Weekend Results
Solihull BMC Grand Prix
Solihull BMC and Phil Wicks was doing his first track race in a long time and with very few track sessions under his belt it was a bit of an unknown what would happen. Phil also raced on the Thursday evening in the run up to Solihull for his employers 'Legal & General' at the J.P Chase Corporate Challenge and won it for the 3rd time ('07 & '08 previously) "It was very hot and I tried to hold back a little bit to save my legs for Saturday night"
Phil Wicks then came 3rd on the Saturday night in Solihull in 14.21 after leading at the front for 8 laps. Former RunnersLife athlete Mark Draper won the race in 14.05.
Also at Solihull BMC was Rory Chesser, again in the 'A' 1500m Rory ran similar time to previous weeks of 3.42.20 for 4th place.
Heusden Track Meet
In Belgium racing over 5,000m was Ryan McLeod who was hoping to break his personal best having got into a very good race. Ryan was in the 'B' race but the fact the 'A' race was won in 12.59 tells the story of the quality racing that night. Ryan, who was sharing a room with Craig Mottram explains in his race report about not committing early on and just losing a bit of focus in the 3rd kilometre "As I reached 2k in around 5:30 I was feeling nice and relaxed following the athletes in front. I seemed to switch off a little in the 3rd km as I wanted to get to 3k feeling as relaxed as possible but by doing this I took my eyes off the clock and focused on running with the athletes around me. I reach 3k in 8:20/21- suddenly I was at 14:00 pace having dropped 5 seconds in the 3rd km. I realised I needed to push on and I began to follow an athlete who did the same but after a 100m of following him he stepped off the track! I wasn't sure if he was a pacemaker or just someone dropping out. But by doing that I was left exposed at the front. I got my head down and worked hard for 3 laps and put in what I think was a 2:45 km round through 4k 11:06 maybe. I didn't mind doing this as I'd done my share of sitting in during the early stages.
AAA 5k Championship (road)
Jonny Mellor and Simon Jones both took part in the event also incorperating the home countries international event. Held in Blackburn the out and back course was won in under 14minutes although the AAA Champion was Matt Barnes in 14.11 (unoffical) who was running for England on the day with RunnersLife athlete Jonny Mellor taking silver and the team title. Simon was further back in the 'peloton' and finished in 15th in a time of 14.36 (unoffical) although Simon was the happier of the two even though Jonny won the medals. Simon said "Jonny was coming back as I approached the turn and he was on his own running back into a head wind which did not look good! I am sure he would have broken 14 with better weather as it was a good course with a top field. I was happy with my run and was faster than I expected, I was also better placed to have a group to hide in on the way back!"
Lord Mayors 5k City Centre Classic
Also on the roads was Darren Deed, after placing in the top 3 over the last few years Darren won his first 'Lord Mayor's 5k City Centre Classic' title with a time of 14.50 just ahead of Craig Hopkins in 15.08.
1st - Darren Deed - 14.50
2nd - Craig Hopkins - 15.08
3rd - Neil Renault - 15.09
4th - Phil Hinch - 15.10
5th - Peter Bridger -15.18
RunnersLife Team
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