News
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.
Prospect Park - 13th January 2024
Girls Race
Position Number Athlete Club Time
1 81 Emily Walmsley AFD 10:24
2 75 Evie Jones AFD 10:36
3 92 Eloise Wouters WSEH 10:48
4 82 Lara Cawley Basingstoke 10:50
5 94 Lydia Jones Portsmouth 10:50
6 96 Emmeline Fowler Portsmouth 11:00
7 73 Olivia Johnson Isle of Wight 11:07
8 90 Niaomi Hurford-Potter Winchester 11:12
9 98 Jacee Outen Portsmouth 11:17
10 74 Emily Battershall Basingstoke 11:26
11 85 Daisy Renard Basingstoke 11:33
12 67 Alice Ling Southampton 11:34
13 70 Mia Penfold Basingstoke 12:18
14 97 Emily Weeks Portsmouth 12:28
15 91 Issy Goulding Winchester 12:43
16 79 Nevaeh-Rae Harrison Reading 12:47
17 93 Lucie Anne Harker Reading 12:56
18 71 Bea Hinshelwood Fleet 12:57
19 80 Natasha Turay Reading 13:03
20 88 Holly Martin Winchester 13:12
21 99 Abigail Howbrook Southampton 13:15
22 65 Yana Mykytiuk Salisbury 13:49
23 89 Isabella Hurford-Potter Winchester 14:02
24 72 Chloe Millar-Craig Salisbury 14:11
25 83 Tabitha Meadows Fleet 14:30
26 76 Freya Little Salisbury 14:33
27 68 Emma Sharples Fleet 15:29
28 84 Hettie Hoskins Salisbury 15:48
29 77 Amelie Jackson Salisbury 16:16
30 78 Josie Jackson Salisbury 18:54
31 86 Rosie Habert Salisbury 19:13
32 69 Sophia Hall Cookham 20:03
Prospect Park - 13th January 2024
Boys Race
Position Number Athlete Club Time
1 1 Wilf May Reading 9:18
2 87 Robin Ashley Winchester 9:42
3 15 Zachary French Southampton 9:46
4 46 Zac Webber AFD 9:49
5 2 Isaac Ryder Reading 9:56
6 29 Leo Elkington Salisbury 10:04
7 27 Ashley Williams AFD 10:09
8 45 George Hunt AFD 10:11
9 35 Archie McGimpsey Salisbury 10:13
10 7 Oliver Isaia Winchester 10:13
11 31 Edward Davies Bournemouth 10:16
12 51 Joshua Williams AFD 10:20
13 24 Humphrey Habert Salisbury 10:21
14 52 Albert Smalley Maidenhead 10:27
15 20 Duncan McLean Havant 10:28
16 40 Spencer Gibson AFD 10:35
17 23 Finn Smith Portsmouth 10:39
18 4 Lucas Robinson Reading 10:43
19 18 Alfonso Browning-Sanchez Portsmouth 10:44
20 49 Paul Lucas AFD 10:50
21 28 Sebastian Stott-Fernandez AFD 10:55
22 6 Finnlay Annetts WSEH 10:57
23 36 Theo Foster Isle of Wight 11:05
24 30 Alby Meadows Fleet 11:06
25 12 George Kennison Southampton 11:07
26 44 Owen Figg AFD 11:11
27 47 Max Ferguson Poole Runners 11:12
28 34 Stanley Stuart Salisbury 11:13
29 5 Bobby Jones Reading 11:15
30 17 Matthias McCrabbe Maidenhead 11:16
31 37 Dhanish Umeshnair Salisbury 11:17
32 48 Jasper Higgins Poole Runners 11:24
33 41 Noah Duddy Fleet 11:24
34 14 Barney Clark Southampton 11:24
35 50 Oliver Millar-Craig Salisbury 11:25
36 13 Joseph Holland Southampton 11:37
37 38 Akinniran Akinola Reading 11:40
38 32 William Powell Basingstoke 11:41
39 22 Max Haynes Basingstoke 11:49
40 26 Jude Blackwell-Gregory Basingstoke 11:55
41 39 Wilbur Henton Salisbury 12:19
42 16 Noah McCrabbe Maidenhead 12:25
43 8 Thomas Fraser Winchester 12:37
44 21 Othello Forbes Reading 12:48
45 25 Edward Taylor Fleet 13:16
46 42 George Sutcliffe Salisbury 14:25
47 43 Thomas Callett Stubington Green 14:43
We are aware that there has been much speculation and rumours as to why one of our coaches P H is not training athletes at the moment. Members of our Club have been approached by other clubs too.
We are sure you will appreciate that any discussion regarding this matter is confidential. It will be hugely disrespectful to share confidential issues relating to any of our members and that applies to PH also.
Thank you.
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.
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
The 2023 track and field meetings have now been posted onto this website. Venues for some of the league and championship fixtures are still to be confirmed.
Navigating to the fixtures list when visiting this website is via the ‘Competition’ tab on the homepage. As well as a general ‘upcoming fixtures’ options, website users can also drill in further by selecting one of the other options such as ‘Leagues’ or ‘Cross Country and Road Running’ .
Reading AC Athletes excelled at the British Masters Track and Field Indoor Championships in Sheffield at the weekend.
Karen Burles was victorious in the W45 200m, with her winning time of 26.63 secs being 2 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
M80 Ron Davies had a busy weekend with gold medals in the 60m hurdles (14.37 secs), shot (8.20m), and high jump (1.05m), and a silver in the long jump (2.82m). He won his 200m race (35.86 secs) to place the 3rd best overall M80 sprinter over 2 races and was 6th in the 60m (10.52 secs).
Keeping up the good work was W60 Julie Wilson winning a bronze in the shot (8.62m).
Well done to you all!
Congratulations also to Reading ACs Kaya Slater on her silver medal in her first year as an U20 athlete at the Scottish athletics National Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
Kaya won her heat in 7.94 secs and ran 7.85 secs in the final.
Meanwhile in the UK National indoor Championships in Birmingham Lauren Church had a great run in the 1500m final yesterday.
Finishing in 6th place, Lauren further improved her PB to 4.21.66.
Well done to all athletes and their coaches.
Kaya with her silver medal
Follow the link below to read reports from the Hampshire League cross country event in Popham on 11 February 2023.
Girl's Report
Thank you to all the athletes that made the trip to Beckenham for the SEAA Championships. It turned out to be a pleasant day, with good running conditions and hard racing.
The top club result on the day came from U17W Holly Haldane, who got into the small chasing pack and stuck to her task to be rewarded by a 6th place finish.
In the U15G race, Eve James got into a good position from the start and ran strongly to finish in 58th, while Georgie Langdon had to make her way through the field having been boxed in off the start. Georgie made it through to finish in 68th and just 15s behind Eve. Only another 34s behind Georgie was Alex Marden in 91st, completing the Reading trio all in the top half of the field. Unfortunately, one more runner was required for a team.
Boy’s Report by Keith Whyte
Reading's lads competed against tough opposition in the South of England Cross Country Championships at Beckenham Place Park in SE London on Saturday. Our U15 team finished 23rd, and our two runners in each of the U13 and U17 races also did well. The undulating parkland courses may have been an improvement on those used last year at the same venue, with fewer stony paths, but for many this location, in contrast to Parliament Hill, still fails to provide the real test that a regional championships should offer, especially in relatively dry conditions such as Saturday's.
In the 4.5km U15 race Maddox Gillas made a brave effort to get among the leaders, but eventually he had to settle for 21st place in a time of 14.32. Second home for Reading was Elliott Hily, who ran strongly throughout to finish 100th in 15.44, and Noah Tyers and Ollie Shears both battled well for 141st and 161st positions in times of 16.30 and 17.00 respectively. The Reading team was weakened by James Titmas's withdrawal through illness, and in the end their total of 423 gave them 23rd place. Apart from the senior women this was Reading's only team result of the day.
As expected, Sam Weeks was our leading runner in the 3km U13 race, with another fine effort for 19th place in 10.33, and Harrison Hunter continued recent good form to finish 64th in 11.14. In the 6km U17 race team captain Ed Lewis was always a little way ahead of Adam Methven, and managed to maintain his advantage as both produced strong finishes, with Ed in 71st place and Adam in 78th, as they recorded times of 20.23 and 20.33.
Well done to all who took part, and to the parents who once again gave valuable support and assistance.
Women’s Report by Debbie Taylor.
The Southern Cross Country Champs this year was held at Beckenham Place Park on Saturday 28th January.
The race was over a 2 lap course of 8k with over 400 runners competing. Weather conditions were good and fairly dry underfoot, although the athletes had to navigate different terrains with some stony parts through the wooded area which made it more difficult with spikes.
Reading AC had a successful outing with Laurie Marlow finishing in 35th. She raced the race of her life and stormed through the course looking strong every step of the way. Next up with another strong run was Lydia Blythe in 109th position. Not too far behind in 137th place was vet 50 Helen Antrum whose strength in training is showing during racing.
Next was a battle throughout between Lucy Daniells and Shirley Ann Dix who both finished together on the line with the same time but positioned 174th and 175th. Shirley was given the 4th scoring place but she couldn’t have done it without working hard with team mate Lucy.
Then Claire Mills ran her strongest race of the season in 276th followed closely behind by Millie Dainton in 287th.
Kathryn Tolson had an incident near the race start when an athlete fell badly in front of her. She showed true sportsmanship when she had to go and find help from a Marshall and about 10 minutes later continued with her race, having to pip off runners in front, finishing in an impressive 344th place. This showed true grit.
The team finished in a very strong 14th place with 47 complete teams and should all be very proud of their excellent running.
Our Under 20 team unfortunately only had one athlete (Lara Tolson) competing over the 6k course, which was a big shame. Lara ran her best race and ran strongly to finish in 21st place. She should be very proud of her performance.
Overall it was a very successful day for the athletes.
Sammy Ball won gold at the recent England Athletics U20 Indoor Heptathlon at Sheffield. Sammy led the competition from start to finish in his second and final year in the U20 age group. Of particular note and satisfaction for Sammy was the 4.30m he attained in the Pole Vault which, if repeated outdoors would lead to a new club record. Sammy’s final score of 5,434 points was 646 points clear of the silver medalist and 168 points down on his own English record set twelve months earlier. After the competition Sammy rationalised the lower than some were expecting score by explaining that his sprint, his hurdles and his 1,000m were all completed at a more relaxed pace due to his ongoing rehabilitation work which he didn’t want to set back through an injury.
Also compting in Sheffield were Joe Frew in his first outing as a senior athlete at a national level competition and father and daughter duo Kevin and Hollie Cranmer.
Joe, now also a Loughborough Student, chose to compte in his Reading AC shirt and managed a personal best 3.20 m in the pole vault and a one second personal best in the 1,000m of 2:51.81 mins. Hollie, also in her first year as a senior athlete dipped upder 11 seconds for the first time in her 60m hurdles and also improved her shot put personal best by a massive 124 cms to achieve 8.16m. Kevin, who was silver medalist in the World v40 decathlon in 2022, was competing in the senior men’s age group meaning the hurdles are higher and the shot is heavier than his V40 age group, was close to his personal best in six of the seven events and was solid throughout, His 9.84 seconds in the 60m hurdles was his best performance for three years.
Well done to all athletes, all coached by Mike Dyer who was also in Sheffield for the weekend. Also in Shieffield as field referee for the weekend was Reading ACs Julie Dew and a big thank you to her and all officials for the time they give up to support the sport.
