There were further licensed open meetings either side of the Bank Holiday weekend in which M&M athletes competed.
At Dagenham on the 23rd August the clubs 800m runners were out in force. Pick of the times was the 2:18.98 pb for Josephine Bassett in the under 15 girls race. In the same age group there was also a big new pb for Abigail Royden of 2:27.33 and a seasons best of 2:41.47 for Lily Crossley. Also in action in the under 13 girls races were Elizabeth Fry (2:42.14), Iris Crossley (2:43.05) and Rose Crossley (2:44.41). Billie Rouse was just outside her pb in the under 17 girls age group with a 2:21.06 clocking.
Sadly, the wind was over the legal limit for some of the 100m races, Rebeccah Akinsanya’s eye catching 13.06 and 13.07, being two of the affected races. Jake Foster was luckier with the wind running a big new legal pb of 12.78 in the under 15 boys races, while dad John was just outside his best with a windy 13.33. Jake was also in pb form in the 300m with a new best of 45.21, where the stand out time from an M&M perspective was the 40.35 seasons best from V45 Mark Rothery. Mark’s daughter Katie was also on form recording a new pb of 46.81 alongside Amy Jukes’ 47.07 pb.
At Lee Valley on the 29th August in the British Milers Club open meeting, Charlotte Young recorded a swift 2:19.99, while in the under boys age category, there was a new pb of 2:28.01 by Theo Ronchetti.
Meanwhile at Chelmsford in the SEAA Covid Games, Andre Wright ran a very fast, albeit wind assisted time of 10.67 in the senior men’s 100m, while Harry Osborne was once again under 11 seconds, with a 10.99 legal clocking in the under 20 men’s race. In the ladies races Abi Walters went sub 13 for the first time legally with a time of 12.93, while the wind was just over the limit for Lucy Hope’s 12.92 and Charlotte de la Porte Godden’s 12.94. Also out of luck with the wind were Cameron Isaac (12.82) and Daniel Shoyoye (13.06). The strong winds made the 400m races even more difficult than usual, but there were some very encouraging results. Dylan Purton, in his first ever race over the distance, ran a 52.17 pb in his heat of the under 17 men’s race and then finished third in the final with another new pb of 51.86. Finn Rodgers equalled his pb of 54.29 in Dylan’s heat, while Maddy Sawyer, competing for M&M for the first time and also a debutante over 400m set a pb of 61.35 in her heat and a near identical time of 61.48 in the final.
M&M athletes also saw competitive action at Canterbury on the 29th August. Again the wind ruled out most of the sprint times from standing, but there were nevertheless some very promising performances from the younger age groups. In action over 100m were Jake Foster (12.83), Rebecca Akinsanya (13.29), Grace Akindeji, in her first ever Club race (14.40) and Jasmine Mark (14.21). In the 200m there were useful runs from Sammy Gosling (25.19), Mia Franklin (30.05), Lennon Franklin (30.90) and Annaleise Kerswill (31.48), meanwhile at 300m Amy Jukes was just outside her pb with 47.11, closely followed by Ruby Towler (50.68). In the 400m races there were a number of personal bests: Ben Lineker (58.37), Racheal Anderson (63.17) and Katie Stringer (72.62).
At 800m the star of the show again was Josephine Barrett, who shaved her pb again with a fine run in the under 15 girls category, clocking 2:17.68 to move her up to 12th in the current UK under 15 rankings and a new club age group record. There were plenty of other fine runs over 800m from Luke Stringer (2:06.15), Ethan Gear (2:08.06), Hayden Gear (2:12.45), Billie Rouse (2:21.64), Emma Ryan (2:23.76), Abigail Royden (2:28.37), Annabel Young (2:30.39), Macey Sawyer (2:33.79), Lily Crossley (2:40.16), Iris Crossley (2:42.76 pb) Rose Crossley (2:42.09 pb), Nia Thomas (2:56.83) and Ciara Harrop (3:06.94).
Completing the M&M contingent in action on the day was club coach John Foster, competing as a V50 and recording some excellent times in the 100/200 of 13.47 and 27.51.