Three BAC athletes competed in the Great South Run in Portsmouth on Sunday 23 October – and all achieved PBs, such is the quality of BAC training! Congratulations to Tom Paskins, 120th in 1.00.50, Richard Brawn, 398th in 1.07.14 and Tony Hunt, 468th in 1.08.16.  A total field of 17666 completed this race.  Richard‘s BAC vest was seen on the TV coverage of the race on at least a couple of occasions.

On the continent, Pat Robbins was competing in the 24 Hour European Championships in Albi, France.  This event consists of a loop of 1,100 metres, each loop consisting of a lap of an athletics track followed by a circuit round the outside of the track, then back on to the track, etc.  The race commenced at 10 am on Saturday 22 October, and finished at 10 am on Sunday 23 October, with the competitors then placed in the order of the distance they had covered.  Last year, Pat was part of a GB team which won World and European Gold Medals at the World 24 Hour Championships, so may have been disappointed with his result at Albi,  where he finished 46th of 94 athletes, having completed 185 circuits of the loop, a distance of 204.915 km.  To put this into context, the event was won by fellow Brit Dan Lawson, whose distance was 261.843 km, a new record, consisting of 236 circuits.  The GB team consisting of Dan, Marco Consani and James Elson were the mens’ team Silver Medal winners.

In addition to the David Long‘s Philadelphia Half Marathon, reported on previously, David also competed in two further races, proudly wearing his BAC vest, whilst in the USA.  On 8 October, he ran in the Fast Cats Classic in Owensboro, Kentucky, an 8k race in which David finished 7th in 26.28.  David admits that he went off to fast and paid for this in the later stages, a mistake he did not repeat the following week when , on 15 October, he won the UE Invitational, in Evansville, Indiana, another 8k race which David completed in 25.23.  David says he is pleased with the way he ran, “keeping even pace throughout and burning them off at the end”.

Whilst on the international stage, although not strictly speaking athletics, it’s worth mentioning that Anya Kay has once again been selected to represent Great Britain in Bobsleigh, this time at a World Cup circuit competition in Canada – on Christmas Day!

Two of our athletes who constantly come to attention, and rightly so,  are Janet Dickinson and Danielle Broom.  Janet, you will recall, competed in a tetradecathlon, 14 disciplines over two days, in Cambridge in August.  It has now been confirmed that, in two of the disciplines, the 100m and Long Jump, Janet achieved no less than World Records in her W45 category.  To achieve this in isolation would be fantastic, but to do so in the middle of 12 other disciplines is just amazing!  Danielle‘s incredible season has been acknowledged by a nomination to take part in a UKA Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence.  This is a programme designed to meet the needs of young athletes aged 16 – 18 who have a realistic potential to achieve excellence and to perform at the highest level as their main career.  It is no accident that Danielle has been ‘spotted’ at top level as one of future athletic stars.  It is a result of hard work and dedication, coupled, of course, with a great deal of natural talent.  Well done to Janet and Danielle – we are extremely proud of you!

Alex Gould is yet another example of the improvement which comes from BAC training.  Alex won the Bournemouth ParkRun on 15 October in a time of 17.27.  Alex joined BAC relatively recently, and his ParkRun times have come down rapidly from 28.57 in the course of less than one year!