Reading AC Athlete Wins National Cross Country Championship

Congratulations to Jess Gibbon who was crowned senior women’s National cross country champion for a second time this past weekend with a ruthless display.

The victory mirrored her win from 2022 when the nationals was last held at the Parliament Hill venue.

Jess has enjoyed a very solid winter season, representing GB and England, along with a BB&O championship win as well as Hampshire and Oxfordshire League victories for the club, however this race just highlighted what an immensely talented athlete she is.

The Parliament Hill venue is regarded by most at the home of cross country, a true test of physical and mental ability with its punishing hills and always muddy terrain and Saturday was no different. For Jess however she almost made it look easy as she virtually had the race won after 5 minutes, after ascending the opening hill, she pushed into the lead and from there she just continued to push away and won with a huge 41 second margin to claim the senior women’s title once more and cement herself as one of the club’s best ever athlete over cross country.

Pleasingly Anna Godfrey, Abi Farnworth and Shirley-Ann Dix were also on hand to ensure the ladies fielded a team as they placed 29th. Anna enjoyed a very solid outing herself in a field of 830 finishers, she battled through the tough conditions to take 209th. It is also so good to see Abi back running regularly and she can be very happy with her efforts around the 8km course to finish 383rd whilst Shirley-ann closed out the scoring quartet when she crossed the line in 492nd.

It was very pleasing to see Isabelle Craven and Alyssa Wilson line up for the under 13 girls and the experience they will have gained from their race will hold them in great stead going forward. Isabelle placed well with a pleasing effort as she claimed 160th position, whilst Alyssa closed out her race in 233rd, both girls doing very well over one of the hardest courses in the country.

Disappointedly we did not field any athletes in any of the other age groups. With only 6 female athletes in action across 5 age groups, it is disappointing to say the least, particularly for such a huge and iconic race - the pinnacle of the season almost. The potential is without doubt there at the club to field athletes and teams in all age groups and to do very well even at this level, as club/team competition is such an important part and definitely played a part of our senior athletes who raced this weekend - none more so than Jess, who always was out racing for the club as a youngster and through to the senior age group, as part of a team and helped gain the experience she was able to draw on this weekend towards her emphatic victory.

April to July Track Closure for Resurfacing

It’s now confirmed that the Palmer Park track is expected to close from 14 April for two to three months for resurfacing. Unfortunately, this is a process that is carried out in warmer and drier conditions meaning it was not done during the winter.

Athletes with coaches should check with them what alternative training plans they have for that time and those that attend Friday sessions will have training out in the park while the track is closed.

When we return the track should be looking great, with the seats in the stand also being cleaned and fixed.

England Call Up to Two Reading AC Athletes

Congratulations to Reading ACs Sammy Ball and Will Alexander who have been selected to represent England at the forthcoming Swedish combined events championships in Stockholm on 15 and 16 February.

In the presence of their coach, Mike Dyer, Sammy and Will competed with their Reading AC colleagues Hal Rust D’Eye and Maddy Vietz at the England Athletics Combined Events Championships in Sheffield on 18th and 19th January.

In the senior men’s competition Sammy achieved second place and silver medal with a club record score of 5,707 points, a score that leaves him sixteenth on the UK all-time list for the indoor heptathlon.

In the U20 men’s competition, Will achieved third place and a bronze medal scoring a personal best of 4,894 points. Hal Rust D’Eye, also in the U20 men’s category finished in fifth place with a score of 4,586 points.

Meanwhile in the U20 women’s competition, Maddy Vietz, in her first year as an U20 athlete, finished in thirteenth place in a field of twenty-four scoring 2,971 points.

Well done to all athletes and their coach.

European Gold and Silver Medals for Reading AC Athletes

The weekend saw some excellent performances by Reading AC athletes Jess Gibbon and Mia Waldman who competed at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Türkiye on 8 December 2024.

Mia, coached by Mark Booth, was competing for the first time in a Great Britain and Northern Ireland vest and had a strong start and she then maintained a gritty pace throught the race. She finished in sixth position in a time of 21 mins 38 secs, 22 seconds behind the champion, Herne Hill’s Phoebe Anderson. With the next Briton in 17th place, it meant the the British team also secured the team gold medal.

Jess finished the longer course race in 12th position and was the second Briton home in a time of 26 mins and 21 secs. With the British runners packing the top twenty, it meant a silver medal for the British team.

Well done to both athletes and their coaching teams.

Club Vests Donation Appeal

We are currently having some difficulties with our vest supplier and seeking some short-term help of donations from club members so we can restock our shelves.

We are particularly looking for vests of size 32 inches and below.

Please give to Dawn on the desk on Tuesdays or on other days to Sarah Ball, Charlotte Webb, Julie Rayfield or any club official.

We are currently working with a new supplier and will hopefully have some news on the new vest shortly.

Changes to Club Records Recording

The Club’s Council has decided to amend the way some club records are recorded.

The decision means that other than for senior records, athletes can only claim a club record for a performance in their own age category. This means, for example an U17 athlete achieving a club record in their own age category would not also get a record in the U20 category if their performance was better than the U20 record. The same would be true for a veteran athlete who’s performance surpassed a record in a lower age category.

The exception to this rule is senior club records. Any performance by an age group athlete that surpasses a senior record will continue to be recorded as senior record as well.

Notable performances by age group athletes that surpass the record of a higher age group (lower for veterans) will nowbe recorded in the ‘NotablePerformances’ section of the website.

Reading AC Athletes Recognised in Awards Ceremony

Reading ACs athletes were recognised at the annual awards ceremony held in early October 2024. This year’s winners were:

Noah Mazieres U13 Boys' Athlete of the Year
Keita Mbiine U13 Boys' Improver of the Year
Tanishi Banerjee U13 Girls' Athlete of the Year
Valentina Artuso Sartureli U13 Girls' Improver of the Year
Oscar Chan U15 Boys' Athlete of the Year
Josh Wiseman U15 Boys' Improver of the Year
Serena Deol U15 Girls' Athlete of the Year
Soreya Mills U15 Girls' Improver of the Year
Maddy Vietz U17 Ladies' Athlete of the Year
Sienna Keyte U17 Ladies' Improver of the Year
Soham Das U17 Men's Athlete of the Year
Rhys McCormac U17 Men's Improver of the Year
Zoe Rennie U20 Ladies' Athlete of the Year
Charlotte Bigmore U20 Ladies' Improver of the Year
Kahlon Nneke U20 Men's Athlete of the Year
Will Alexander U20 Men's Improver of the Year
Tony McCreery Veteran Athlete of the Year
Dawn Kinton Volunteer of the Year
Derrick Fisher Coach of the Year
Fabian Mazieres Official of the Year
Jaxon Kennedy Junior Top Points Scorer of the Year
Molly Barnes Senior Points Scorer
Dillon Donegan Perserverence Award
Tobi Ayorinde Sprinter of the Year
Georgina Langdon Track Athlete of the Year
Finley Hanham Field Athlete of the Year
Neil Walker Off-Track Athlete of the Year
Patricia Armah Female Athlete of the Year
Sammy Ball Male Athlete of the Year
Bisan Musa Performance of the Year

Award winners received a certificate and two trophies, one of which is returned at the end of next season.

Well done also to all athletes nominated for an award. Nominated athletes received a medal and a certificatethat noted the reason for their nomination.

Track Fees Increasing from 1 April 2024

From 1 April the track fees will increase to £3.00 per session.

Track fees for the PB Level 9 award winners will increase to £1.50.

Bursary award winners will continue to benefit from waived track fees.

We have not increased the track fees for several years and need to ensure the club’s finances are viable.

Any athlete living with hardship and wishing to explore options can, in confidence, approach the Membership Secretary to discuss the matter further.

A Great Week of Throws Records

Several Reading AC club records were broken at a number of meetings over the past week.

GB women’s hammer thrower Charlotte Payne extended her club record in the senoir women’s hammer throw by 92 cm to 72.51m and possible world chanpionships selection at a National Athletics League meeting at Eton on 11 June. Charlotte went on to win the national U23 title at Chelmsford on 18 June with a throw of 71.16m.

Also at the national championships in Chemsford both the U20 men’s javelin throw and U20 men’s hammer throw records were beaten.

Hugo Domingos threw the javelin 60.85m to edge past the previous record, set in 1991, by 7cm

Harry Ricketts thre the hammer 65.65m beating the previous record, set in 1992, by 43cm.

Meanwhile at the Souther Vets meeting at Abingdon on 15 June, Tony McCreery beat his own hammer throw record by 85cm to reach 21.88m.

Well done to all athletes.

UK Record and World Lead for Reading AC U20 Decathlete

Reading ACs Sammy Ball, coached by Mike Dyer, Kev Cranmer, Rafer Joseph and Tom Dobbing set a new British record and 2023 world leading score in the U20 Decathlon in Manchester on the weekend of 27 & 28 May 2023. Setting three personal bests during the competition Sammy led from the start and it became clear before the final 1,500m event that Sammy had the British record (7,691 points set by David Guest in 2010) and the world leading score for 2023 (7,843 set by a German decathlete) firmly in his sights.

Sammy’s achievement means he has automatic selection for the U20 European Championships in Jerusalem, Israel in August.

Sammy’s overall score was 7,870 points and the breakdown of his individual performances were:

100m	10.86 secs
Long jump	7.02m
Shot put	15.77m	PB
High jump	2.03m	PB
400m	48.10 secs	PB
110m hurdles	14.50 secs
Discus	39.59m
Pole vault	4.40m
Javelin	46.17m
1,500m	4:27.99 mins

Sammy said, “I’ve been working hard over the winter to get my body balanced better and have spent the last few months improving my speed and the technical elements of the ten events. I was targetting getting the qualification standard of 7.250 points for the European championships and keeping injury free in the process.

“By the end of day one it was clear that the British record was achievable and by the time I’d finished the pole vault I sensed the world lead for the year of 7,843 points was in range but we were moved to the javelin so quickly I couldn’t do the calculations.

“By the time we got to the final event, 1,500m, we had worked out that I needed 4:32 minutes to get the world leading score and I knew this was posible. I set my own pace in the 1,500m and was very happy to see the clock at the end showing I had achieved the target by four seconds.

“Thank you to all my coaches, my sponsors EGK athletes foundation and SportsAid and also thank you to my physios Gordon at The Bosworth Clinic and Dan at GoPerform.

“I’m really proud to be able to go on and represent my country at the European U20 champs in August”

Below is a link to the video of his performance on Sammy’s YouTube channel