Several athletes travelled to Norwich to compete in an afternoon of 1500’s, and one sprinter, unfortunately for those that made the journey to a very wet and windy Sports park PB’s were going to be hard to come by.

First up Emily McGill in driving rain. Emily took off with too much enthusiasm passing the first 400 in 69 seconds, which would have been a decent first lap of an 800. She ran a brave race to finish 4th in 5.56 just outside her PB, a time we are sure would be reduced by several seconds in better conditions and a slightly slower first lap.

Next up were four Harriers in the same race, for some it was the first time over that distance, 2nd year Under 13 Henry Rutland set off at a steady pace and seeing 1st year Under 13 Isla Widdowson just in front, gave Henry the push to sprint to the finish, pipping Isla on the line with a time of 5,37.4, Isla ran a well-paced race to finish 6th in 5.38.4, in her first 1500 for the club. 1st year U15 Maisy Wood having been suffering from a heavy cold, worked hard to finish 8 in 5.52.8, Emily Swan found the going tough with the high winds and heavy rain taking its toll, Emily finished in 6.01.9.

Up next was Paul Preston, having missed several weeks of key training he hadn’t had the best preparation but in his normal manner he set out to run a well paced race, finishing strongly Paul crossed the line in 2nd 5.02.80, Paul said afterwards he was happy with his performance.

The following race saw two Harriers, Harrison Leek who had made great advances in his PB for the 800 the previous week and Lyla Belshaw the clubs U13 record holder for the distance with 5.06.2, Harrison took a tip from Paul’s book and started out the steadier of the two club mates, entering the last 200 saw a mighty tussle between 4 athletes with Harrison leading the way to the finish line placing 2nd with 4.58.30 a massive 36s PB, Lyla holding her form to the line was pushed back into 5th. She waited apprehensively for her time as she wanted to break 5 mins, but sadly she missed out by 3/10th of a second finishing in 5.00.30, however, lowering her own club record still further.

Dan Widdowson was next on the track, the last time Dan had run the distance was in 1994 he set out at a good pace leading the pack by 5-10 metres through the bell, but unfortunately was passed by a fast finishing Wymondham runner, Dan was pleased with 2nd and 4.45.

Last up was Tom Palmer having just moved to Norwich to study at the UAE, the race set off at a very steady pace which didn’t lend well to achieving PB’s. The race finished at a pace which Tom, like all the club middle distance runners, having no track work since March, found he had lost the race fitness and crossed the line in 4.26.2. He was happy with the performance considering all the factors.

Earlier in the day, Hollie Martin Whymark raced 100m. The windy conditions making it very difficult for sprinting. Hollie finished in 14.0 (3.3).