news in brief

Lawrence in action in the Lakes

Lawrence wins Great Britain call-up
 
Fortunately, Lawrence didn’t have too long to wait following his exertions in the Lake District (see previous report), with the selectors announcing a 37 athlete squad on 22 August for the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Spain between 25-28 September.
 
McCourt joins a team of four for the Classic Up-and-Down fell race, selected alongside Jacob Adkin (Moorfoot, also selected for the Uphill only race), Andrew Douglas (Westerlands) and Felix McGrath (Bristol and West), with British Athletics ambitiously stating on their website, ‘The teams for these Championships have been selected with the aim of athletes achieving a top 10 individual finish or a top five team ranking.’
 
Congratulations to Lawrence, still a comparative newcomer to the discipline, on his selection. Our best wishes will travel with him.
 
Alexandria takes Bronze
 
Hammer specialist Alexandria Hodgson travelled up Grangemouth in Scotland to take part in the Scottish Nationals at the weekend.
 
Throwing 50 metres 76 centimetres, she finished in third place, only 20 cms behind Silver, adding to the medal of the same colour she took in the England Age Group Athletics Championships in Birmingham two weeks ago.
 
Gavin takes Gold
 
Gavin Bayne travelled down the A1 to take part in the British Masters 5000m Track Championships, held at Nuneaton on Sunday 24 August.                       .
 
Winning the Over 70s race in a time of 19 minutes 58 seconds, Gav finished over half a minute ahead of his nearest Midland Masters rivals David Oakland (20:31) and Rob Baser (22:23) to continue his fine vein of form, also putting himself at the top of the Power of 10 rankings for his category.
 
He will hope to add a 10,000m medal to his already impressive collection for 2025 at the BMAF Track and Field Championships at Derby in September.