It was a busy weekend in Birmingham at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships! Two days of an action-packed schedule saw new British champions crowned, and spots secured on the GB and NI team for the World Indoors in Glasgow later this month. Let’s see how the English athletes got on. 

England Athletics is working with the Birmingham Talent Hub to deliver our first annual Regional Speed Development Weekend which will take place on 23-24 March 2024 at the Alexander Stadium. This 2-day workshop is aimed at development coaches and athletes aged 13+ (pre-Youth Talent Programme) and will be a combination of practical workshops, theoretical classes and opportunities for athletes to take part in YTP training sessions.

The final round of the EnergyVision CrossCup in Diest provided the perfect conclusion to the series of European cross country events. On an unseasonably mild day in Belgium, fifteen athletes across both the junior and senior aged groups toed the line flying the flag for England. 

Last year, Chris Hollinshead attended some COBS Tuesday night coaching sessions held at the Aston University campus, which were structured as alternating blocks of speed and hills. As Chris is an England Athletics coach based in the West Midlands and coach of the Aston Gazelles Running Club at the university, these visits were greatly beneficial for COBS.

Running has the power to change lives whether physically, mentally, or emotionally and for Mike Barnes from Lions Running Community in Chorley, having a running target and then joining in his local RunTogether group helped him through a really tough time. Channelling his energy into running, Mike has achieved some pretty incredible things including raising over £25,000 for charity!

The Athlete Panel is an athlete representative panel which will provide feedback, advice and support England Athletics and the Board with key areas impacting domestic competition and participation in the sport. The Athlete Panel - currently 11 athletes - aims to represent ‘the voice’ of competitive athletes taking part in all disciplines and event groups at every level of competition. The panel members also work closely with the UKA Athletes’ Commission, who represent the voice of elite athletes competing at the highest level in sport.

Athletes barely had time to draw breath after the record-breaking opening day, before the action sparked into life on the Sunday of the age group champs. From the very first gun in the qualifying rounds of the 200m and first throw of the shot final – the two early morning events – one thing was clear; it would take something very special indeed to shine in Sheffield. Saturday’s action had included a British record along with an English record, and not to be outdone, Sunday went even better and produced two national best performances, this time in the 200 and 60H, along with two seconds on the all-time list, in the triple jump and 800, along with the third furthest ever, also in the triple jump. The future is in safe hands.

The opening day of the hugely popular England U20, U17 and U15 Indoor Championships which boasts well over 1000 entries, is always all about explosive power, with the 60m more often than not topping the bill. And while there were plenty of stunning performances to keep the large crowd more than impressed such as the Championships Best Performance in the U15 boys triple jump and an English record in the U15 boys high jump, it was indeed the short sprints that provided nail biting, showcase-worthy excitement, not to mention a British age group best.

At the second England Athletics championships of the season, it’s the turn of the under-20s, under-17s and under-15s to shine. Several previous champions and medallists from last year’s Commonwealth Youth Games and European Junior Championships will be in action at the EIS in Sheffield this weekend.

Last weekend a team of thirteen athletes travelled to Belgium to compete at the IFAM Gent Indoor Meeting. For eleven of these athletes, it was their senior international debut and an excellent opportunity to kickstart their indoor season.