It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the death on Sunday of June Rush after a lengthy and grim struggle with cancer.

June was the Club’s General Secretary for very many years, and with her late husband , Mick, our pole vault coach, was ever-present at Sheerwater when the Club was making its way into the Leagues, and widening the scope of the Club’s activities.

June was always greeting and encouraging parents and bystanders to become involved in helping to run the Club, and her enthusiasm resulted in many “helpers” supporting all the Club’s activities.   She was also well-known to other Surrey Clubs, and could be seen chatting to all and sundry at any of the championship meetings, which often resulted in more help for Woking AC!

The current healthy financial position of the Club owes a great deal to the Rush family, and their colleagues at the time, in endless hard work in raising funds.  June was actually the Chairman of the renowned WACSA – Woking AC Supporters’ Club – where she was supported by, among others, Pat Moore, and Brian Hooper’s mother. 

Even after June had given up the secretaryship and Mick his coaching, they remained extremely interested, and always prepared to help, in everything the Club was doing.  They would turn their hand to anything.  June and Mick were the very people who made Woking AC such a friendly and successful Club, where so many very long-term friendships were formed.

Eventually some five years ago, June returned to her Welsh roots and she and Mick started on their new lives.  Tragically, in the subsequent few years, Mick has also succumbed to cancer and after that, June did not have very long without him before she, too became so unwell.

Their whole family were “died in the wool” Woking AC.  All three children competed for the Club, and Mandy even married a fellow Club member, Clive Hensby.  Simon and Anita competed for Woking AC for very many years.  In fact, I would think if we were really short of a second SW shot putter, Anita might well answer the call!!

It really is the passing of an era with today’s news, and I am sure the Club would join me in sending our deepest sympathy and kindest thoughts to all the family.  We were so lucky to have them in our midst.

Susan Deaves

President

Woking’s athletes were in action at the prestigious Surrey County Championships at Kingsmeadow in Kingston over the past weekend with a number of outstanding performances leading to a high number of medals and personal best performances and a British Age Group record.

The star of the weekend was undoubtedly Jack Dormer who was a double gold medal winner in a combination of events in which it has unlikely to have been achieved before. On the Saturday Jack was in action in the Under 15 boys Javelin where he threw his 2^nd best ever throw of 38.18 metres winning the gold medal by nearly 5 and a half metres before breezing through his 800 metres heat to comfortably qualify for the final the following day. In the final he produced a fabulous display of front running never being headed from gun to tape to win by just under 2 seconds in an outstanding time of 2 minutes 02.95 seconds which knocked an astonishing 8 seconds off his previous best time and rank him currently 7^th in the UK in his event, the time is likely to be good enough to qualify him for selection for the Surrey team at the English School Championships later in the season.

Another double medal winner was Mia Mosko in the under 13 girls age group. On the Saturday she worked herself through the heats and semi finals of the 100 metres in personal best times. She further improved this in the final to finish 3^rd in a new best time of 13.60 seconds to win the bronze medal, with the winner currently ranked number 1 in the UK. She then went onto win the long jump on the Sunday with a very good leap of 4.35 metres before narrowly missing out on a medal in the 200 metres finishing 4^th in a personal best time of 28.66 metres.

There was further success in the sprints with Tyler Panton, in his first year in the senior ranks, winning a county championship title for the fourth successive time in a  very competitive 100 metres. After comfortably winning his heat in 10.74 seconds he narrowly won the final in a very impressive time of 10.58 seconds, just 3 100^ths ahead of Plummer from Shafesbury Barnet who on paper had a quicker personal best time. In the longer sprints Thomas Leacock continued to show his fine form this season by winning a silver medal in 200 metres in a new personal best time of 22.22 seconds before picking up another silver medal in the 400 metres in a time of 50.53 seconds, after qualifying with a time of 49.86 seconds earlier in the day.

The British Age group record was set by Eleanor Gatrell in the senior women’s Shot Putt where she had a magnificent throw of over 12 metres to win the gold medal. On the previous day she had picked up a silver medal in the discus with a fine throw of 34.10 metres. This was also a new club record for the age group. There was also a silver medal won in the under 17 women discus with Alice Clark having a fine competition to pick up the runners up spot. Elsewhere in the field events Daniel Gilbert equalled his personal best in the under 17 men high jump with a fine leap of 1.70 metres to win a well deserved silver medal.

There was also a new club record set in the under 17 women 300 metre hurdles with Nerys Tullett who knocked nearly 2 seconds off her previous best time to record a very impressive time of 46.27 seconds, a time that ranks her in the top 15 in the UK.

There was a further medal in hurdles with Kaspars Kazemaks winning bronze in the senior men’s 110 metre hurdles in a time of 16.20 seconds.

There were further medals in the endurance events to back up Jack’s fine effort. Lola Roake missed out by the narrowest of margins in the under 15 girls 1500 metres. After leading from the start she was pipped right on the line by just 0.02 seconds to finish 2^nd in a time of 4 minutes 45.07 seconds, this after a significant period out with injury. In the same race Imogen Freeman finished 6^th in a new personal best of 4 minutes 54.03 seconds. In the senior men’s 800 metres Theo Cheshire judged his race to perfection to knock a second and a half off his previous best to win a dramatic bronze medal by just 0.04 seconds in a very good time of 1minute 54.66 seconds. Jacob Bowyer had a fine run in the under 15 boys 1500 metres. After comfortably qualifying from his heat he was just under a second behind the winner despite trying to fight his way back down the home straight he had to settle for silver in a time of 4 minutes 26.98 seconds, just half a second outside of his best time.

Woking’s senior athletes are in action in their first Southern League fixture this Saturday at Basingstoke.

Woking’s young athletes were back in action on the track and field in the traditional season opener at Bracknell in their Young Athletes Open meeting. There were many fine performances which shows great promise for the season ahead.

On a blustery day which made quick times difficult in endurance events and times in many of the sprint races over the legal wind limit personal bests were difficult to come by. However Woking picked up many medals on the day across all age groups and events.

2 athletes picked up three medals on the day with Mia Mosko winning gold medals in both the under 13 girls 75 metres, with a time of 10.25 seconds and long jump, with a leap of 4.35 metres and then finishing third equal in the 150 metres to pick up a bronze medal. The other athlete to pick up 3 medals was Sahil Vassanjee. He was equal first in the 100 metres with a time of 11.82, and was 3^rd in both the 200 metres, in a time of 24.96 seconds, and 3^rd in the long jump with a leap of 5.06metres. 

There were further medals in the sprints across all the other age groups. In the under 11 boys 75 metres Gwyllam Hughes finished a superb 2^nd in a time of 11.31 seconds in his first ever race on the track for the club. In the under 13 boys Zach Leacock picked up a bronze in the 150 metres after earlier finishing 4^th in the 75 metres. In the Under 17 men sprints Joseph Walters made a welcome return to fitness after over 3 years out with injuries to win a bronze medal in the 100 metres with a time of 11.45 seconds whilst in the 200 metres in the same age group Liam Trinidad ran a storming straight to win in 23.65 seconds. In the longer sprint Dylan Lewis finished 2^nd in a time of 54.47 seconds to win a silver medal. Meanwhile in the under 15 girls 75 metre hurdles Scarlett Brown finished 3^rd picking up a bronze medal.

In the endurance events there were a number of personal bests earnt and medals won. In the under 15 boys 800 metres Jack Dormer knocked nearly 3 seconds of his previous best to win in a time of 2 minutes 10.74 seconds whilst Sophie Price finished 2^nd in the under 15 girls 800 metres knocking nearly 5 and a half seconds off her previous best recoding a time of 2minute 22.86 seconds. Drew Greyling finished 3^rd in the under 17 mens equivalent. In the under 15 girls 1500 metres Imogen Freeman won a gold medal in a personal best time of 5 minutes 6.45 whilst Caden Rogers Everitt set a new personal best in the under 15 boys equivalent.

There were further medals in the jumps with Chloe Moore leaping to gold in the under 15 girls high jump with a new personal best leap of 1.49 metres with Daniel Gilbert making it a double high jump gold by winning the under 17 mens event with a leap of 1.67 metres in his first event for the club. Meanwhile Laura Kersley finished 3^rd in the Under 17 women’s long jump. There was a further medal in the throws with Jack Dormer winning his 2^nd gold of the day in the under 15 boys javelin with his 2^nd best ever throw of 37.76 metres.

Woking’s first league match is on the 16^th April in Oxford with the opening Wessex League fixture featuring under 11’s right up to under 17’s.

Many thanks to all of you who took the time to complete the Club survey. As a Club committee we have taken the time to thoroughly analyse the responses and feedback that was given.

Overall, the feedback received was very positive and that made for great reading. Specific feedback to individual coaches and different disciplines within the club has been fed back and gratefully received.

As a Club committee we will endeavour to ensure that the website is current and up to date with information on the specific leagues that we enter, photos and email addresses of Club officers, news articles. Coaches have been asked to include all athletes and/or athletes’ parents in the event specific WhatsApp groups.

Quotes for additional items of Club kit are currently in progress and we are looking into extra signage to promote the club in the grounds of the Sportsbox.

We are also discussing new ways in which successes, throughout the club, can be celebrated.

As a Club we always ask for volunteers to help on training nights or at home meetings and it probably seems quite daunting. It is however your help with making teas/coffees, assisting coaches by holding a tape measure/stopwatch or raking the sandpit that really make the difference to a training night. Or do you work in an industry that could offer its services for example photography, event management or print and design?

At the end of the day the more volunteers we have supporting the club the even more successful we can make it.

Giving a bit of your time would see far reaching benefits and be hugely appreciated.

Owen’s Service Arrangements

Nick, Owen’s son, has now let us have details of the service which is to be held in remembrance of dear Owen. 

This will take place on Wednesday, 9^th November, at Clandon Wood Natural Burial Ground, Epsom Road, West Clandon, GUILDFORD, GU4 7FN, from 12 to 3 o’clock.  This is where Barbara is buried.

It will be a non denominational service, and the reception will follow in the same place, the glass pavilion.  As there has been a direct cremation, the ashes may not be available on that day, but if not, Nick says he will inter them with Barbara at a later date.

No donations to specific charities are requested, but bearing in mind that Owen loved his feathered birds in later life, any donation to the RSPB in his memory, would be appreciated.

You can be assured that Woking AC will be making a donation.

Susan Deaves

President

Woking’s athletes were in action over the weekend at the Surrey County Relay Championship held at Carshalton.  They came away with 1 gold medal 1 silver and 2 bronze medals as well as 3 club records showing the great depth in talent at the club across the sprints in all the different age groups.

The highlight of the weekend came from the senior men’s 4×100 team where they broke the club record which had been held since 2001 with a time of 43.18, just 2 100^th’s inside the old club record. With some fantastic baton changes and great running the team of Kapars Kazemaks, Ian Horlock, Thomas Leacock and Tyler Panton enjoyed a very comfortable win bringing home the baton well clear of the opposition. Later in the day the Horlock and Kazemaks then teamed up with David Awde and Michael Omakobia in the 4×400 to break the Men 35+ club record by over 8 seconds recording a time of 3 minutes 32.79.

In the younger age groups the 4×100 under 13 girls team of Mia Mosko, Sara-Louise Fordjour, Madeline Spanton and Evie Wiltshire produced some terrific baton changing and great running to pick up a superb bronze medal in a time of 55.20 seconds.  The under 15 girl 4×300 team of Lola Roake, Sophie Price, Imogen Freeman and Alice Clark were just 4 tenths of a second outside the club record in finishing 6^th in a time of 3 minutes 06.44 seconds. The under 15 boys suffered heartbreak in the final of the 4×100 after earlier quallifying as the 2^nd fastest team and with a great chance of a gold medal. Unfortunately on the first changeover the baton fell out of the outgoing runners hand and despite picking it up and carrying on the chance of a medal had gone. In the heat the team of Sahil Vassanjee, Jack Harel, Dylan Lewis and Liam Trinidad recorded a time of 46.18 seconds which not only knocked over a second off the previous club record set in 2019 but also ranks them 10^th in the whole of the UK and the second fastest club team behind the eventual winners Hercules Wimbledon. A terrific achievement that they should be proud of.

The under 20 women were the final medal winners for Woking over the weekend. Due to injury and illness to other athletes two under 17 athletes moved up to the under 20 age group to win a superb bronze medal with the team of Esther Ibiama, Fara Jasani, Nerys Tullett and Laura Kersley displaying  some very good and safe changeovers to cross the line in 52.22 seconds.

Woking’s athletes are next back on action this weekend with the final Southern Athletic League match of the season being held at the Sportsbox in Woking with the re-arranged Wessex League Match in the Sunday in Swindon.

Well THAT was a great match (if a bit toasty!). Another win, 3 points ahead of Blackheath and Bromley. They were obviously somewhat put out, as evidenced by the desperate ‘scrabbling around’ to find extra points for them or less for us! If they had filled just 2-3 more of their 13!!! gaps they would have beaten us. But they didn’t so that’s why we won and they lost!

With 3 points in it EVERYBODY who turned up contributed towards this win. Top of the leader board however has to be our Florence who scooped 21 points over 8 events! AND ran legs of both relays! Followed closely by Katie Hopkins, 16 points over 6 events (also running in both relays). ‘Little’ brother George Hopkins matched sis’s score of 16 over his 5 events AND jumped PB’s in both the high jump and a 27cm!!! PB in triple jump.  Another high scorer on the day as ever was Dave who scored 14 points over 5 events AND ran the relays for us! And Eleanor, thankfully, reliably threw everything there was to throw to keep those points coming in!

On the day it was those hardy endurance lot out there that I really felt for, I mean it was SWELTERING and no lovely cool shower to run through like at Bracknell! I had to question the sanity of our team when FOUR non-scoring ladies turned up for the 5000m!!!, Fiona, Charlotte, Kylara and Natasha (all MAD!) – But quietly extremely proud of our gutsy girls. A joy to have Kylara back on the team, hadn’t seen her for a while and there was no escape from me when I spotted her at park run. Seems no form has been lost since we last saw her, I put her in as a non-scorer and she only went and won the race! Followed closely by Lucia to win the A string and Lou coming in to score second in the B string (having already scored max points in her 800m race). Kylara then went on to score for us filling in an unexpected gap in the 1500m and came 2^nd in her race for those vital 3 points 😊

The boys ‘only’ had to run a 3000m at this match, welcoming John Hutchins to our team who ran an incredible 9:06 in that heat putting himself 18^th in the UK V40 rankings!  Connor ran the 3000m B string and secured 2^nd place as a warmup for the 3k steeplechase in which a PB was earned (possibly helped by the fact there was no water jump – but I won’t tell anybody that!). B string steepler was endurance ‘chief’ Gamble – who also secured a PB (Ssssshhhh!) and a very respectable second place with his splendid technique! Well done both!

It was even too hot for the 800m really but that didn’t stop Martin from running a PB of 2:02 AND then going on to score second place in the 1500m! On B string 800m Ollie, also ran a PB and also scored second place in his B 1500m race! ….Spooky!

Great to have Chloe back with us for this match, kicking off with a win in the A string 800m, filling in for the B string 200m then winning the A string steeple by 12 seconds! Sadly, probably her last outing with us which is a real shame, we will miss your enthusiasm, dedication and great team spirit, thank you for being on our team Chloe and we wish you all the best for the future.

An interesting outcome on the 200m, 3 of our sprinters ran EXACTLY the same time, Ricky, Thomas and Jake all ran 23.1!!! Jake also ran a PB in the 100m for 2^nd place in his race ,Thomas and Ricky also picked up points in the 100m and 400m and ran legs of the relays. The ‘Doctor’ ran a respectable ns 100m and leg of the 4x100m and Matt ran a PB in the 100m securing himself an age group ranking of 34^th in UK. For the girls Fara and Tash ran the 100m races, Fara after jumping a PB in the long jump and Tash before securing 2^nd  in her 400m. Lauren ran just outside a PB in the 200m and 3^rd in the 400m, and finished off with great legs of both relays.

On the hurdles Dave scooped an easy second place but we couldn’t fill the B string because unfortunately Kas had car trouble and couldn’t join us ☹, on the 400h Dave also scored In A and Ian won the B race.

Worthy of a big shout out here is Rory’s performances on the day which won us 14 points over just 4 events! Rory won the B high jump, threw a PB to secure 2^nd  place in shot, won A string hammer and throwing close to a PB in the discus. Dad Paul won the B string hammer by throwing nearly twice the distance of 2^nd place!

On pole vault, Sam won her A string then went on to score in the A string 100h and high jump before running a leg of the 4 x 100m, getting back to form after struggling with injuries (Hooray!).

Last but not least, Roy scored us 9 points over 3 events coming 2nd in all of his throws: shot, javelin and then filling in for Kas with a very respectable throw in the discus.

Wow! I managed to get it all on one page! Sorry if I have missed anybody out. Next match 10^th September at HOME! So hopefully something to celebrate afterwards, I’ll keep you informed. It just remains for me to say well done everyone for really pulling out the stops at this match we were against tough opposition with a somewhat depleted team but we NEVER GIVE UP! And that’s what I love about this team 😊

One more thing – CONGRATULATIONS to Ben Golding for passing your driving test (first time). AWESOME!

What is not to be proud of? – last Saturday we were not going to be cheated of our rightful position by 3.5 points were we?

This time all our throws were good, all our jumps were long and I didn’t just look at the pole vault and think ‘I should

really’……..I did! And temperatures soaring towards 30 degrees didn’t frighten off our endurance toughies or anyone

else for that matter, Woking AC weren’t at the beach we were out to WIN!

And the result? A MASSIVE win against Bracknell on their home soil, and, I might add, the highest points scored by any team in any match out of all of the 12 division 1 SAL matches held so far, which is pretty cool in my book, so be proud and let’s keep it going. More PB’s more wins, more fun yet to come!

A big welcome from the team goes out to Nerys Tullett who fearlessly tacked the 400mh for the first time with a convincing win and 4 points in the A string, Nerys also ran a brilliant leg of the 4 x 100m a great new little asset for the team!

Talking of hurdles, usually one of the team managers biggest headaches, on this day we really pulled it out the bag as alongside Nerys’s win Florence scored full points in the B string 400mh. Then, on the ladies 100mh Lucy debuted with a brilliant win in the B string 100mh, Sam 2^nd in the A string (with shin splints!). And the boys a full house of points, wins in the 100mh from Kas in the A string and Dave in the B string and wins in the 400mh from Ian with a new PB, Knocking .31 second off of his World Masters performance in Finland and Dave winning the B string despite feeling ‘below par’ all day! What a result!! 😊

Ian must have gone home with a big grin on his face as he also ran a PB by 1 second in the 400m and came in with a brilliant winning last leg of the 4 x 400m – getting better with age Ian! …As is our Tash who ran yet ANOTHER PB on the 400m AND 200m ns! – what’s the secret guys?… I want some!

JUMPS!! – yes, we can jump too, George and Rory scoring second places on high jump to be followed up with wins across the board with Kas jumping a SB to win A string long jump and George winning B, then George and Dave (ill!) on pole vault, 2 wins, George jumping a PB to win A string triple and Dave winning B string by nearly 1.75m (yet feeling worse as the day went on!)

The ladies filled all the jumping spots too scooping 2 wins at the pole vault with Sam jumping beautifully and yours truly (not such a pretty sight but hey it was 4 points!). Lovely Lucy earned us more well-deserved points on the high jump and long jump, Sam kept busy coming second in the B string high jump AND winning the B string triple – all with a bit of shin splint going on!  Our Florence never seems to walk away from a match without a PB – today it was on the triple jump! Well done Flo! And I mustn’t forget our relative newbie Laura Kersley who long jumped a huge 4.94m for second place in the A string! AND ran a PB in the ns 100m! Come back any time you like Laura.

On the throws, Eleanor worked her magic as usual with 2 wins and 2 seconds for lots of lovely points. Great to have Orla back with us and throwing brilliantly, with a close PB to win discus and a win on hammer (both wins by over 5m!), also throwing a PB in the ns javelin which would have won the B string…..Awesome! Lucy had a busy day, along with everything else she also scored 2^nd in the B string shot and of course Flo won the A string javelin by nearly 10m, which some might say was just showing off! – well you show ‘em Flo! 😊

Another old fave’ back on the team is Roy Chambers, still got it Roy with a win on the javelin and a shot not too far off of a PB, I think it’s safe to say ‘HE’S BACK!’

Kas had a quiet day today, he only did 100mh, long jump, shot (2^nd) and discus (win) which is why he had time to play in the steeplechase water jump with his friends (see Woking AC facebook for pics). I’d say a well-deserved rest before running both relays! And I have no doubt he’ll be back covering the usual 6-7 events (not including relays) and scoring max points at the next match. Our other ‘iron man,’ resident firefighter Dave was really under the weather today, not in peak performance at all which I would say was reflected in his performance of only 5 events but it wasn’t as he won every single one of them! …. Hard as nails our boys are!. The youngster of our multi-event lads George not only smashed out some great jumps but also won the A string javelin, it’s a shame he can still only do 5 events as he has FAR too much energy left at the end of a match!

Also on throws our reliable ‘Kellys’ never let us down, Paul taking 2nd place on hammer and Rory throwing a massive PB in the A string hammer AND discus! (did you bribe him dad? – well thank you!).

Back on to the track some exciting sprinting from both the boys and girls at this match – there were some amazing performances at the Walton Rosenheim on the Wednesday beforehand, lots of questioning as to whether the times would be official or not – at the last peek they are! So, Kenny back on form was in A string following a close PB performance at the Ros’ unfortunately bit of a hammy tweak but still scored 2^nd A string, Harry also running back to form on Wednesday scored 2^nd 100m and 200m and followed up with a leg of each relay!

Did you know we had a new Doctor on the team?? Well, he’s not a medical Doctor but a PhD (which is pretty cool) and we call him Doctor rather than Michael, why?, I do not know but so be it and I really don’t care as he is getting quicker and quicker at each match, on Saturday he ran a seasons best 200m, an excellent 100m and most shocking of all, a tremendous leg of the 4 x 400m! – noted!!!

For the ladies, what a joy to have Emily back on the team back from Uni, always smiling and always winning! 2 wins in the 100m and 200m and a speedy leg of the 4 x 100m. Team mate Jayne scored second place on the B string 200m and ran close to her PB in a ns 100m. Alexis scoring 2^nd place in her 100m also contributed a great leg of the 4 x 100m.

On the 400m, besides Tash’s PB our Lauren from Camberley ran a huge PB for 2^nd place in the 400m and followed up with a speedy leg of the 4x400m relay – watch this space, lots more to come here I sense!

FINALLY (it never ceases to amaze me how much ‘stuff’ goes on at these matches!) the MIDDLE DISTANCE! – all heroes in my book in that heat, as Martin summed it up quite succinctly ‘I wouldn’t say it was fun’! – how very polite I thought. Martin had just run his first 5000m on the track winning the B string with an absolutely amazing time of 16:12, he then went on to run a PB in the 1500m for a ‘warm down’ scoring 2^nd place, what a trooper! Running the A string 5000m was Connor, if you were watching you will have seen how BADLY he wanted to dip under 16 minutes in that last 100m – and he DID! By approx. 0.01 second! 😊 FANTASTIC! (and bonkers all at the same time!). Charlie, for reasons known only to himself ran a ns 5000m in that heat and did it in 18:11 which is certainly not to be sniffed at!. Joining Martin on the 1500m Ben Golding was back and ran a great B string having just got over Covid (not sure that’s what the Dr ordered!?). Also joining us today was Olly Weedon running a ns 1500m for a PB in 4:56, I used to train with his dad, which makes me yay old!

The 800m I have always found is also not much fun but Theo didn’t hold back today and ran a 2 second PB for a 2^nd (just) in the A string with a very respectable 1:57. On B string Drew did similar! A 2 second PB for 2:06!, all that hard work at training is certainly paying off.

Steve Tait, what would we do with out you? He cycled to Bracknell then ran the 2k steeple for us for a cool down before cycling home – thank you Steve #hero. 

Our ladies didn’t let us down on the middle distance either, on the long haul, Lou ran just outside a PB on the 3k for a win and Lucia won the B string by a country mile – and didn’t they look great running through the shower? It was like something out of a film! As Lucia is training for a quick 5k it seemed only sensible for her to then run the 1500m, in which she only went and ran a PB, so its looking good Lucia! B string 1500m was filled last minute by our superstar-ess Chloe, having run a 2:18 800m she used the 1500m as a warm up for the steeple, well THAT paid off as she won the A string with an AMAZING 6:59 smashing the club record and hurling herself into 18^th UK ranking in the senior women category. For this I award Chloe the ‘golden scrunchie’ that much sought after accolade! Lou made easy work of the B string steeple for max points and smiled all the way around – a joy to watch! Our (and Camberley’s) Sandra ran a great B string for 2^nd place and just a shade off her PB, well done Sandra. I must mention Tia here – well done Tia for running the 3k, dad got lost on the way and she turned up with about 3 minutes to spare – a sterling effort Tia – next time allow a bit of contingency for dad! 😉

The day was rounded off nicely by some great relays, a great run in by Ian on the last leg of the 4 x 400m followed by an exciting altercation with one of the officials – luckily Kas politely told her what she had failed to observe, politeness gets you everywhere in life, so they weren’t disqualified – PHEW (it was VERY dubious anyway!).

A BIG BIG thank you to all the officials and parent helpers, without you there is no ‘US’ so we are ever grateful.

Next match Tonbridge 13^th August – lets see if we can creep a little more up the table (5^th now from 10^th).

Woking Athletes have been in action in 2 major championships in the past week with some outstanding results against the best in the country and beyond.

At the highly prestigious English Schools Championships held in Manchester Woking had 2 athletes representing Surrey Schools. The Championships are a breeding ground for future Olympic and World Champions with the likes of Paula Radcliffe, Kelly Holmes, Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis Hill and Greg Rutherford with the best athletes from the across the country competing. The competition was as hot as the weather and the 2 Woking athletes, both recent graduates from the Club’s Academy, rose to the competition.

In the Junior Girls (under 15) 1500 metres Lola Roake was ranked 28^th out of the 45 competitors going into the competition so on paper wasn’t expected to reach the final. However Lola is a very determined girl and ran an absolutely brilliant run in her heat knocking nearly 10 seconds of her previous best time running an outstanding 4 minutes 37.45 seconds. In the final she again ran superbly being in the top 5 for most of the race before a few fast finishing athletes passed her in the final 150 metres to finish a fine 8^th in a slightly quicker time of 4 minutes 37.32 seconds shooting her up the UK rankings to 14^th. Lola has a another year left in the age group so hopes will be high for next season.

In the under Junior Girls discus Alice Clark was in action and also showed great competitive spirit in what was her first ever national championships and her biggest ever competition. Alice equalled Lola’s finishing position of 8^th with a fine throw of 27.92 metres, which is just 24cm shy of her best ever and gave her great experience for future big competitions.

At the World Masters Championships in Tampere, Finland 4 Woking athletes were in action. Dave Awde and Ian Horlock both ran great races in the heats of the Mens 35 400 metre hurdles to reach the final, with Ian running a personal best time of 57.31 seconds. In the final they were up against top competition and both ran extremely well to finish 5^th and 6^th respectively with Dave running an impressive 55.84 and just a touch slower than his heat running 57.37 seconds. In the 400 metres flat Dave continued his fine form to fight through through the heats and the semi finals to take his place in the final where he ran just outside his best as a 35+ athletes to finish 7^th in a time of 51.33 seconds, a fantastic effort. He also finished 6^th in the 110 metre hurdles with 16.31 seconds. In the same afternoon he was part of the victorious British  4×100 metres relay team that stormed home to gold beating Spain by just 0.02 seconds.

In the Women’s 45 2000 metre steeple-chase Bea Lafreniere got a personal best time of 8.00.77, beating her previous time by nearly 10 seconds, to win a very impressive silver medal whilst unfortunately Jacqui Haynes was unable to perform to her best in the 800 metres due to injury.

Woking are back in action over the weekend with the Seniors having their 3^rd Southern League fixture of the season at Bracknell and the under11’s to Under17’s are in Swindon for the 3^rd Wessex League fixture.

Woking’s young athletes were back in action at the weekend in their 2^nd Wessex League match at Aldershot and there were many fine performances with over 20 personal bests across the age groups and events.

In the under 13 boys age group Desimi Akinyaniu continued his fine form this season with a comfortable win in both the 100 metres and 200 metres. There were double wins in both events with Cadyn Snijman winning the B race of the 100 metres and Lucas Pearman winning the B race of the 200 metres.  In the 1500 metres Jacob Bowyer had a superb run to record a new personal best time of 4 minutes 51.26 to finish 3^rd, just half a second behind the winner. Jacob also won the high jump with a leap of 1.40 metres. In the field events Nathan Capindale threw a new personal best in the discus with 21.28 metres with Cadyn again in action winning the B competition. 

In the girls under 13 girls events Evie Wiltshire was 2^nd just 1 100^th of a second behind the winner in a time of 13.69 seconds just shy of her personal best. In the B race Sara Louise Fordjour comfortably won the B race in a new best tie of 13.80 seconds. These two along with Mia Mosko and Eva Mongford then dominated the 4×100 metres winning by over 5 seconds. In the long jump mia and Evie filled the first two positions with Mia winning in a new personal best of 4.14 metres.

In the under 15 age group Liam Trinidad, in his first races for the club, was narrowly beaten into first place the 100 metres recording a time of 12.19 seconds. He was then involved in a very exciting finish in the 200 metres winning in 24.64 seconds just 3100^ths ahead of 2^nd place.  In the 800 metres Luca Lupi finished 2^nd in the 800 metres A race with Caden Rogers Everitt finishing 2^nd in the B race.  In the field Jack Harel finished 2^nd in a new personal best of 4.98 metres whilst also finishing 2^nd in the Shot Putt. Jack Dormer continued his fine form in the Javelin with another win with a throw of 36.94 metres.

In the Under 15 girls events Eleanor Buckle ran a new personal best in the 200 metres to finish in 3^rd place In the 800 metre Lola Roake ran a new personal best to finish a narrow 2^nd in a very impressive time just inside 2 minute 20 seconds with Sophie Price winning the B race in just under 2 minutes 30. Imogen Freeman was 2^nd in the 1500 metres and the 4×100 team of Eleanor Buckle, Alice Clark, Mia Reeves and Izzy Wright finished a narrow 2^nd just a tenth of a second behind the winners. In the field Alice Clark won the long with a leap of 4.63 metres.

In the Under 17 age group Nerys Tullett won the 80 metre hurdles in a hew personal best time of 13.13 seconds, knocking nearly a whole second off her previous best whilst in the under 17 men Drew Grayling comfortably won the 1500 metres in a new personal best time of 4 minutes 31.18 seconds.

The previous day Woking had a number of athletes in action for Surrey Schools at an Inter Counties match in Kingston. The highlight of the performances came from Laura Kersley in the Under 17 women’s long jump with a new personal best 5.20 metres, adding 11cm to her previous best from previous week at the Surrey Schools Championships. Other athletes selected were Lola Roake, Jack Dormer, Jack Hurel, Matthew Smith, Alice Clark, Emelia Wazydrag and Zavi Zinman.