A busy weekend to come of championship competitions: England Athletics U16 & U18 Combined Events, Senior Para Championships and National Relay Championships

The England Athletics Championship season will come to an end in Bedford and Birmingham this weekend in what for many is the top champs of the year.

The England Athletics U18 and U16 Combined Events always feature the best young athletes but what is really exciting is, these Championships always produce hidden gems. Previously unknown super exciting talent emerges, and everyone sits up and takes note. And it’s a similar story in the Senior Para Championships which is going from strength to strength with each passing year.

In Birmingham, clubs from across England will gather to compete for national relay titles, in the footsteps of the British medallists at the home of the European Championships.

Here’s some names to watch, but as you’ll discover, they’ll be plenty more making a name for themselves for the first time…

U18 Women's Heptathlon

Tia Garrard (Kingston and Poly) has a heptathlon score to her name this season which perhaps will give her a slight advantage, but it’ll be a slender one given the quality of the field. She has a very impressive set of results to call on including a 5.87 long jump along with a silver medal in the English Schools (with 5.81). But she’ll have to contend with Wales’s Tiana Odugbesan (Phillip Warwicker, Cardiff Archers) who has a PB of 4932. She was second last year and won the indoor title this year.

And then of course, there’s the winner of the indoor title a year earlier, Leila Newth (Dave Johnson, Ealing and Southall). The English Schools champion in the long jump with 5.93, and she also broke the British record for the triple jump in the Euro U18’s in Italy with 13.16 so it’ll be interesting to see how the throws fare for this record-breaking athlete.

Like Garrard, Rosie Lewis (Philip Budd, City of Portsmouth) has a heptathlon under her belt this season along with a solid set of results that includes a 1.70 in the high jump.

U16 Girls Heptathlon

Indoors Shindara Ayo-Adeyemo (Chelmsford) was second in the U15 age group while Sophie Horsfall-Samb (Craig Pounder, City of York) was the bronze medallist in the U17s. Now after the age group reshuffle, the two will meet in what promises to be an exciting competition. Throw in U15 fourth placer, Seren Rowe (Julia Machin, Brighton and Hove) into the mix, to name but one of the competitors, and this promises to be a wide open, anybody can win competition. Exactly what the weekend is all about!

U18 Men's Decathlon

Indoors, Caleb Green (Marie Burnett, Cheltenham & County) emerged with the England title and his outdoor form suggests he could add to that. He briefly held the GB record earlier in 2026 with 7041 points and will be solid favourite as a result.

Opponents should include Zac Richings (Brian Camp, Poole) who has been over 6000 points on a couple of occasions this summer and Edward Moore (Nancy Wort, Wirral) who is just a few points shy of that barrier.

U16 Boy's Octathlon

The age group changes meant Charlie Reilly (Brendan Reilly, City of Sheffield and Dearne) had to battle the U18 favourite Caleb Green indoors. But now, he’ll find himself head of the pack for this eight-eventer. He has a very impressive CV that includes a 3.80 pole vault, often a problem for athletes in this age group given it’s an event they’ve only just included in their programme. Of course, it won’t be all plain sailing as Mason Oxley (Alex Wilson, City of Sheffield and Dearne) is rapidly getting to grip with the event and can call on a shot in excess of 12 metres. Ben Jeffs (Crewe and Nantwich) has a good hurdling pedigree along with a very good long jump over six metres, which puts him in the mix.  And keep an eye on Hugo Williamson (Zac Harrop, City of York) who looks consistent over all eight events.

Senior Para Championships

Fresh from becoming Commonwealth long jump champion, Olivia Breen (City of Portsmouth, Aston Moore) will be heading to Bedford to contest in the same event.

It’ll be Macey Hand, T64 (Camilla Stewart, Wenlock Olympians) vs Hetty Bartlett, T38 (John Herbert, City of Norwich) over 100 and 200. Despite being in different categories, they both have very similar personal bests which will make for some cracking races. It also perfectly demonstrates the diversity of our sport. Bartlett competes in the W35 age category, while Hand is ranked No.1 Under 18!

Other names to keep an eye on include Euan Murray, T64 (Graham Mattacks, Team Bath)

Columba Blango, T20 (Chris Zah, Shaftesbury Barnet) who will be running the 400 metres. Blango has a 50.15 to his name this year and at his best is comfortably inside 48 seconds.

National Relay Championships - Birmingham

On Sunday, Alexander Stadium will host what is fast becoming a must-attend event for clubs. Re-introduced to the calendar in the past few years, the National Relay Championships has quickly established itself as an exciting competition.

Form is important, of course, but given the nature of a relay race, it’s all about what happens on the day in what has to be the perfect venue for a Championships like this given the drama and glory Great Britain experienced on this very track just a week earlier.

However, on Sunday look to clashes between Be Fit Track Academy v Thames Valley in the senior men’s 4x100. Quite possibly only a sub 40 will suffice while TVH’s women are also a name to watch in the seniors. Club form is everything so it’s no surprise to see Woodford Green with Essex Ladies well represented, as are Blackheath and Bromley.

Useful information

• Age group combined events and senior para results and timetable are available here.
• Relay results and the timetable are available here.
• Tickets can be bought here.
• The age group championships will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel.
• Photos from the combined events and para championships will be available from Pat Isaacs here.
• Photos from the National Relay Championships will be available from Sidelines Photography here.