For the third week in succession Katie Snowden stepped up another level and again upped her game as she this time placed third in the women’s 1500m on an international stage at the Folksam Grand Prix meeting in Gothenburg on Saturday evening.
At an event featuring a number of highly ranked British athletes among others, Snowden was one of the very few not racing in sponsors branded kit as she was sporting the red and black club colours of Herne Hill Harriers. Her time of 4:09.63 cements her position in the current UK top ten (now seventh ranked) and she was the only athlete in a field of nine in her race to record a season’s best time as the wind affected performances on the night.
This represents further progress in her excellent comeback, finishing behind two very in form athletes, fellow Brit Melissa Courtney and top Australian Jessica Hull and a good last race before next weekend’s British Athletics Championships in Manchester.
Last Wednesday saw a rare track meeting with good weather and some very good running in Wimbledon Park at the Hercules 3000m races. Herne Hill athletes were winners of two of the eight races, with Nick Dewar taking the win in an exciting penultimate race in 8:25.5, with Lewis Laylee 8:33.9 placing tenth in the same high quality race.
The other Harriers race winner by the width of his vest in the first race on the programme was Jonny Whittall, who stopped the clock at 9:35.5 with a rapid final kilometre to get the nod in the closest finish of the night.
In the other races Andrew Warburton ran 8:40.2 ahead of Brandon Dewar 8:54.9, after Jack Brotchie had only just missed his sub 9 minutes target with 9:00.7. Jeff Cunningham clocked 9:33.6, Eriç Dol 9:43.7 and Under 20 female athlete Phoebe Anderson ran 9:45.2, a PB by fifteen seconds as seven of the nine athletes from the club ran PB times.
Mike Cummings was the sole senior Herne Hill athlete at the BMC Gold Standard races at a very windy and wet Lee Valley on Saturday clocking 4:04.79 for 1500m. Earlier in the day under15 Zac Crowther ran a good PB 800m in 2:03.35.
At the start of proceedings at Lee Valley there were three specially staged under 13 800m races to provide competition for an age group that has only just been allowed back into track and field following the Covid 19 restrictions. In the first of these Herne Hill’s Lucy Wright shared the outside lane around the first bend with Great Britain senior international Jess Judd who had very kindly devoted her time to act as a “celebrity” pacemaker for the two under 13 girls races. Although Wright missed out on a PB with her 2:39.62 in seventh place she is unlikely to forget such a unique experience and features in the second photo above.
Three Harriers youngsters featured in the under 13 boys race with Alexander Wilson finishing fifth in 2:31.32, Fred Hake sixth in 2:31,50 and Warren Wilson seventh in 2:36.97 as they took the opportunity to compete.
Also experiencing awful rain and wind during the week was Saskia Millard in her Trafford BMC Gold Standard 1500m race in Manchester on Tuesday evening and her time of 4:24.67 was worth a lot quicker in better conditions.
Mike Cummings had also preceded his 1500m at Lee Valley with an outing at 800m on Thursday at an open meeting in Harrow where he ran the quickest time by a club member so far in this truncated season of 2:00.8 with two more races at this distance planned in the coming week, both at Tooting Bec on Wednesday and Saturday as the track racing options now open up, albeit still in the limited formats under government guidelines,
Geoff Jerwood
Photo of Katie courtesy of James Rhodes
Photo of Jess Judd pacing HHH Lucy Wright taken by Geoff Jerwood