellie 9,13.63

400m hurdles: 3 Richard Davenport 53.1

400m: 2 Richard Davenport 46.93

There was even more excitement in the Men’s 400m hurdles. Rupert Gardener(Newham and Essex Beagles) powered through from the ninth hurdle, overtaking race favourite Rhys Williams (Cardiff AAC) over the final flight on his way to victory in a hand-timed 51.4 seconds. The European Junior Championships A-standard is 51.75. Williams clocked 52.2 in second – and the seemingly tireless Richard Davenport (Gloucester AC) took Bronze in 53.1.

Only 75 minutes later, Davenport was involved in a tremendous 400m battle with the overwhelming favourite, Adam Charlton (Huntingdon AC). There were only millimeters in it up the home straight as Charlton clocked 46.88 to Davenport’s 46.93. Such was their inspirational standard, Bronze medallist Simon Toye (Thurrock Harriers) looked a distant third, yet his time of 47.49 was inside the A-standard for the European Junior Championships!

Avon Track & Field League (1st fixture – Bath)

U11 Girls

75m: A 6 Rebecca Summers 13.0 pb

600m: A 6 Rebecca Summers 2,22.4 pb (club record)

Ball throw: A 6 Rebecca Summers 10.24

U13 Boys

100m: A 3 Richard Farrow 14.6; B 1 Ben Coldray 14.5; guests Mark Creese 15.4, Chris McWannell 16.7

200m: A 2 Chris McWannell 32.2

800m: A 2 Richard Farrow 2,22.1; B 1 Ben Coldray 2,24.7; guests Chris McWannell 3,03.7, Mark Creese 3,08.0

Long jump: A 6 Chris McWannell 3.29

U13 Girls

100m: A 3 Emily Baker 14.9 pb; B 1 Sarah Williams 14.3; guest Katie Edwards 15.4 pb

200m: A 3 Emily Baker 30.7 pb; B 1 Sarah Williams 30.2; guest Zoe Shearman 33.3

1500m: A 3 Zoe Shearman 5,56.5

4x100m relay: 1st (Shearman/Williams//Edwards/Baker) 59.6

High jump: A 1 Emily Baker 1.25 pb

Javelin: A 4 Katie Edwards 8.77

U15 Boys

100m: A 6 Jamie Thomas 14.8

200m: A 5 Jamie Thomas 30.3

Long jump: A 6 Jamie Thomas 3.82

U15 Girls

100m: A 4 Laura Collier 14.2

200m: A 2 Laura Collier 29.3

U17 Men

100m: A 7 Aled Jones 14.8

200m: A 5 Aled Jones 28.7

U17 Ladies

1500m: A 1 Emily Pidgeon 4,40.9

Senior Men

100m: A 2 Wayne Booth 11.6; B 2 Marc Graham 12.3

200m: A 3 Wayne Booth 23.5; B 3 Andy McKenzie 32.5

800m: A 7 Jeremy Mower 2,23.6; B 4 Andy McKenzie 2,54.5

3000m: A 2 Jeremy Mower 10,28.8; B 1 Ian Summers 10,38.7

110m hurdles: A 3 Ian Summers 25.6; B 2 Jeremy Mower 30.1

4x400m relay: 1st (Mower, McKenzie, Summers, Short) 4,28.5

Long jump: A 1 Steve Broughton 6.64; B 1 Marc Graham 6.20

Discus: A 2 James Lawes 22.95; B 2 Kevin Baker 20.15

Shot put: A 3 James Lawes 8.72; B 1 Kevin Baker 7.71

Vet Men

100m: A 2 Kevin Baker 13.7; B 2 Andy McKenzie 15.2

3000m: A 3 Keith Short 10,30.4

Senior Ladies

100m: A 1 Kathryn Purcell 13.4 pb (club record); B 1 Lucy Williams 13.8; guest Amy Whitcher 14.7

400m: A 1 Lucy Williams 64.3; B 1 Amy Whitcher 71.9

4x100m relay: 1st (A Whitcher/Williams/P Whitcher/Purcell) 58.2

Javelin: A 2 Amy Whitcher 16.15; B 1 Paula Whitcher 15.74

Vet Ladies

100m: A 1 Paula Whitcher 17.6

Midlands Senior Championships

17-year-old Richard Davenport (Gloucester AC) stole the limelight at the Midland Counties AA Senior Championships at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham. Even though he does not celebrate his 18th birthday until September, he twice beat the qualifying standards for the European Junior Championships to be staged in Tampere, Finland, on 24-27 July.

In the flat 400m heats, he clocked 47.15 seconds, well inside the A-standard of 47.50, to go level with Adam Charlton at the head of the UK Under 20 rankings for the season.

And he went top of the 400m hurdles rankings for the age-group by winning the Senior title in a hand-time 52.5. The A-standard for the European Junior Championships is 52.55.

Hammer throw: 4 Andy McKenzie 28.23

Welsh Championships

U20 mens 100m: 8th Wayne Booth 11.83 (3rd in heat in 11.66)

Senior mens 3000m steeplechase: 1 Peter Kellie 9,08.60; 4 Jeremy Mower 11,23.69

Loughborough International

Commonwealth Games champion Lorraine Shaw got the Loughborough International off to a flying start by winning the women's hammer with a United Kingdom record throw of 68.93 metres. The 16th national record of 35-year-old Shaw's career came in the first round of her first competition of the season in the UK.

And it sparked a high class contest in which Shirley Webb (City of Edinburgh AC) threw a Scottish record 61.09m, only to be pushed into third place when Zoe Derham (Birchfield Harriers, and coached by Shaw) snatched second place with a season's best throw of 61.24m in the last round.

Shaw, whose previous best of 68.15m came in 2001, was competing for the international select team against Scotland, Wales, Loughborough Students past and present, British Students and the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland junior team.

3000m steeplechase: 7 Peter Kellie (GB U20) 9,10.41

400m ‘B’: 5 Richard Davenport 49.23

400m ‘A’: 5 Ryan Preddy 48.46

Midland Men’s Track & Field League (2nd fixture – Stourport)

Points for Graded Officials – 15

Final team totals – Gloucester 169

Gloucestershire County Schools Championships

800m: Emily Pidgeon 2,14.2

Bedford International Games

400m: 2 Ryan Preddy (U20) 47.82

Lake Vyrnwy Marathon

6 Jeremy Mower 2,58.36 (3rd in Welsh Championships)

Marlborough Downs Challenge 36 mile trail race

Gloucester Athletic Club trio of Ian Summers, Neil Scowby and Andy McKenzie competed in the Marlborough Downs Challenge 36-mile trail race.

All three had enjoyed the Compton Downland 20 earlier in the year and decided to try the longer option at Marlborough, which also offered a 'short' 20-mile run.

Although advertised as 33 miles, the exact disrance was 36.1 miles and included a total climb of 4,000 feet.

The race was held on what was the hottest May day for 80 years, with temperature hitting 30 degrees.

Summers was 18th in 6:59:34, Scowby 20th inm 7:04:27 and McKenzie 28th in 7:42:29.

This gave them a cumulative time of 21:46:30 and the first team prize - over an hour ahead of Thornbury RC.

Jeff Tyndall and George Barwood finished 32nd and 33rd, both in a time of 8:11:48.

Summers said "We looked at each other on the start line at 9am and just shook our heads. If you think of the most stupid things to do on a day as hot as saturday, running 36 miles would be near the top of the list. We decided to run together, taking it easy and walking the odd section here and there, and this worked very well early on. Very little of the course was marked, and we were given a written route description so we had to keep stopping to check where to ge next. We were joined by Jeff Tyndall and George Barwood, who we hadn't realised had also entered the race. There was a stretch along the towpth of the Kennet and Avon canal between 12 and 16 miles, and the heat was stifling. George was suffering quite badly, so the three of us left him and Jeff and carried on on our own."

McKenzie added "I found it very difficult to get going again and really toiled to the next checkpoint at 19 miles. I walked most of the way to the next checkpoint at 22 miles, by which time I had recovered a bit and George and Jeff had caught me up. I picked up from this point and felt quite strong towards the end of the race. I overtook quite a few over the last eight or nine miles and finished half an hour ahead of George and Jeff."

Scowby was delighted with the team prize. He said "It was me who persuaded the other two to do the race in the first place, and we're all chuffed to bits to have won the team prize."

18 Ian Summers 6h 59m 34s; 20 Neil Scowby 7h 4m 27s; 28 Andy McKenzie 7h42m 29s; 32 Jeff Tyndall 8h 11m 48s; 33 George Barwood 8h 11m 48s

Team: 1 Gloucester AC 21h 46m 30s

BMC Nike Grand Prix, Wythenshawe Park, Manchester

Mens 800m B: 5 Richard Davenport 1,51.25 (pb) (1st U20 in race, 3rd U20 overall)

Mens 3000m steeplechase: 9 Peter Kellie 9,02.37 (pb) (1st U20)

Womens 3000m; 8 Emily Pidgeon 9,30.30

Midlands U20 Championships

U15 boys 1500m: 12 Richard Farrow 4,52.23

U15 girls 800m: 3 Sarah Hopkinson 2,19.75

U15 girls 1500m: 2 Sarah Hopkinson 4,49.44

U17 mens 800m: 3 Alex Felce 1,56.07

U17 mens 1500m: 1 Alex Felce 4,02.26

U20 mens 100m: 6 Ryan Preddy 11.15

U20 mens 200m: 7 Ryan Preddy 22.52

U20 mens 400m: 1 Ryan Preddy 48.81

U20 mens 400m hurdles: 1 Richard Davenport 54.87

U20 mens 800m: 1 Richard Davenport 1,56.47

U20 ladies 1500m: 2 Kate Googhead 4,51.21

Inter-Counties Championships, Bedford

Senior Mens 3000m steeplechase: 3 Peter Kellie 9,14.99 (pb)

Gloucestershire County Track & Field Championships

U13 girls

100m: 2 Sarah Williams 14.2, 3 Rachel Smith 14.4, 4 Emily Baker 15.0, 6 Katie Edwards 15.6, 7 Frankie Winters 16.7

200m: 2 Sarah Williams 30.3, 3 Emily Baker 31.2

Long jump: 1 Rachel Smith 3.95

High Jump: 3 Emily Baker 1.20

Shot put: 2 Katie Edwards 5.10, 4 Frankie Winters 3.89

U13 boys

200m: 1 Richard Farrow 28.6

800m: 1 Richard Farrow 2,29.6

1500m: 2 Ben Coldray 5,13.3

U15 girls

100m: 5 Lisa Lewis 14.3

200m: 5 Sarah Hopkinson 28.7, 6 Laura Collier 29.3

800m: 2 Sarah Hopkinson 2,25.8

High jump: 4 Lisa Lewis 1.35

U17 ladies

100m: 1 Grace Fairburn 13.1, 2 Sophie Lambert 13.4

200m: 2 Sophie Lambert 27.8

400m: 1 Lucy Williams 62.8

Long jump: 2 Grace Fairburn 4.58, 3 Katie Baker 2.83

High jump: 1 Grace Fairburn 1.40

Shot put: 2 Katie Baker 4.24

U20 ladies

100m: 2 Amy Whitcher 14.2

200m: 1 Amy Whitcher 31.0

400m: 1 Gemma Collier 66.2

800m: 1 Gemma Collier 2,33.0

U20 men

800m: 1 Alex Felce 1,59.0

1500m: 1 Peter Kellie 4,10.8, 2 Richard Davenport 4,14.9

Senior ladies

Discus: 1 Paula Whitcher 14.92

Shot put: 1 Paula Whitcher 5.81

Senior men

800m: 2 Ryan Preddy 1,59.8

Discus: 2 Andy McKenzie 19.29

Shot put: 3 Ian Summers 7.25, 4 Andy McKenzie 6.98

Javelin: 2 Ian Summers 30.07, 3 Andy McKenzie 16.97

Hammer: 1 Andy McKenzie 28.37

Midland Men’s Track & Field League (1st fixture – Birmingham University)

Points for Graded Officials – -15

Final team totals – Gloucester 138

London Marathon

English Schools Cross-Country Championships

Emily Pidgeon shattered the pre-race belief that she would do well to make the top six having not raced seriously since November because of a toe injury, with a runaway victory in the junior girls' race at Brighton's Stanmer Park.

She has only been back in training for the past five weeks and, after a cautious opening, was in the leading group at the end of the first lap. She then took charge, taking the lead on the second hill of the 3,000-metre course, retaining her title in magnificent style by crossing the line a staggering 32 seconds clear of her nearest rival.

"Emily has shown enormous patience and discipline with her toe injury and we were both delighted that it has all been justified," said her coach David Farrow. "It is really nice for her to defend her title because not many athletes in the English Schools' Championships manage to do that. "It also helps wipe out missing the other races in the season because this was always the main target and she beat the girl who won the English Under-15s title a few weeks back."

Birmingham League – Malvern

Division 2: 19 Bill Griffiths 36.45; 48 Jeremy Mower 38.59; 56 Lloyd Pritchard 39.24; 63 Aidan Mercer 39.47; 72 Mark Ingram 40.28; 76 Ian Summers 40.41; 88 Dave Gresswell 41.32; 92 Dave Spackman 42.11; 104 Geoff Hanson 43.41; 113 Neil Scowby 44.38; 114 Arnold Yeomans 45.14; 118 Karsten Heard 46.15; 135 Andy McKenzie 53.39; 139 Mike Storey 59.13.

Team: 1 Leamington 96, 2 Trentham 100, 3 Halesowen 160, 4 Bromsgrove & Redditch 220, 5 Birmingham Rowheath 220, 6 Nuneaton 248, 7 Staffordshire University 280, 8 Worcester 290, 9 Chase Harriers 306, 10 Gloucester 334, 11 Massey Ferguson 343, 12 Dudley & Stourbridge 379, 13 Solihull & Small Heath 466.

Final positions: 1 Leamington 447, 2 Trentham 576, 3 Halesowen 634, 4 Nuneaton 738, 5 Birmingham Rowheath 982, 6 Gloucester 1184, 7 Chase Harriers 1219, 8 Bromsgrove & Redditch 1238, 9 Worcester 1304, 10 Solihull & Small Heath 1336, 11 Staffordshire University 1448, 12 Massey Ferguson 1475, 13 Dudley & Stourbridge 1607.

B team: 1 Leamington 420, 2 Halesowen 508, 3 Worcester 547, 4 Birmingham Rowheath 608, 5 Massey Ferguson 614, 6 Gloucester 629.

Final B team positions: 1 Leamington 1594, 2 Halesowen 1769, 3 Worcester 2479, 4 Gloucester 2673.

AAA Under-20 Indoor Championships

Ryan Preddy ended 18 months in the wilderness with an impressive comeback in the AAA Under-20 Indoor Championships at Birmingham.

The Gloucester AC sprinter, who celebrates his 19th birthday on Thursday, put behind him the recurrence of a shin injury that involved extensive surgery to win his 400 metres semi-final in an impressive 48.48 seconds.

That will sound a wake-up call to all his rivals who might have thought that Preddy had disappeared from the sport for good.It was, after all, his first serious race since finishing fourth in the World Youth Games 400 metres in the summer of 2001.

But with coach David Farrow's encouragement, the former English Schools champion has fought his way back and as long as there are no repercussions from his weekend's work, then brighter times will hopefully lie ahead for this immensely talented athlete.

"It was a thrilling run for Ryan and we were both delighted with his time," said Farrow. "He had already won his heat in the morning and he was feeling very nervous before the semi-final in the evening. It was his first big race since the Worlds and there was a top quality field. But he coped with it and ran extremely well. We decided not to contest the final the next day because of his legs. We are still monitoring things day by day and didn't want to overdo it."

At this stage of the year, such caution is understandable and the main target for Preddy will be to continue training to prepare himself for the summer campaign.

Similarly, training partner Richard Davenport's sights are firmly set on the summer.The 17-year-old from Littledean came second in his semi-final in 48.80 and, like Preddy, decided to give the final a miss."Richard realises he has not been training to the level of intensity which he accepts he should have been and he decided to give the final a miss," added Farrow.

There were no such problems for Gloucester AC's Alex Felce in the Under-17s 1,500m, which was a straight race.

Felce stormed into the lead from the gun and set a blistering pace, which only Blackburn's Matthew Wood could handle. Wood eventually edged by in the closing stages to win in a championship best time of 3.59.7 with Felce runner-up in a new personal best of 4.00.81 - four seconds better than he has ever run before, indoors or out. "It was a terrific run by Alex coming in the middle of the cross-country season," said Farrow.

Midlands Cross-Country Championships

Sarah Hopkinson and Kate Goodhead were the city club's only representatives at the Midlands Cross-Country Championships held over a gruelling and hilly course at Alton Towers.

Hopkinson finished sixth in the Under-13 girls race, having been in third place before the hills took their toll, and Goodhead took fifth place in the Under-20s ladies race.

Celtic Challenge

Peter Kellie represented Wales in the Celtic Challenge in Northern Ireland.

This was a four-way match between Wales, Scotland, Eire and Northern Ireland, with each country featuring a team of four athletes. Eire dominated the event, filling four of the first five places. Kellie was the one who split them up, finishing fourth overall. Having missed several weeks due to injury, Kellie is looking to sharpen up for the inter-counties race in Nottingham shortly. The event is also the qualifier and selection race for the World Junior Championships.

Birmingham League – Nuneaton

Gloucester Athletic Club maintained their position in the top half of the table following the third Division 2 Birmingham Cross-Country League fixture at an icy cold Nuneaton on Saturday. With neither of the Kellie brothers available and Richard Taylor on holiday, the team finished tenth on the day and dropped from fifth to sixth overall of the thirteen teams in the division.

The relatively flat course was made very tricky by the frozen conditions – the smooth parts were icy and the uneven sections frozen solid, making the going quite dangerous. Five runners dropped out after nasty falls, one requiring the first aid vehicle to pick him up on the course. The entire Gloucester AC contingent got round, but Mo Hill turned his ankle on the knobbly surface and aggravated his Achilles, probably ruling him out for the final race.

Also suffering, albeit in a different way, were Ian Summers and Andy McKenzie who found the freezing cold a bit of a shock, both only having returned from vacation in Florida the day before.

Angus Wells made light of the conditions, improving by nearly twenty places to take 98th position, his first time scoring for the A team.

The overall race result saw Leamington maintain their consistent form, but a win on the day for Trentham has lifted them to third place behind Halesowen in second, pushing Nuneaton down to fourth. With only 16 points covering second to fourth, and only the top three going up to division 1, the last race over the hilly Malvern course on March 1st is going to be very exciting. Birmingham Rowheath climbed above Gloucester into fifth, and Gloucester’s chances of promotion are now effectively over.

The B team retain their hold on fourth place, and a good result in the last race could see them rise to third ahead of Worcester.

Division 2: 28 Bill Griffiths 32.20; 38 Mo Hill, 32.39; 56 Lloyd Pritchard, 33.48; 63 Jeremy Mower, 34.12; 88 Peter Lloyd, 35.27; 98 Angus Wells, 36.03; 108 Ian Summers, 36.45; 112 Keith Short, 36.59; 113 Dave Gresswell, 37.03; 132 Neil Scowby, 39.04; 143 John McLean, 40.22; 145 Humphrey Phillips, 41.03; 155 Dick Poole, 45.52; 156 Mike Storey, 46.13; 162 Andy McKenzie, 49.03.

Team: 1 Trentham 113, 2 Leamington 114, 3 Nuneaton 163, 4 Halesowen 178, 5 Birmingham Rowheath 232, 6 Solihull & Small Heath 237, 7 Chase Harriers 274, 8 Worcester 336, 9 Massey Ferguson 345, 10 Gloucester 371, 11 Bromsgrove & Redditch 381, 12 Staffordshire University 441, 13 Dudley & Stourbridge 473.

After 3 races: 1 Leamington 351, 2 Halesowen 474, 3 Trentham 476, 4 Nuneaton 490, 5 Birmingham Rowheath 762, 6 Gloucester 850, 7 Solihull & Small Heath 870, 8 Chase Harriers 913, 9 Worcester 1014, 10 Bromsgrove & Redditch 1018, 11 Massey Ferguson 1132, 12 Staffordshire University 1168, 13 Dudley & Stourbridge 1228.

B team: 4 Gloucester 748.

After 3 races: 1 Leamington 1174, 2 Halesowen 1261, 3 Worcester 1932, 4 Gloucester 2044.

Gloucestershire County Cross Country Championships

Senior ladies: 8 Catherine O’Carroll 20.24

U20 ladies: 1 Kate Goodhead 18.34

U15 girls: 8 Katie Davenport 11.32

U13 girls: 1 Sarah Hopkinson 9.42

Senior men: 3 Simon Kellie 28.12, 8 Bill Griffiths 28.43 (1st V45), 14 Jeremy Mower 30.37, 26 Dave Spackman 33.28 (1st V55),29 Gerry McGarr 33.59

U20 men: 1 Alex Felce 26.59

U17 men: 3 Phil Hanson 17.57, 8 Richard Davenport 18.43

U13 boys: 1 Richard Farrow

U11 boys: 11 Michael Greene 3.50

Gasparilla Distance Classic, Tampa, Florida

A three-week holiday in Florida over Christmas and New Year gave three Gloucester AC members the opportunity to run in the Gasparilla Distance Classic race in Tampa, and experience a taste of a big race done American style. A busy weekend gave runners the choice of either a 5k or 15k on Saturday January 4th, and a full marathon on the Sunday. With the 15k starting at 7am, it was decided to tackle the 5k at a more comfortable 9.30am. 3,788 completed the 15k, then Ian Summers, Andy McKenzie and Chris Spiers lined up with the rest of the field on the 5k start outside the Tampa Convention Centre for an out and back course along the Tampa Bay shoreline.

A total of 4,307 runners completed the course, and Ian Summers was first non-American home in 38th place overall in a time of 18.19. This placed him fifth out of 290 in the men’s 35-39 year-old masters category, and in the prizes. The race literature stated that category prizes would be posted to the winners, so it remains to be seen what Summers has actually won. Andy McKenzie came home 457th overall in 24.40, and 32nd out of 237 in the men’s 40-44 category. McKenzie has been suffering from a chest infection since early December, preventing him training for several weeks, but this had cleared up enough to allow him to run on the day without any major problem. Chris Spiers was running in his first race of any kind, only having started running in the middle of 2002. He was looking to run at about 8 minute mile pace, and was more or less on target, finishing 757th in 26.16 and 64th in the men’s 40-44 category. The Americans are more relaxed regarding age for participation in races, and Spiers was beaten on the line by an 8-year-old!

There were 1010 finishers in the marathon.

McKenzie said “It’s unusual to be part of such a large field for a 5k! They were using the Championchip electronic timing system, so all our times are from the actual start line. The atmosphere was great – the organisation was on a level with the Great North Run or equivalent over here – there was an exhibition in the Convention Centre similar to the London Marathon, and you got free food and drink after the race. With the five-hour time difference, we actually started at the same time as the senior mens county cross-country championship race got under way back here in Gloucester. A bit of a contrast – warm Florida sunshine versus a frozen Plock Court! The standard of running was interesting – the 5k was won in a time of 15.32, and most of the leaders were in their late teens and early twenties. They run competitively at college and university, but after this there is not the competitive club structure that there is back in the UK to allow them to develop further. Many in the field were obviously just jogging or walking, and the race was like one big party, with loads of support, live bands along the route and a carnival atmosphere.”