Hedge Hog reports on our Central AC Members and Parents Facebook feed:

National 4x200m relay championships

The quartet of Sarah Pearson, Rowan Calveley, Emily Stanford and Emily Sorley won a hard fought silver medal in the National 4x200m Relay Championships at the Emirates Arena today in a time of 1:42.78s. Well Done!

National indoor combined event championships

Central had 5 athletes today competing at the Emirates in the National Indoor Combined Event Championships. Greta Shaw U14 Girls Pentathlon, Finlay Gallagher U14 Boys Pentathlon and Hugh Thomas U16 Boys Pentathlon were all competing in this combined event for the very first time. They were joined by Tom Chandler Senior Men and Ron Todd Masters 60 who were competing in the first day of the indoor Heptathlon.

Greta’s first event was the high jump, which she had never competed in before and she was clearly nervous not jumping on her first attempt but going for it on her second and clearing 1m04 to get points on the board. Next was the 60m Hurdles, another event she had not competed in previously but she ran fast between the hurdles and ran 12.54s. The third event was Long Jump where she had a previous PB of 3m55 – she jumped well and improved that mark to 3m59. The 4th event was shot put in which she had a 5m06 previous best which she smashed with her final throw getting 5m62. The final event was of course the 800m which, despite the long day of competing she still managed a sprint finish and was just outside her PB running 3:04.57 for a final total of 1272 points and 26th place – with another year in this age group she has shown great promise – Well Done Greta 

Finlay’s first event was the shot put where he had a previous best of 6m87 which he smashed throwing 7m52, the third best throw of the competition! The second event was the 60m Hurdles an event he had not done before – despite that he had the 10th best time finishing in 12.36s. The third was the high jump and despite never having competed in this event either, it certainly brought the biggest of smiles. First time clearances from 1m13 to 1m25 gave him confidence. It then took 3 attempts to clear 1m28 before he went on and had first time clearances at the next two heights finishing with an amazing 1m34 for 6th place in the High Jump. The fourth event was the long jump where he had a PB of 3m54 which he beat with his first jump which was his best of 3m85. Finlay gave it his all in the 800m finishing in a time of 2:49.23 finishing on a total of 1111 points for 7th place overall – Well done Finlay 

Hugh started with long jump and managed to leap to 4m43 a little under his previous best. The second event was the 2ft9” 60m hurdles and despite his size he was 12th quickest in 10.66s. Having never competed in High Jump before the plan was to start at 1m19 and ease himself in but Hugh decided he wanted to challenge himself starting at 1m28 which he cleared at his second attempt as he did at 1m31. It took 3 attempts to clear 1m34 and two to clear 1m37 before he finally got a first time clearance in at an amazing 1m40, a height he ultimately finished on – fantastic jumping! The fourth event was the 4kg shot put so this was the first time throwing this weight and he managed 6m15. Finally he had the 800m and a very tired young man managed to get himself around in 2:50.2s for a grand total of 1399 points and 14th place overall. Hugh also has another year in this age group – Well Done Hugh 

Ron and Tom’s first event in the Heptathlon was 60m sprint. Ron finished in 8.88s and Tom in 7.54s. Tom then moved to Long jump where his best was 6m78 whilst Ron was shot putting and threw an amazing 10m11. Tom then went to the Shot and also threw well achieving a best of 12m72. Ron’s next event, the pole vault, showed him make a first time clearance of 2m85 and second time clearance at 3m05 but 3m25 was too high today. Tom was high jumping and had first time clearances at 1m61 up to 1m70 but could not quite clear 1m73. Tom finished day 1 on 2656 points. Ron finished today with long jump and managed 4m13 giving him a day 1 total of 2385 points. Well done Ron and Tom 

Day 2 of the National Combined Event Indoor Championships and 3000m Masters Championships

Central had 6 more athletes complete pentathlons today; Olivia Denholm U16 girls, Elspeth Callan U16 Girls, Tessa Gray U16 Girls, Rachel Fullbrook U16 Girls, Hazel Prince U18 Women and Dara Clark U18 Women.

The U16’s started with High Jump – Elspeth came in with a PB of 1m24 and she had first time clearances from 1m17 up to and including her new PB height of 1m29 before bowing out at 1m32. Olivia Denholm went in with a PB of 1m31 – she started with a first-time clearance of 1m26 needed two goes for 1m29 before clearing her new PB height of 1m32 at her first attempt. Tessa started with a first-time clearance at 1m29 and 1m32 before two attempts needed for 1m35 bowing out attempting a height just below her PB. Rachel started at 1m32 and needed two attempts to get over but then first-time clearances at the next three heights meant she equalled her PB of 1m41.

The U18 Women began with Shot Put and Dara started very strong sending her 3k shot out to 9m72 for nearly a 1m PB. Hazel managed just a little behind her PB achieving 7m06. Their next event was the 60m Hurdles with both girls going over the U18 distance for the first time – Both did fantastic with Dara finishing in 10.11s and Hazel in 10.83s.

The U16 girls also had 60m Hurdles with Tessa the only one of them who had competed over the new age group previously. Despite two re-starts in her race she still managed to equal her previous PB of 10.27s. Rachel managed to finish in 10.40s; Elspeth in 11.13s and Olivia in 11.91s. Rachel went into the next event, long jump with a PB of 4m62 and beat this with all three jumps the best being 4m85. Tessa saved her best jump for last leaping to 4m69 just 8cms shy of her PB. Elspeth managed to increase her PB from 4m18 up to 4m34. Olivia went into the long jump with a previous best of 4m19 and also managed to achieve a new PB of 4m25.

The U18 women also had Long Jump next and Dara managed to jump to just below her previous PB achieving 4m98. Hazel however managed to add 29cms to hers achieving 4m53. The women then had the High Jump with Dara getting a second time clearance at her opening height of 1m45, first time at 1m48, second time at 1m51 before a first- time clearance at 1m54 she could not quite get 1m57 but was still 4th in the event. Hazel had first time clearances at 1m24 to 1m30, before needing three attempts at 1m33 and 1m36 which was a new PB but shocked herself with a first-time clearance at 1m39 before bowing out with a smile.

The U16s had shot put next but seemed a little distracted by a couple of Olympians and a world record holder. When it finally got going proper Rachel managed a new PB with the 3k shot of 6m36, Tessa a little below hers with 6m27, Olivia a fourth PB from 4 events achieving 5m53 and Elspeth a little below her best with 4m89. After a long day they of course finished with 800m – Elspeth ran well finishing in 2:50.70 for a grand total of 1959points and 22nd from the 31 entrants. Olivia smashed her previous PB knocking nearly 13seconds off it – an amazing achievement when you are just competing in one event – phenomenal at the end of a pentathlon, she finished in 2:43.92s so she finished with 1964points for 21st place – and she still has another year in this age group. Not to be out-done, Tessa also achieved an 800m PB at the end of the day knocking 3 seconds off her previous PB, with 2:40.57s and a total of 2453points and 10th place. Rachel was in the last race and ran hard to finish a little outside her PB in 2:29.45s for a grand total of 2675 points and 5th place overall (4th Scottish athlete).

The U18 women were last to go and also finished with 800m – Hazel managed to get around in 3:29.59 for 1982 points and 14th place. Dara was in the medal race which had some very quick athletes! Dara stuck to her guns and finished in 2:42.79 finishing with 2964 points and 7th place.

Tom Chandler had day 2 of his senior men heptathlon and started the day in 9th place – he started day 2 with 60m Hurdles which he flew through in 8.70s. He then went to the Pole Vault and cleared 4m61 and finished with a hard run 1000m which he finished in 2:39.68s and a total of 5139 points and 6th place overall.

We also had a Masters 40 athlete Mario Rui Menier Povoa competing in the 3000m who came third in a new PB time of 9:24.83s.

On the roads

Elsewhere on the roads, the Allan Scally relays took place in Glasgow, which is in a separate story.

The Tokyo Marathon took place on Sunday morning while most of us were asleep. Chris Watson ran a fast 2:54:46 at a very even pace, setting a 4-minute personal best.