Hastings AC, HY Runners and Hastings Runners speed to super times

At the Sussex County Championships in Crawley HAC won nine medals. First gold for the club was won by Rae Le Fay in a phenomenal finish in the U17 girls 1500m, her first race in this age category, coming through at 4.44.54 giving her a selection time for English schools and a PB.

It was hard to tell who won the U20 100m as it was so close, but Delicia Pascall was delighted with a silver medal (13.00).

Club legend Steve Baldock took bronze in the senior men's 800m (2.09.10.). The minithon was fun for the juniors and Lucienne Simkiss-Day was 1st (22.40) and 2nd was Olivia Henham 22.59. Lucienne was 3rd in the high jump and Olivia 3rd in the long jump. Amy Hunneman had a PB in the long jump.

Future of Hastings athletics in good hands (and feet).

On day two there was gold for Martyn Reynolds (51.86), 1st in the SM 400m. Jordan Pola was dead heat 3rd in the SM 100m, winning bronze. There was bronze for Jack Madden in the men's 1500m (4.23.54), silver for Oscar Tomlinson in the U20 100m hurdles and bronze in the triple Jump SM (10.92), and bronze in the pole vault SW for Charlotte Wynne-Pennels (2.40).

Hastings five miler's big return - in pictures.

In Hastings Grace Baker was first women in the Hastings five-miler, ninth overall, breaking the course record by 20 seconds (28.29), with HAC runner Michael Maxwell 10 seconds ahead of her in eighth. At the Out of The Blue Battle 5k/10k the beginners and improvers group entered their first event together, a 10k. Laura Gill ran her first 10k and came in second (50:02). Her daughter Ivy was sixth in the children's run.

At the first Sussex U13 track and field league match, Lily Clements was first in the 75m, Lucine Simkiss-Day was second in the long jump and joint first in the 150m, Olivia Henham joint second in the 75m. PBs included Amy Hunneman in the long jump. At the first Youth Development League fixture in Dartford, a favourite of the kids, great training and teamwork shone through. In the 75m and 150mm there was first for Lily Clements, then first for Lucienne Simkiss-Day in the 800m, second for Olivia Henham. There was a win and big PB in the javelin for Dewi Edwards (15.08).

HY RUNNERS

HY Runners kicked off their week of racing at Ashburnham, taking part in the Out of the Blue 10K, 5K and children's races.

The children's races kicked off the evening with Aiden Larkin taking first place for HY in the single lap race, with the results as follows: Aiden Larkin 2:55, Oscar Ramsden 3:05, Joel Stripp 3:07, Michael Mansell 3:16, Huey Ramsden 3:42, Toby Bennett 3:32, Oscar Lawson 3:36, Sophia Tarrant 3:39, Phoebe Sims 4:17.

Course is no obstacle to HY Runners.

Florence Tewkesbury, Sophia Collins and Olivia Collins dominated the field in the two-lap race and took the top three spots in 5:37, 5:48 and 5:59 respectively. Megan Wadbrook completed the race in 6:57 and Joshua Bennet in 7:08.

Next to race were members in the 5k and 10k races. Tristan Barnes 23:52, Lisa Buchanan 29:44, Sophie Sims 30:26, Steve Cornford 30.44, Paul Matthews 41:09 and Dylan Matthews 1:11:40 all took part in the 5K distance with Steve Cornford taking first place in his age category.

In the 10K Jonathan Hatch claimed overall second place in 42:46 whilst Emily Sims was the first lady home in 49:13. Other HY members results: Steven Booth 50:42, Katy Matthews 51:47, Jason Wright 53:51, John Waterhouse 58:12 and Jenna Harmer 1:08:53.

Waterhouse commented on the "positive atmosphere and support around the course which seems to be, at least in part, as a result of inclusivity of the event, enabling families to race, unites runners across the age categories whilst, of course, raising money and awareness for the charities."

Penny Braker took on the multi terrain 50k Ultra Run to the Sea. Penny completed the challenging route from Horsham to Brighton in 5hr 51min. She said she was "beyond elated" with her performance and had raised £382 for Grassroutes, a suicide prevention charity.

In Essex, Barry Buchanan and Dean Constable were doing battle with the Nuclear Rush 12k. Barry completed the course in 1:10:01 earning fourth place, while Dean finished in fourteenth place in 1:25:03.

HY were out in force for the Hastings Runners 5 mile race. The fast, flat course offered the perfect opportunity for athletes to shine.

Ross Skelton led the way for the club claiming second overall with David Ervinethird. Rachael Mulvey was the second lady home, while Sophie McGoldrick took the top spot for her age category. The club claimed first prize in both the men's and women's teams.

Results: Ross Skelton 26:07, David Ervine 26:54, Will Carey 28:18, Carl Adams 29:17, Rachael Mulvey 29:41, Terry Puxty 30:45, Leo Cacciatore 30:48, Shannon Hopkins-Parry 32:40, Gavin Oakley 33:04, Jake Coleman 33:30, Sophie McGoldrick 33:59, John Badrock 34:25, Chris Castleman 34:44, Joe Moore 35:14, Benji Symes 35:19, Fiona Norman-Brown 35:22, Ivy Buckland 36:47, Matthew Isden 36:56, Becky Mabon 38:04, Andrew Batsford 38:14, David Clarke 38:51, Deb Read 39:19, Paul Rackstraw 39:40, Amy Moore 40:37, Stewart Ide 40:46, Sonnii Pine 41:42, Fallon Lewis 42:04, Esther Grimes 42:37. Becky Mabon said: "I'm really pleased with my race."

HASTINGS RUNNERS

Some of Hastings Runners’ finest were in race action. Multi award winning Kevin Blowers achieved his goal and smashed the “good for age” time for the London Marathon, by running a massive Marathon personal best of 3:30:08 in Milton Keynes.

Darren Barzee ran an amazing time too, clocking a personal best of 3:23. An hour in the first aid tent post race showed just how much he pushed himself to cross the finish line. Simon Linklater managed to knock 64 minutes off my personal best marathon time, crossing the finish line in MK Dons Stadium in 3:40:00.

While Kevin plans his trip to the capital in 2023, several Hastings Runners members were heading back from the capital having competed in the Vitality 10K. There were PBs for Nicola Steed (43:59), Lucia Smitalova (51:05) and Rachel Inns (52:12). Sharon Wadham (57:07) narrowly beat hubby Paul (57:29) and Linda Beddis crossed the line in 1:10:55.

Andy Knight continued his good form with a time of 1:19:55 in the Haywards Heath 10 Miler. Trevor Briggs completed his first ever ultra race in the North Downs Ridge, with a chip time of 5:45 for a 31-mile course. If you want to join a friendly, encouraging local running club, then check out the Hastings Runners website at https://www.hastingsrunners.co.uk