September 2024: Performance round up
Now the 2024 track and field season has drawn to a close, let’s look back on all the athletics and running action from September. The Paralympic Games in Paris concluded the 2024 track and field season in style, and England athletes have seen success on the roads and in the mountains and the delayed National Cross Championships kick started the cross country season!
Glorious Games for English athletes
Earlier in the month we saw the finale of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games with medals galore for ParalympicsGB. Hannah Cockroft (Paul Moseley, Leeds) kicked off September in style by claiming gold in the women’s T34 100m final. Compatriot Kare Adenegan (Job King, Coventry) followed her across the line to take silver. The pair repeated the one-two finish in the T34 800m final.
The standout performance of the Games came from Dan Pembroke (John Trower, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) who smashed the men’s F13 javelin world record by over three metres to defend his crown from Tokyo 2020. Another thrower shining in Paris was Anna Nicholson (Richard Kaufman, Gateshead Harriers), who we caught up with prior to her competition. She threw nearly as far as her lifetime best in difficult wet conditions to claim the bronze medal in the women’s F35 shot put.
Paralympic debutants impressed over 100m on the track. Marcus Perrineau-Daley (Jenny Archer, Weir Archer Academy) got off to a flying start in the men’s T52 100m to secure a silver medal. In a dramatic women’s T63 100m final, Didi Okoh (Joe McDonnell, Chelmsford) recorded a new personal best of 14.59s to claim the bronze medal on her GB debut.
Following Zac Shaw’s (Leon Baptiste, Cleethorpes) upgrade to a bronze medal in the T12 100m he joined Jonnie Peacock (Dan Pfaff, Charnwood), Ali Smith (Benke Blomkvist, Guildford & Godalming) and Sammi Kinghorn (Rodger Harkins, Red Star) in the universal 4x100m relay team. This race lit up the Stade de France on the penultimate night of action as the British quartet stormed to second place with a new European record of 46.01s.
Kick starting the cross country season at the National Cross
Usually, the National Cross Country Championships takes place in the middle of winter in February, but due to the heavy rainfall we experienced earlier this year, the race was moved to the unusual slot of September. That meant for the first and probably only time ever it wasn’t snow, mud and ice runners were worried about, it was the heat.
Young talent rising in the mountains
In pursuit of the Edinburgh Trophy as well as individual medals, a strong England team took on the British and Irish Junior Mountain Running Championships in County Wicklow, Ireland. The race saw strong performances all round as the team claimed eight individual medals, topped the team podium in three out of four events and retained the Edinburgh trophy for best overall team performance.
A team of three men and three women took on the challenge against the world’s best in the Nasego World Cup in Italy. Sara Willhoit (Mercia Fell Runners) had a great run in the vertical kilometre and finished strongly reaching theac top in eighth. Antonia Fan (Ambleside AC), representing England for the second time this season, had a fantastic run to finish 11th. In the men’s race, European uphill champion Joe Steward (Salford Harriers) finished sixth in both the vertical kilometre and the classic up and down race. These results led to the team finishing second in the Three Nations team competition.
England athletes taking on the Copenhagen Half Marathon
On Sunday 15 September, a mixture of seasoned internationals and debutants travelled to Denmark to compete in the Copenhagen Half Marathon. The good conditions and super fast course helped many of the team to achieve a new season's best or personal best.
Upcoming teams
We are pleased to announce two teams for upcoming races in October; firstly a team for Trofeo Vanoni Mountain Relay Race and secondly, an U23 team for Corsa dei Castelli.