Bedford and County Athletics Club won five medals at the latest edition of the South of England Athletics Championships as part of the return of competitive action at Bedford International Athletics Stadium.
Archie Henderson, Ed Blythman and Oliver Weddell won gold on a successful afternoon of action at Barkers Lane, with Ellie Harper picking up a silver and Henry Pyecroft winning a bronze medal.
Athletics action has returned to the Bedford International Athletics Stadium after a four-year hiatus following a decision by England Athletics to suspend action as the track, “did not meet minimum UKA TrackMark standards”.
With a new track installed, Bedford and County made full use of home advantage, with their athletes winning medals in middle and long distance events.
Personal and season bests
Ed Blythman led the way for Bedford and County, storming home to a gold medal in the senior 5,000 metres.
Blythman was the only man under 15 minutes, as his time of 14:55.90 was a full 31 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Belgrave Harriers’ Findlay Dyer in second, with Nathan Jones of Vale of Aylesbury picking up bronze.
In the Under-18 3,000 metres final, Bedford’s Oliver Weddall picked up a season’s best time of 8:47.01 as he too comfortably saw off his opposition.
Weddall’s time was 22 seconds ahead of silver medallist, Louis Charlwood of London Heathside, while Irishman Sean Leahy came third for Croydon Harriers.
Archie Henderson completed the trio of gold medals with victory in the Under-18 2,000 metres as he clocked a personal best time of 6:12.77, fighting off Toby Pritchard and Sam Turner, who won silver and bronze respectively.
Another personal best performance from Ellie Harper also meant another step on to the podium for a Bedford athlete in the Under-18 Women’s 3,000 metre final, with Ellie clocking a time of 10:51.68 to secure silver.
In the Under-16 age group, Henry Pyecroft won a bronze medal in a competitive 1,500 metre steeplechase final; his time of 4:47.71 enough to hold off the challenge of Harlow’s Ben Tucker for a spot on the podium.
Young and old also in action
Elsewhere in the wide-ranging activities at Bedford and County, the fast-growing Masters events saw a British title for one athlete, while there was more action from the Eastern Youth Athletics League.
Oriana Johnson and Darren Kerr travelled to Oxford for the British Masters Throws Pentathlon Championships.
Oriana finished a highly respectable fifth place in her first ever Throws competition, but the Masters bragging rights belong to Kerr after he secured a British title.
His 16.20m throw left him nearly a metre ahead of rival, John Twiddle in the event to secure a gold and status as a national champion.
His final score of 3,445 points moves him to ninth on the UK all-time rankings and second on the Scottish all-time list.
In the Eastern Youth Athletics League (EYAL), Bedford remain sixth in the league, 36 points behind Shaftesbury in fifth and 8.5 points ahead of Basildon in seventh.
The younger athletes produced a whopping 33 personal bests across the athletics spectrum in the latest event in Chelmsford, with the next two meetings taking place at Biggleswade and Bedford.
Competitive athletics continue throughout the summer at Bedford International Athletics Stadium, with the Under-20 England Athletics Championships headlining the action, beginning on 3 July.
