England teams selected for August competitions

With the summer season heating up, England Athletics is pleased to announce the England teams selected to take part in the Masters 5km match vs Wales, the Antrim Coast Elite Mile & Half Marathon, and the Adidas Home Nations 5k in August.

England Masters team announced for 5k match vs Wales

England Athletics and the England Masters Athletics Association are delighted to announce the England Masters team to compete against Wales Masters at the Mid Cheshire 5k in August.

The 59-member team sees the very best in masters’ talent competing against a strong Welsh line-up in 10-year age categories with six team members in each category and four to score in the team match.

Amongst those selected is Ian Lawton (club: Mersey Tri) who ran 14:41 over the same course in April and Basildon's Rachel Wiseman who set a 5km best of 16:16 in May. In the F75 category Caroline Lavis (Yate) adds lots of England experience and with 17:59 clocking at last year's race Sara Avery (Cheshire Dragons) is a top performer in the F55 category. In the M55 and M65 categories Neil Danby (Holland Sports AC) and Nick Holliday (Cheltenham & County) will be hard to beat with recent best times of 16:29 and 18:34 respectively.

England Athletics’ National Endurance Manager (Off Track), Tom Craggs, said:

“We had over 200 exceptional athletes meet the selection standards and put themselves forward for the selection meeting. Congratulations to all the selected athletes and their coaches. Thank you to the England Masters Athletics Association, Welsh Athletics, and the team at Mid Cheshire 5km for making this match a reality.”

• View the full Masters 5k team (PDF 80kB)

England Athletics select 10-strong team for Antrim Coast Elite Mile and Half Marathon

England Athletics is delighted to announce a strong team of 10 athletes to compete at the Antrim Coast Elite Mile and the Antrim Coast Half Marathon between 25-27 August. The races provide a great opportunity for the half marathon athletes to compete in a World Athletics Elite label race against some of the best athletes in the world and in an international team competition. The athletes in the elite mile will also go head-to-head against very strong competition from Europe and Africa.

The mile team includes two-time gold medallist at the Euro Cross Sarah McDonald (pictured, Birchfield) who gains selection after an excellent season which included 4:05.59 over 1500m at the Paavo Nurvi Games. McDonald is joined by Kate Axford (Belgrave) who achieves her second international vest after her winning debut for England at the Loughborough International in May.

The male representatives in the mile are Michael Watson (Sunderland Harriers & AC) who ran 3:41.06 in 2022 and finished 9th at the recent British Championships. Blake Moore is selected after picking up a bronze medal over 1500m at the British Indoor Champs and setting a big 3000m PB this season.

The half marathon team also includes a mix of experience and athletes on their debut. Annabel Gummow (Herts Phoenix) represented Great Britain at the World XC as a junior and is selected after fine form which saw her set PBs of 32:47 and 73:74 over 10km and half, respectively. Verity Hopkins (Tonbridge) makes her England debut after winning the Cambridge Half and setting a PB of 73:35 at the Berlin Half this season. Camilla McKnespiey (Leeds City) completes the team and makes her debut after a fine season which saw her set a half marathon PB of 73:03 at Wilmslow.

Ollie Lockley (Leeds City) brings plenty of experience to the men's team having represented Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Lockley is selected after winning Reading Half in 64:35 in April. Joining Lockley are two more debutants - Jonathan Collier and Nick Bowker. Collier (Harrow) set a big PB at the Barcelona Half in February running 64:37. Nick Bowker (Clapham Chasers) joined Verity Hopkins in winning Cambridge Half in 65:11 and set a marathon PB of 2:16:18 in London in April.

Mile Team

• Sarah McDonald (Birchfield, Mark Coogan)
• Kate Axford (Belgrave, Charlie Dickinson)
• Michael Wilson (Sunderland Harriers & AC, Geoff Wightman)
• Blake Moore (Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow)

Half Marathon Team

• Annabel Gummow (Herts Phoenix, Andrew Hobdell)
• Verity Hopkins (Tonbridge, Rochard Owen)
• Camilla McKnespiey (Leeds City, Joe Townsend)
• Ollie Lockley (Leeds City, Dave Lockley)
• Jonathan Collier (Harrow)
• Nick Bowker (Clapham Chasers, Phil Kissi)

England Athletics Announce Team for Adidas Home Nations 5k

The 2023 Adidas Home Nations 5k sees a team of three female athletes and four male athletes compete against other Home Nations International teams as well as other invited athletes representing clubs and corporate teams. 

Ellie Wallace (pictured, North Somerset) is selected after defending her England 5km title at the Mid Cheshire 5k in April running 15:39. Jack Gray (Cambridge & Coleridge) also gains selection after his victory at the England champs and represented Great Britain at the European 10000m Cup in May where he finished 12th.

Holly Dixon (Cambridge Harriers) set a big 5000m PB running 16:03 at Comeback 5000m and followed this up with a PB of 33:46 at Night of the 10000m PBs. Kate Maltby (Balck Combe) was 5th at the England 5km Championship in April running 16:03 and had a fine run at Trafford 10km in March clocking 33:33.

Tom Mortimer (featured image, Stroud) is selected after excellent form in 2023 running 28:17 at Vila de Laredo 10km and a superb 13:33 at the Lange Laufnacht 5000m in May. Cameron Allan (Houghton Harriers) is selected after running 13:50 over 5000m at the Portland Twilight meet and running 28:37 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Jack Goodwin (Bedford & County) completes the team after running 13:54 at Oordegem in May and running a strong 8:00.44 at the Watford BMC in July.

Team

• Ellie Wallace (North Somerset, Julian Emery)
• Holly Dixon (Cambridge Harriers) 
• Kate Maltby (Balck Combe, Christopher Frapwell)
• Jack Gray (Cambridge & Coleridge, Mark Vile) 
• Tom Mortimer (Stroud, Chris & Sonia McGeorge)
• Cameron Allan (Houghton Harriers)
• Jack Goodwin (Bedford & County, Simon Goodwin) 

Images of Tom Mortimer and Sarah McDonald by Mark Shearman.