SBH Photographs Taken In 2023 – Month By Month
JANUARY – GEORGE HARRISON MBE it is with great sadness that I advise you of the death of GEORGE on 22 January. NADEEM SHAIKH had spoken to GEORGE last week, and said he was struggling with a cough and chest infection. Our sincere thoughts and condolences are with GEORGE’S wife SHEILA and his family at this sad time.
GEORGE was 90 on 11 December last year, and at the SBH Special Awards Dinner the following Saturday, there was a special silver salver presented to GEORGE, with the accolade led by NADEEM SHAIKH and STEPHANIE PAPARIZOS. It recognised his coaching achievements and the contribution to the development of many SBH athletes. The award was collected, on his behalf, by Olympic bronze medallist, MARILYN OKORO. The presentation also included a commemorative book of photographs featuring GEORGE and many of his athletes. The highlight was a video presentation from LIZZIE BIRD on the big screen, being a former GEORGE HARRISON athlete now studying and training in the USA. LIZZIE is the UK number one 3000m steeplechaser and British record holder. 90 years young and coaching for over 50 years. GEORGE has helped, supported, trained, mentored and inspired so many athletes and coaches along the way. He has trained over 100 athletes to National and International success.
GEORGE served as President of Shaftesbury from 2011 to 2014, and supported numerous events and meetings throughout his term. He handed over the Presidency at the 2014 AGM to DAVE BEDFORD. The following day, 26 November, GEORGE told me he was visiting Buckingham Palace, in which he received his MBE from PRINCE WILLIAM. GEORGE was wearing his ‘Muckle Flugga’ tie (which is a small rocky island north of Unst in the Shetland Islands) which has an athlete on it. PRINCE WILLIAM knew of this and commented on it, GEORGE then explained the history.
Photograph of GEORGE with his MBE
MIDDLESEX CENTENARY CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS – Took place at Parliament Hill on 21 January.
Firstly the Under 11 Boys (1500m) took the Team title with 12 points to TVHs 22 points. The race was won by BEN KASPAR (7.34), DENNYS PASCAL finished 3rd (7.51), ARI RUBENSTEIN 8th (8.06), JOSIAH ALDHAM 15th (8.14), THOMAS FELLOWS 16th (8.15), ROAN PARKES 20th (8.31), TAHA COCKERILL 23rd (8.38) and PRINCE-MOSES JOHN 26th (8.43) 54 runners finished
Photograph left to right – THOMAS FELLOW, ROAN PARKES, BEN KASPAR, TY HOLDEN, TAHA COCKERILL, PRINCE-MOSES JOHN and DENNYS PASCAL
Our Under 11 Girls (1500m) also took the Team title with 24 points to ES&Ms 27 points. LUCIA CASALENUOVO finished 7th (8.37), SIENNA DARCY 8th (8.46), GRACE ROONEY 9th (8.52) and ELFIE SHAW 16th (9.52) 26 runners finished
Photograph left to right – LUCIA CASALENUOVO, GRACE ROONEY, SIENNA DARCY and ELFIE SHAW
PARKRUN 250 CLUB – Congratulations to RUSSELL DEVITT who completed his 250th Parkrun at Panshanger on 21 January. Photograph features HELEN HOYLE, and RUSSELL
Photograph features HELEN HOYLE, RUSSELL and GERALD FOX
FEBRUARY – SBH ATHLETES PAY TRIBUTE TO COACH GEORGE HARRISON – Photographs were taken by MARK SHEARMAN.
LIZZIE BIRD, ELLIE BAKER, KYLE LANGFORD and MARILYN OKORO were among those who came under the wing of GEORGE HARRISON MBE.
GEORGE coach to scores of world-class athletes, including British 3000m steeplechase record holder LIZZIE BIRD, Commonwealth silver medallist KYLE LANGFORD and Olympic bronze medallist MARILYN OKORO.
Commonwealth silver medallist LIZZIE BIRD, speaking from the USA where she is training, said: “I was coached by him by two years as a sixth former but it felt like much longer because of the impact he had on my life. I called him right after I won Commonwealth silver medal last summer and he was so excited. You could tell his voice was jumping up and down and he was so proud of me. He was saying: ‘Could you imagine when we met at 16 that you would go and do this?’ And I was telling him it was him who had helped me get there.” LIZZIE was coached by HARRISON at St Alban’s School, where countess students benefited from his advice. “He installed that work ethic into me,” said LIZZIE. “That you show up and you get the work done.”
ELLIE BAKER, semi-finalist at last year’s world championships over 800m, was also guided by GEORGE through her teenage years. “I was going through difficult time because I had plateaued a bit. I moved to training with GEORGE at Watford having had three years not progressing and in my first year I won the English Schools and the next year I came second in European Under-20s. He turned my career around. “He just had unwavering faith in you and because he has been doing it so many years, you just believed what he said. If he believed you could do it, you had to believe it. When you think of the lives he has touched over the years, there’s a whole community pf people has brought together which is an incredible legacy to leave.”
ENGLAND ATHLETICS U20/U17 & U15 CHAMPIONSHIPS – Took place at Sheffield on 11-12 February.
ANGEL MCLEOD won the Under 15 Girls 60m with a personal best (7.73) taking .04 of a second off his SF2 time, and is ranked UK No.3 U15 in 2023
Photograph shows ANGEL at the medal ceremony
ZICO JONES won the Under 17 Men’s 400m Gold Medal with a seasons best (49.88) taking .91 of a second off his 15 January time, and is ranked UK No.1 U17 in 2023
Photograph features ZICO with his Gold Medal and his coach TY HOLDEN
DUBAI 10K ROAD RACE – Took place at Dubai on 12 February.
STUART SINGER V60 279th (SB 46.17), BRADLEY SINGER 315th (SB 46.56)
Photograph shows STUART and BRADLEY celebrating in the glorious sunshine
UK ATHLETICS SENIOR INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – Took place at Birmingham on 18-19 February.
The photographs show SAM WIGGINS in the home straight of the 800m, in Heat 1 SAM finished 3rd in a seasons best (1:49.64), in the Final SAM finished 4th (1:50.34)
Photographs features NADEEM SHAIKH , SAM WIGGINS, HAYLEY MCLEAN and her coach CHRIS ZAH.
NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS – Took place at Bolesworth Castle, Chester on 25 February. It was an excellent day for the club, especially with HENRY DOVER producing an emphatic win in the Under 17 Men’s race 6000m (20.39). Photograph show HENRY in the home straight
Photograph of NADEEM SHAIK with ex-SBH member ROB DRAPER
Photograph of DANIEL WATTS, THOMAS BUTLER, SIMON KEENE and MARK PIERCE
MARCH – BRITISH MASTERS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – Took place on 6 March at Lee Valley. LISA WEBB won the Gold Medal in the V55 1500m, setting a V55 personal best and Club Record with a time of (5:20.17). Photograph shows LISA with her Gold Medal on after the presntations.
NORTH WEST LONDON LEAGUE – Took place at Harrow School on 5 March. Our Under 11 Girls had an impressive team win, results GRACE ROONEY 3rd (7.19), LUCIA CASALENUOVO 4th (7.31), SIENNA DARCY 7th (7.39), SOPHIA CLOONEY 11th (7.58), ELFIE SHAW 24th (8.38), SUNNY SHAW 37th (9.19), KEENYAH ADELISE 39th (9.26). Photograph of the team prior to the race.
FRIDAY NIGHT 5K UNDER THE LIGHTS – Took place at Battersea Park on 17 March. KOJO KYEREME V45 finished 4th with personal best (14.57) taking 3 seconds off his 2020 time, and is ranked UK No.1 V45 in 2023 and is ranked UK No.8 V45 on the all-time list. Photograph after the race.
APRIL – WORLD MASTERS INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – Took place at Torun, Poland on 27 March – 3 April. ROSALIND ZEFFERTT and STACEY BETANCOURT competed. ROSALIND won the W60 Pole Vault Bronze Medal (2.10m). Photograph of ROSALIND with her Bronze Medal.
STACEY BETANCOURT – Won the W45 Pole Vault Silver Medal with a personal best (3.00m), equalling her 2022 height, and is ranked UK No.1 V45 in 2023, also a Club Record. The photograph shows her on the podium with her Silver Medal.
LESLIE ODAMTTEN-ADDY – Competed in the 127th Boston marathon on 16 April, in a time of (3:24.44).
LESLIE sent me these words – I have just landed back at Heathrow where I will stay in London before heading back to Germany next week with work. Was an overall great experience to be part of. Undulating course with some prominent hills thrown in for good measure! Plus lots of rain 🙂 Happy to have finished; despite the leg cramps from navigating the hills. I only started doing tempo long runs in March as I was rehabbing an injury for 4 months after the Berlin Marathon this last September. My longest initial runs in January being just 5k…so I am overall pleased.
Wished I had entered for the London marathon coming up this weekend. I think I can get close to 3 hours on a flatter course plus the strength I have now built up! Photograph of LESLIE after the race.
MAY – WORLD DUATHLON CHAMPION – GEORGIA BELL won the Women 30-34 title at the World Triathlon/Duathlon Championships in Ibiza on 1 May.
The race started with a 9800m run (33.26), then a 39.6km bike (1:08.25), finishing with a 5.2km run (19.06). Her winning time was (2:03.32), 2nd and 3rd were GB athletes MALLORY SIMMONDS and KATHERINE STRINGER, (2:07.21) and (2:12.41) respectively.
GEORGIA joined Shaftesbury in 2010, aged 17, and was successful at track and field, road and cross country, both at home and the USA. Her personal best for 800m (2:03.38) ranked SBH all-time No.4 and 1500m (4:16.21) ranked SBH all-time No.9 in 2022.
Photograph of GEORGIA was taken by her Mother.
UK YOUTH DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE UPPER – SOUTHERN PREMIER – Took place at Reading on 28 May. The team finished in 3rd place. This photograph was taken at the meeting – featuring our Under 17 4x100m relays teams BRANDON KUFAZVINEA, EBUKU NWOKEJI, ZICO JONES, JOSEPH WHEELER-HENRY, NIA FORBES-AGYEPONG, MIA HIGSON, TAMI GEORGE and ONYEBUCHI ODIAKA.
JUNE – MIDDLESEX YOUNG ATHLETES LEAGUE – Took place at Harrow on 4 June. The team had another outstanding win with 91 points to London Heathside 76.
The photograph features some of our girls team of LYDIA BALL, ABIGAIL EDWARDS, MACIE SUTHERLAND, MIA HIGSON, TAMI GEORGE, MAKAYLA BRAE ALOIE and ONYEBUCHI ODIAKA.
Photograph of DAMI ADEKUNLE, PRINCE-MOSES JOHN and NOSA URUBUSI, also he is hidden by his name.
BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL – Congratulation to BRYAN SMITH who has been awarded the British Empire Medal, in the recent honours list. This is how BRYAN received the notification of his honour – The King has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of the Celebration of His Majesty’s Birthday, to approve the award of the British Empire Medal (Civil Division) to the undermentioned:
The British Empire Medal is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to replace the original medal, which had been established in 1917 as part of the Order of the British Empire.
JULY – The MIDDLESEX YOUNG ATHLETES LEAGUE final match took place at the StoneX Stadium on 22 July. The team had a clean swep of match wins. The final league positions were 1st SBH (92 points), 2nd London Heathside (74), 3rd Ealing, Southall & Middlesex (66).
The photograph festures many of our athletes celebating their win.
CLUB CONNECT RELAYS – Took place at the London Stadium on 23 July.
4x100m Relay – Under 17 Men 2nd (PB 41.23) ZICO JONES, JOSEPH WHEELER-HENRY, BRANDON KUFAZVINEI, EBUKA NWOKEJI taking .78 of a second off their 2019 time, and are ranked UK No.2 U17 club in the UK, Under 17 Women 5th (SB 48.56) NIA FORBES-AGYEPONG, MAKAYLA BRAY ALOIE, ONYEBUCHI ODIAKA, TAMI GEORGE taking 1.11 seconds off their 28 May time, and are ranked UK No.8 U17 club in the UK, Under 20 Men 3rd (SB 42.06) RUBEN HEDMAN, NATHAN FERNANDES U17, JAIAN SAUNDERS U17 (2nd Claim), MALACHI AMADI taking 1.20 seconds off their 25 June time, and are ranked UK No.3 U20 club in the UK, Under 20 Women 4th (SB 48.40) LOLA MCCANN-EZEKIEL, MIA HIGSON, NIA AKINTOKUN, ANNA ROSE taking 1.74 seconds off their 25 June time, and are ranked UK No.7 U20 club in the UK
Photograph of New Club Record Under 17 Men’s team – ZICO JONES, JOSEPH WHEELER-HENRY, BRANDON KUFAZVINEI and EBUKA NWOKEJI
Photograph of Under 17 Women’s team of NIA FORBES-AGYEPONG, MAKAYLA BRAY ALOIE, ONYEBUCHI ODIAKA and TAMI GEORGE
Photograph of New Club Record Under 20 Women’s team of LOLA MCCANN-EZEKIEL, MIA HIGSON, NIA AKINTOKUN and ANNA ROSE
Photograph of all the team which include RUBEN HEDMAN, NATHAN FERNANDES, JAIAN SAUNDERS and MALACHI AMADI
ZHARNEL HUGHES – Even for a city renowned for its damp weather, the fierce downpour that hit Manchester during the men’s 100m final on the first day of the UK Championships was something to behold. As the heavens opened shortly after 7pm on Saturday 8 July, spectators and officials reached for their umbrellas or ran for cover. As the rain fell, though, ZHARNEL HUGHES reign began as British 100m champion as he sped to victory in (10.03 w0.0). The following photographs were sent to us from ENGLAND ATHLETICS, and were taken by GETTY IMAGES.
The sequence of photographs start at the midway point, through to the finish, and finally ZHARNEL embracing the rain after his outstanding win.
NATIONAL ATHLETICS LEAGUE AT SCOTSTOUN – 2 outstanding photographs taken in Glasgow.
Firstly is the Opening Ceremony where representatives from all participating clubs followed a bagpipe player around the track. The photograph shows SBH representatives HAYLEY MCLEAN and STEVE GARRETT.
This photograph features GEOFF MORPHITIS presenting NICK PERCY with his 2022 SBH Field Event Best Performance Award. The photo was taken in the Weights Gym at Scotstoun Stadium. NICK’S best performance on the day was (61.14m) was a Scottish National Record ie the longest throw by a Scotsman in Scotland !!!
HARRY WEBB – Congratulations to HARRY who at the England U15/U17 Championships, won the Under 15 80m Hurdles Bronze Medal (11.64 w-0.4). HARRY has reached the crossroads in his career, as since the English Schools Championships has had one training session. He has been training at Tottenham Hotspurs 3 days a week then either training or playing over the weekend, and it is becoming impossible to compete at elite level at two sports.
His first love is football and his Father TREVOR thinks this will be his last major championships and is so pleased he has come away with a medal, and he cannot thank the club enough over a number of years you provided the best opportunities for both KATIE and HARRY to show off their talents. I will certainly miss the journeys , the excitement, the disappointments and of course their successes.
HARRY joined Shaftesbury in 2018 and started his hurdling career in July 2021 winning his 6 races which included the Southern Championships, ranking him UK No.1. His 80m Hurdles personal best (11.42 w1.8) was achieved at the 2023 English Schools Championships, and is ranked UK No.3.
KATIE sister to HARRY joined Shaftesbury in 2018 and also as an Under 15 that year, won the Discus Silver Medal at the English Schools Championships, and that year was ranked UK No.4. KATIE is at Unviversity now, not throwing at all, but continuing with her netball to a very high level. Played regularly for the 1st team last year as a fresher and was nominated to attend England University trials, wasn’t successful but was good to get recognition in her first year
We wish HARRY and KATIE every success in the years to come. Photograph of them both at the England U15/U17 Championships.
SEPTEMBER – SOUTHERN ROAD RELAYS – Took place at Aldershot on 23 September.
The following extract was published on the Athletics Weekly website recently.
For the first time since 2015, the relays successfully returned to its spiritual home at Rushmoor Arena. Aldershot, Farnham & District did most of the organisational work on the day on behalf of the South of England to make it a top class event and while it may not be the easiest venue to get to, most runners agreed the circuit around the arena is a superb setting and it provided a great atmosphere that was definitely missing when runners were running around a deserted car park at Crystal Palace or a windswept Bedford the last few years.
Senior Men – With five of their six runners achieving sub-18s, Shaftesbury Barnet broke Southampton’s Championships record of (1:48:25) set in 1997 by over a minute with (1:47:23) , though in last year’s non Championships Aldershot relays, a strong home squad including Jack Rowe and Ellis Cross ran (1:48:03).
TOM BUTLER put Shaftesbury third on leg one with (17:43) with English National under-17 champion HENRY DOVER keeping them in the hunt after two legs but his (18:25) dropped to fourth. JEREMY DEMPSEY with a (17:58) moved them up to second before KIERAN CLEMENTS (17:56) gave them an advantage and after legs of (17:51) by DYLAN EVANS and (17:31) by JAMIE DEE the winning margin was exactly a minute over Cambridge and Coleridge.
Photograph of the winning team taken by JEREMY SOTHCOTT – JAMIE DEE, JEREMY DEMPSEY, DYLAN EVANS, KIERAN CLEMENTS, HENRY DOVER and TOM BUTLER
Photograph of our Under 13 Girls team taken by JEREMY DEMPSEY – AIMEE PORTER, LUCIA CASALENUOVO and OLIVIA ABBOT
BERLIN MARATHON – Took place at Berlin, Germany on 24 September.
ALEXANDER LEPRETRE (2nd Claim) 56th (2.18.27), BRADLEY SINGER 22,618th (4.41.59) this was BRADLEY’S sixth marathon, including London and Chicago.
BRADLEY commented that the conditions were good, might have been a little too hot. The timing was fair ,with the lack of training i did, but i am happy with it.
OCTOBER – THE FIRST MEETING AT THE WRESTLER’S PUB – Took place om the 16 October. PHIL CUNNINGHAM wrote, thanks to RAY and CLARE, we had a great evening at the Wrestlers Pub in Highgate, 101 years after the first known picture of Shaftesbury. The picture shows quite a few of the old guard with from left to right, RAY POWELL (49 years with the club), MARTIN GREY (56 years), TONY SUNDERLAND (69 years), PHIL CUNNINGHAM (50 years), JOHN DRYDEN (52 years), DAVE BEDFORD (59 years), PHIL RICHARDSON (63 years), JOHN KELLY (a mere 44 years) and JULIAN GOATER (57 years). GERALD ALTERMAN (43 years) and JO NEWELL also attended but unfortunately needed to leave before the photo. Well over 500 years of club membership between us!
DECEMBER – ENGLAND ATHLETICS REGIONAL LONDON VOLUNTEER AWARDS EVENING – Congratulations to STEVE MARSHALL, who was the recipient of the ‘Inspiring Official of the Year’.
