There were some excellent performances at the Bedfordshire County Cross-Country Championships at Southill Park on 7th January, and seven of the new county champions are Bedford and County athletes.  Congratulations to:

• Ed Blythman (Senior Men)
• Lauren Nichols (Senior Women)
• Jake Reynolds (U20 Men)
• Archie Henderson (U15 Boys)
• Eleanor Smith (U15 Girls)
• Megan Barnicoat (U13 Girls)
• Rosie Cusack (U11 Girls)

And there were many other excellent individual and team performances.  See below for the full results:

There were two notable performances in Sheffield over the weekend.  Stephen Simmons finished 5th in England Indoor Senior Men's Heptathlon with 5069 points.  The breakdown of Stephen's events was as follows:

• 60m: 7.05 (PB)
• Long Jump: 6.80m
• Shot: 12.46m
• High Jump: 1.84M (= PB)
• 60m Hurdles: 8.43s
• Polve Vault: 4.10M
• 1000m: 3:04.56

And at the British Milers Club Indoor Grand Prix Jack Goodwin finished eighth in a high quality field in the 3000m in an indoor PB of 8:02.85.  This gives Jack the qualifying standard for the UK Indoor Championships.

Well done to both athletes!

Congratulations to Noah Campion, who has been selected to run for the England Junior Men's team at the 61st Juan Muguerza Elgoibar Cross Country in Elgoibar, Spain at the weekend. This is Noah's second international vest of the season, after finishing second in the Cross Internacional de Itálica in Seville.  Good luck for the race Noah!

The Bedfordshire Cross Country Championships take place on SUNDAY 7^th January 2024 at Southill Park, near Biggleswade and are combined with Bucks as usual.

The closing date for entries is Friday 29th December.

For more information and to enter, see http://bedfordshireaaa.org.uk/Beds%20AAA%20Website/bedsaaa/XC/index.html

Congratulations to Jim McMahon (M60) who won the Pete Dancer Memorial Cup on Sunday 17th December at the Bedford and County Christmas Handicap.  Jim ran an impressive 19:33 over the 2.97 mile course.

The fastest man was Ed Blythman in 13:55 and the fastest lady was Rebecca Murray in 16:35.  Ed's time is 4th fastest ever run over the course (the course record is 13:46 set  by Matt Bergin in 2019).  Rebecca’s 16:35 is equal 5th fastest by a woman. Her best on this course is the 3rd fastest with 16:12.  The Ladies' course record is 15:52, set by Sharon Morris in 2002.

For those interested in Christmas Handicap history, the winner, Jim McMahon, set the fastest lap on three occasions -  in 1990, 1993, & 1996. His PB for this course is 14:37, although his 14:09 on the old course is the equivalent of a sub 14:20 on the current course.

The race raised over £500 for the Pancreatic Cancer UK charity in memory of Pete Dancer.  Thank you to everybody who donated, well done to everybody who ran, and big thanks to Tony Forrest and all the organisers and volunteers who made it happen.

Congratulations to Jasmine Wilkins, who set a new Senior Women's and Under 20 Women's 60m Club Indoor Best of 7.65 seconds on 6th December at Cardiff!