Weekend round-up 15th/16th June 2013

Last weekend began as usual with the 5km Southend Parkrun Saturday morning with a total of 134 runners taking part on this occasion - 20 of those running the event for the first time! The runners faced incredibly tough blustery conditions in Gunners Park but this didn't stop a fantastic 37 personal bests being set.

The top three male finishers were:

1st: 14:57 Adam Hickey (Southend AC)
2nd: 17:50 Ian Anthony (Havering Mayesbrook AC)
3rd: 18:56 David Walpole (Unattached)

The top three female finishers were:

1st: 24:08 Nicki Benham (Rochford Running Club)
2nd: 24:23 Michelle Staines (Unattached)
3rd: 25:04 Rachael Thornton (Unattached)

A huge well done to all that took part on Saturday, latest parkrun results can be viewed here

There was also some fantastic performances from local athletes taking part in the England Athletics U23 & U20 Championships & European Trials held at a blustery Bedford International Stadium over the weekend. These included Hayley McLean (Chelmsford AC) winning the U20 National 400m Hurdle title in 58.70s and a bronze medal for Gemma Kersey (Basildon AC) in the U23 1500m in 4:26.5. Other performances included Sophie Riches (Chelmsford AC) 6th in U20 1500m in 4:30.78, Alice Perkins (Basildon AC) 5th in U20 3000m in a PB of 9:49.39. In the U20 High Jump, Chelmsford AC athlete Poppy Lake came agonisingly close to a national bronze medal with a fantastic jump of 1m74, earning her a joint 4th place finish just 4cm shy of her current PB.

Full results from the England Athletics U23 & U20 Championships can be viewed Here

Congratulations to everyone who got out and ran last weekend, wherever you were!

The RunSouthend team