UPCOMING ROAD RELAY AND TRACK AND FIELD FIXTURES FOR THE NEXT 4 WEEKS, WHICH COVERS THE PERIOD THURSDAY 31 AUGUST UNTIL WEDNESDAY 27 SEPTEMBER – The SBH 2023 Summer Fixture Card can be found on the SBH website – http://sbharriers.co.uk/fixtures-results/fixture-cards/  

WATFORD OPEN MEETING  – Takes place on Wednesday 6 September at the Woodside Stadium, Horseshoe Lane, Watford (Satnav WD25 7HH).
Age-Groups Under U13 and above Men/Women.
Timetable – 19.00pm 200m, 19.15pm High Jump, 19.20pm 100m, 19.40pm 800m No times over 2 minutes 45 seconds, 21.05pm 3000m No times over 11 minutes, No Under 13s
Is now open on roster athletics, this is the link – https://meets.rosterathletics.com/public/competitions?cc=GBR&page=0&to=2023-09-30
Note: There are no entries on the day, and there is a possibility that the limits will be taken up well before the race day. 

EASTERN YOUNG ATHLETES LEAGUE TOP 6 FINAL  – Takes place on Sunday 10 September at the Chelmsford Sport & Athletic Centre, Salerno Way, Chelmsford (Satnav CM1 2EH)
Age-Groups Under U13, U15 & U17 Men/Women.
Link to the timetable – EYAL-Finals-Timetable-2023 (2)
Note: You will have to be selected by your Team Manager 

SOUTHERN U15 AND U17 INTER COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS – Takes place on Sunday 10 September at the Horspath Athletics And Sports Ground, Horspath Road, Oxford (Satnav OX4 2RR).
Please Note: You will selected by your County Team Manager

SOUTHERN SENIOR MEN’S, WOMEN’S AND YOUNG ATHLETES ROAD RELAYS – Takes place on Saturday 23 September at the Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot (Satnav GU11 1PZ).
Timetable – 10.30 U13 Boys (3 x 3000m), 10.58 U13 Girls (3 x 3000m), 11.26 U15 Boys (3 x 3000m), 11.53 U15 Girls (3 x 3000m), 12.30 U17 Men (3 x 4600m), 12.32 U17 Women (3 x 4600m), 13.30 U20, Senior, Master 40+ & 50+ Women (4 x 6000m), 15.15 U20 & Senior Men (6 x 6000m), 15.15 Masters 40+ & 50+ Men (4 x 6000m)
Note: You will have to be pre-entered by your respective Team Manager
Entries Closing Date Thursday 7 September

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.

FUTURE MEET UP – After the last weekends LICC meeting at StoneX Stadium on Sunday, RAY POWELL and DAVE BEDFORD sneaked off to the Greyhound in Hendon for a sneaky half. After a beer or two, the talk got round to our amazing clubs’s nostalgia. DAVE said that he had donated a picture to the wrestlers pub in Highgate, of the first known Shaftesbury picture taken on the 28 October 1922. Which is on page 16, of the clubs Centenary book 1890-1990. We both thought how nice it would be to get the past and present club members, friends and family, volunteers, and everyone who would like a chat about our amazing club. DAVE said he will send through some dates, that are good for him, and hopefully we can pin one down that is good for all. Highgate has 4-5 very good pubs, which are a 5 minute walk from the tube.

WHY BUDAPEST WAS POSSIBLY THE BEST WORLD CHAMPIONSIPS EVER – The following article was published on the Athletics Weekly website recently. Comments by STEVE SMYTHE.

Here is a look at some of the stats from Hungary and the event’s overall success – The aim of the athletics organisers in Budapest this month was to stage the greatest ever World Championships, I think they have succeeded. This was my 13th World Championships I have attended as a journalist and my favourite and I can’t see Tokyo topping it in 2025. The athletics was superb with a fine mixture of great dominating champions, shock new winners and final round on the field or last 10-metre changes on the track. The stadium was excellent – just the right size and splendid beside the Danube – and the crowds (despite a lack of home success) and atmosphere were helped by the Fan Zones while the city itself was magnificent. It was too hot, but the Hungarians did a magnificent job. Getting out of Budapest, however, proved harder for many. 

The British performance – This exceeded all expectations – 10 medals equalled Britain’s best in Stuttgart 1993 and it could have been more with some near misses in fourth and the usually dependable LAURA MUIR and DINA ASHER-SMITH not quite at their very best. It won’t be easy to repeat the same medal success in Paris. JOSH KERR was superb but JAKOB INGEBRIGTSEN was not in his earlier Diamond League form and world two mile record form even though he won the 5000m. NAFI THIAM and a few other missing heptathletes should be back next year but KJT’s second day form does reconfirm what a competitor she is and could be even better in 2024. MATT HUDSON-SMITH could have STEVEN GARDINER and MICHAEL NORMAN to contend with in the 400m and USA’s women are unlikely to be disqualified from the 4x400m in France. The Paris 100m final could be boosted by past championships winners FRED KERLEY and MARCELL JACOBS.

Gold
Katarina Johnson-Thompson – heptathlon
Josh Kerr – 1500m
Silver
Keely Hodgkinson – 800m
Matthew Hudson-Smith – 400m
Bronze
Mixed 4x400m
Women’s 4x100m
Women’s 4x400m
Men’s 4x400m
Zharnel Hughes – 100m
Ben Pattison – 800m
Fourth
Men’s 4x100m
Zharnel Hughes – 200m
Morgan Lake – high jump
Fifth
Daryll Neita – 200m
Jemma Reekie – 800m
Molly Caudery – pole vault
Sixth
Laura Muir – 1500m
Seventh
Dina Asher-Smith – 200m
Eighth
Jess Warner-Judd – 10,000m
Katie Snowden – 1500m
Dina Asher-Smith – 100m
Others who made final
Neil Gourley – 1500m 9th
Anna Purchase – hammer 11th
Melissa Courtney-Bryant 1500m 12th 

USA easily top the world – The United States are the world’s top nation with 12 golds, 8 silvers, 9 bronzes (29 in total) and they had 55 top eight placings. On the points system which determines a nation’s strength (8 for first place down to one point for eighth) the USA scored twice as many points as any other nation. Only Jamaica with their sprints and jumps strength and Kenya with their distance prowess also outscore Britain who had almost twice as many points as the next best European nation Spain for whom 32 of their points came from their walks golds. Britain scored 82 points in Doha and 68 in Eugene so it was a huge step forward in Hungary. Britain’s traditional European rivals, Germany, scored 36 points and had no medals. Poland had just 31 points and only two medals. Despite the Paris Olympics approaching, France got just 29 points and a single medal. 

Points table
1 USA 277
2 Jamaica 139
3 Kenya 112
4 GBR 102
5 Ethiopia 96
6 Canada 70
7 Spain 55
8 Australia 51
8 Italy 51
8 Netherlands 51

Who was the top athlete – NOAH LYLES was the star male performer with three golds and provided more than just fast sprinting with his persona. MONDO DUPLANTIS was the most dominant winner and is the other big male star.FERMKE BOL won two women’s golds and came close to three as her finish to Budapest proved much better than her day one and her last gasp relay win where she made an astonishing amount up in her final strides was possibly the moment of the championships. However the female athlete of the championships and the year is undoubtedly FAITH KIPYEGON with her world records and dominance. The women’s sprint stardom was shared by SHA’CARRI RICHARDSON (100m and 4x100m gold and 200m bronze) and SHERICKA JACKSON (200m gold, 4x100m silver and 100m bronze). The latter produced what was the performance of the championships with the second fastest 200m of all-time with (21.41).

There was one world record but that was in the mixed relay which has no history and because of its position in the timetable does not include the world’s best 400m runners which is ludicrous.

INGEBRIGTSEN repeated his 1500m silver and 5000m gold from Eugene despite a sore throat even though Norwegian’s dislike of Scots increased. Is it NEIL GOURLEY’S turn to upset them in 2024? You could have probably got long odds that Britain’s only multiple medallists would be relay runners RIO MITCHAM, LEWIS DAVEY and LAVIAI NIELSON rather than the likes of HUDSON-SMITH, HUGHES and ASHER-SMITH. The maddest athlete in Budapest was undoubtedly SIFAN HASSAN. Attempting three events questions anyone sanity but she ran a far too extravagant 1500m heat on the morning of her 10,000m final needlessly winning. In the 25 lap event, she veered wide in the straight to disrupt a fast approaching GUDAF TSEGAY and fell over claiming she was pushed and walked across the line later in 11th. In the 1500m semi final she ran in the fastest heat in history and ran (3:55.48) and then took bronze in the final slightly slower but with a 57 final circuit. The day after her 1500m final she ran her 5000m heat and despite her busy programme and 1:56 800m speed she set a torrid pace in hot conditions which was close on a championships best with (14:32.29) even sprinting at the line to beat KIPYEGON.  She was second a few days later in the 5000m final with a 56 final lap completing her 60 laps of racing in Budapest. However, that wasn’t enough for her as immediately after some of her heats, she was also seen doing some fast 400m intervals! 

Performance levels in Budapest – The overall standard was incredibly high but there were probably fewer records than anticipated given the fast track and heat and even championships records were not that frequent. What was notable though was the competition was fierce and there seemed to be an unusually high number of final round medal changes or change of leader in the last 20 metres.

The mixed relay, the women’s 100m, 800m, 10,000m, 100m hurdles, triple jump, javelin and 4x400m, the men’s 400m, 5000m, long jump, and discus all featured late changes. It was Championships athletics at it’s very best. At least the drama of day one for the Dutch with the 10,000m and mixed relays were not repeated though. The standard in qualifying was exceptional and numerous records were set in terms of fastest heats and the fastest an athlete has ever failed to make the final.

The level of surprises can often be indicated by the success of the level of the predictions rather than just plain incompetence on my behalf though picking the likes of JACKSON, DUPLANTIS, HOLLOWAY, ROJAS, WARHOLM and BOL etc is not entirely a difficult task requiring great athletics foresight. Even with the many obvious ones, less than half the predicted winners being right suggests more surprises than normal. We did not have winners ANTONIO WATSON and DANIELLE WILLIAMS even in our top eight in our online predictions and we also missed PEREZ from our 35km walk top eight although had her third in the 20km. We only had KATZBERG sixth in the hammer and likewise TAUSANGA in the discus and LYLES was only down for fifth in the 100m and our chosen one KERLEY did not even make the final. There were some minor successes such as the 200m order of LYLES, KNIGHTON, TEBOGO, HUGHES, DE GRASSE and BEDNAREK being very close to what actually happened.

My favourite events in Budapest – My British bias comes out here but KERR taking on INGEBRIGTSEN on the final bend and pulling clear and JOHNSON-THOMPSON chasing a superb ANNA HALL in the 800m and tracking her close enough to smash her PB and take gold will live in my memory forever. The biggest medal shock was BEN PATTISON. He was beaten in the British Champs by DAN ROWDEN, only qualifying for the team by finishing second to MAX BURGIN at the very last chance at London and then barely sprinting through to a qualifier in his heat and then advancing from the semis as a fastest loser. He clearly had the talent but his application in the final was a shock to many and the fact it was Britain’s first medal in the event for 36 years added to its achievement. HODGKINSON’S 800m was more anticipated but it was great she finally was able to overtake ATHING MU although there was a tinge of disappointment with ZHARNEL HUGHES and MATTHEW HUDSON-SMITH despite their magnificent performances as they had looked more impressive in qualifying. HUDSON-SMITH could have won with a slightly slower first 200m than 21.1 following his European record in the semis and Hughes was not able to quite match his New York form but both had exceptional championships.

The final legs of all four medal winning relays where the British teams defied expectations without their best runners were also thrilling. The mixed team could have been stronger and the men’s and women’s team missed their fastest runners from the individual events but those who ran all rose to the occasion. The fighting spirit was best summed up by RIO MITCHAM holding off and running away from individual champion ANTONIO WATSON with a (43.89) split which defies all logic for someone with a (45.60) PB whose best 400m in July and August was (46.90). Britain also got a medal in the women’s 4x100m without double finalist ASHER-SMITH. JESS JUDD’S eighth may have only added one point to the British points total but that too was way in excess of what anyone predicted as was the efforts of DARYLL NEITA, MOLLY CAUDERY and KATIE SNOWDEN. Away from the Brits, BOL and WARHOLM’S well-judged 400m hurdles were impressive as they left the opposition behind in the straight and Kipyegon’s 56sec last circuits in the 1500m and 5000m were exceptional but my favourite race with an international winner was EL BAKKALI’S battle with world record-holder GIRMA in the steeplechase. He ran a last 800m of (1:58.14) over eight barriers and two water jumps and he eased off to celebrate! CHEPTEGEI’S control – Mo-style – in the 10,000m was also majestic as were the superb throws victories for RYAN CROUSER and DANIEL STAHL which were both the best world championship performances in history and MILTADIS TENTOGLOU fought magnificently in a final round long jump contest.

Defending a title is not easy – Of the 49 champions from Eugene only 14 successfully defended (CHEPTEGEI, EL BAKKALI, HOLLOWAY, CROUSER, KIPYEGON, MOON, LYLES, JACKSON, ROJAS, DUPLANTIS, EALEY, USA (women’s 4x100m and men’s 4x400m) and INGEBRIGTSEN and eight did not compete for various reasons (PICHARDO, MIHAMBO, THIAM, Dominican Republic (mixed 4x400m), WIGHTMAN, NORMAN, MCLAUGHLIN. JERUTO) and 27 who did compete were unable to add to their victories. 

World Athletics’ performance – The World Athletics website had record numbers as did its social media postings but it’s not a sign that athletics is in full control of itself if it has to close down part of the World Athletics website every night as it couldn’t cope with demand. Its scheduling was still in poor in places (mixed relay etc) and I don’t understand why MAHUCHIKH’S final high jump attempt couldn’t have come before the 4x400m relay rather than after so the Championships could have ended with a glorious relay leg rather than a failed high jump. And why have a relatively low profile event such as the women’s steeplechase on the last day which is always the most watched session? On the plus side, the athletics was glorious and the qualifying by time rather than places and the scrapping of fastest losers worked for distances of 1500m and above. The thought that it might mean slow jogs before effective 400m races was not a problem. In the 1500m ADELLE TRACEY ran (3:58.77) and TSEPHO TSHITE ran (3:32.98) and didn’t even make the final when those sort of times would have easily have made all previous finals but if you can’t make the top six in your semi, then you are probably not going to make the top six in the final!

World Athletics’ timing partner Seiko were appalling. There were more mistakes in Seiko’s results timing analysis in Budapest than in all the previous 30-plus major championships events I have attended put together over the last 40 years. According to Seiko, 400m winner ANTONIO WATSON was a tailed off last at 200m and did not go through the 300m mark and DINA ASHER-SMITH bypassed the 100m mark in the 200m. The timing company suggests that FAITH KIPYEGON dropped from first to tenth at 1100m and was back to first at 1200m. I missed that. Timings were wrong in all men’s 1500m final runners at the bell bar the leader which resulted in fictitious last lap times being even included in World Athletics report – it suggests the Scots drive from 800m onwards  consists of 100m splits of (13.55), (13.72), (14.52), (12.97), (13.25), (12.93) and (13.62). Two of those boldoned are wrong and he was not six metres back at the bell. The mixed 4x400m splits were originally hopelessly wrong and on the wrong information some teams mistakenly changed their teams for the final. They did at least correct the results a few days later. In the men’s 4x100m SEYE OGUNLEWE was credited with a (8.05) anchor leg and in the 4x400m heats SHAKEEM MCKAY apparently ran (39.54). Nobody in Seiko thought that might be wrong. The poor quality control by Seiko and World Athletics was prevalent throughout the championships but after some criticism their response was not to improve but just not release any 4x400m splits on the final day though some have been provided by a different unofficial but accurate source and will be included in AW’s results.

SBH 2023-2024 WINTER SEASON – With just 2 months to go to the Cross Country and Road Relays. Please see the link to the document on the ‘Club Information on Various Topics’ later in this Newsletter. Which gives details of the Metropolitan and North West London league dates/venues, Remaining Cross Country league dates/venues, Cross Country points and club championship races and Road Relay dates/venues.

SHAFTESBURY BARNET HARRIERS ON INSTAGRAM – Since the account was setup towards the end of last year, there has been an amazing amount of Videos and Photographs contributed with many comments. There are 2 posts this week.

Photographs taken at the England U15/U17 Championships
ISAAC VAN DEN BERGH U15 who won the U15 Pole Vault Silver Medal (PB 3.63m) adding 3cm to his 16 July height, and is ranked UK No.2 U15 in 2023.
HARRY WEBB who won the U15 80m Hurdles Silver Medal (11.64 w-0.4)

SHAFTESBURY BARNET HARRIERS NEW INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT – Many thanks to SEAN SUTHERLAND who undertook a review on the best way forward, following this a decision was made to set up a new account, and SEAN has now set that account up.
To follow our new Instagram account, from your own account, by searching for ‘shaftesbury_barnet’ or by clicking https://www.instagram.com/shaftesbury_barnet/ 
To Members and Parents, if you wish for any photographs to be posted on Instagram, please email them to sbh.instagram@outlook.com  If you can at the same time give details on when and where the photographs was taken, plus any other comments.
Please feel free to post photographs of any special occasion, for example, your wedding day, an addition to the family.

THE FOLLOWING IS CLUB INFORMATION ON VARIOUS TOPICS

SBH 2023-2024 WINTER FIXTURE CARD –Will be issued and published on the SBH website, during mid September. 

Link to the document which gives details of the Metropolitan and North West London league dates/venues, remaining Cross Country league dates/venues, Cross Country points and club championship races and Road Relay dates/venues – SBH Winter Fixture Card Information

GEORGE HARRISON MBE MEMORIAL DOCUMENT – The document has been put together with contributors from LISA WEBB, MARTIN ROCHFORD, NADEEM SHAIKH, RACHEL FELTON, LIAM and JAMIE DEE, JAMES LOVELL, EMILIA ECONOMU, ALAN WELLER,  KAREN HARRISON,  TIM UNDERHILL, GLEN WATTS, JOANNA WINFIELD, SHAUN CLIFFORD and EUAN MACKENZIE – Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Memorial To George Harrison From Friends And Members 20 April 2023
If you wish to contribute your own memories and/or photographs of GEORGE, please email them to me, either within the email or as a separate attached word document.

CODES OF CONDUCT – SBH have now adopted the UK Athletics (UKA) and the Home Country Athletics Federations (HCAF) Codes of Conduct which set out national standards of conduct for all clubs, coaches, officials, volunteers and athletes in the sport.  The purpose of the codes are to clarify what behaviours are acceptable and unacceptable, the standards of practice expected and the basis for challenging and improving practice.  The Codes are similar to our previous Codes of Conduct which were part of the previous ClubMark scheme.  All club member and anyone undertaking a relevant role must agree to abide by the codes of conduct. The Codes of Conduct have now been put onto our Website, please read these to understand the commitments you are making by being a member of SBH.
Link to the Code of Conduct document – Codes Of Conduct Booklet 2021 (1)

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION OF INTEREST CAN BE FOUND ON THE SBH WEBSITE BY USING THIS LINK – http://sbharriers.co.uk/
Section ‘About Us’, includes Annual Reports, Best Performance Trophy Awards, Individual And Relay Best Performances By Year, Club Records and SBH All-Time Top 10 T&F Performances.
Section ‘Team Managers And Competitions’, shows details of Track & Field, Cross Country and Road Relays Team Managers.
Section ‘Future Information/Results’, includes Information On Each Fixture, Summer & Winter Fixture Cards, Winter X/C Points Tables and Winter Club Championships Winners.