To get into a situation where you’re competing in a track event at the UK Championships takes an extraordinary amount of talent and dedication to your craft. To be battling it out with a select group of athletes for the chance to call yourself the best in Britain is quite some achievement in itself. So much so that it’s a rarity for any athlete from a club like Bournemouth AC to reach that level.

That’s why, at the Novuna UK Athletics Championships, it was amazing to see two Bournemouth AC members in action. The event was filmed and shown on the BBC iPlayer and provided an opportunity to see Brooke Ironside competing in the 200 metres and Oliver James taking his place in the 3000 metre steeplechase.

Over the summer Brooke Ironside finished 7th in the 200m final at the World University Games in a time of 23.57 after winning her heat in 23.33 and going on to take 2nd place in her semi-final race.

She also finished 5th in the 200m final at the British Under 23 Championships in Cardiff in a time of 23.56. She won the BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) Indoor Championships as well after winning her heat and her semi-final race before going to record a 23.60 in the final. At the UK Indoor Championships in Birmingham she finished 4th in the final after winning her heat and her semi-final races.

It had already been quite a season for Brooke, who has a 200m PB of 23.11. She was hoping to add to her list of achievements by getting a good result at the UK Championships in Birmingham.

Ollie James had finished 4th in the 3000m steeplechase at the Welsh Senior and British Under 23 Championships in a time of 9:08.62. He also took home a silver medal at the BUCS Outdoor Championships, producing an absolutely incredible time of 8:57.76. That was an average pace of 4:48, even with all the barriers and water jumps to get over. That might just have been the best race of Ollie’s life so far.

It isn’t just the steeplechase that Ollie has been excelling in this season though. He’s been improving his times across the board, getting his 1500m time down to 3:48.27 and his 800m time down to 1:55.22. At a Podium 5k event in Leicester earlier in the year, he clocked his fastest ever 5k time as well, getting round in 14:40 which put his average pace at 4:40 per mile.

At the Novuna UK Athletics Championships, Brooke Ironside was put in quite a high standard heat, with Daryll Neita, Desiree Henry and Success Eduan all in the line up. With only two to qualify for the final, plus two fastest losers, it was tough ask for Brooke to do it.

It was Daryll Neita who got the win in a time of 22.74, with Success Eduan taking 2nd in 22.86. Desiree Henry also qualified for the final after finishing 3rd in 23.16. Brooke got over the line in 5th place in a time of 23.68, which sadly didn’t get her through to the final on this occasion.

Dina Asher-Smith went on to win the final in a tight finish, with Amy Hunt also being given the same time of 22.14. Daryll Neita took 3rd in 22.30 with Success Eduan coming 4th in 22.53.

In the 3000m steeplechase race, Ollie James was up against Phil Norman, the man who outkicked Abdi in the Bristol Track Club 5k earlier in the year. Southampton man Sam Costley was also in the line up.

Getting round in a time of 9.11.49, Ollie hadn’t quite managed to pull of a performance like he did at the BUCS Championships. It was still his third fastest time to date though and put him in 7th place with an average pace of 4:56 per mile.

Phil Norman got the win in a time of 8:40.47, with Zak Seddon of Bracknell taking 2nd in 8:40.69. Sam Costley finished 5th in 9:02.92. Although it wasn’t quite the run Ollie had hoped for, it was still a great experience for him to be competing at that sort of level against the very best in the country.

The weekend after the UK Championships, Brooke Ironside went on to compete at the Sestriere International in Italy. The Sestiere resort is over 2,000 metres above sea level which makes it optimal conditions for fast times and breaking records.

Brooke produced an outstanding time of 23.22 there which put her in third place. She also clocked a time of 11:51 in her 100m heat before going on to finish 7th in the final.

With Brooke and Ollie both still being in the Under 23 category, they have plenty of scope to progress more and get faster and with the trajectory they’re on, it certainly looks like that’s what’s going to happen. It will be really exciting to see where they’re respective journeys can take them and if they keep working hard, there’s no reason why they can’t reach the very top of their disciplines.