Reports, pictures and results as thousands of competitive club runners take part in Saturday’s South of England Championships in Beckenham, Kent.
Beckenham Place Park played host for the fifth consecutive year and it was local favorite James Kingston who came out on top in the senior men’s race to win outright by almost a minute and a half.
This culminated in Callum Charleston’s finish in the 15km Traditional Senior Championship.
Kingston has a proud pedigree in the English National and South of England Championships and won the title here in 2024, but was led by Bournemouth refugee Abdi Elmi last year.
In third place here was Jack Cavanagh for Holland Sports.
Hercules Wimbledon took the team race from Charleston Aldershot, but they were forced to play second fiddle to Belgrave in this year’s Surrey League after two years of winning the league. Belgrave were well out of contention here as Kent AC took third place. They had top M45 John Gilbert as their second scorer in 12th.
It was close at the front of the Under 20 men’s race as Cosmo Benyan outclassed Matthew Pickering who led Aldershot to a team victory over individual winners Cambridge and Coleridge.
It was also close at the front of the senior women’s race, where two county champions battled it out. Havering’s Kate O’Neill just edged out Blackheath’s Andrea Clement as last year’s winner Megan Gadsby was third for Norwich.
It was Aldershot who won the women’s senior team, led by Maddie Jordan-Lee’s sixth place as twin sister Millie Slotted in eighth behind team-mate Katie Hughes.
Katie Pye had earlier competed in the junior women’s race for the Hampshire outfit, but second-placed Ella Davey led Windsor to a comfortable team victory as their rivals failed to field a top four, leaving Brighton Phoenix to claim the only other team medals.
Men. 1 J Kingston (Ton) 44:27; 2 C Charleston (AFD) 45:52; 3 J Kavanagh (Holl Sp) 46:03; 4 F Grierson (High) 46:29; 5 S Eglen (AFD) 46:32; 6 B Alcock (Bed C) 46:40
TEAM: 1 Hercules Wimbledon 126; 2 AFD 138; 3 Kent 150
39 teams finished
U20: 1 C Benyan (C&C) 24:16; 2 M Pickering (AFD) 24:20; 3 B Andrews-Callec (Hers) 24:54; 4 T Claridge (Ton) 25:01; 5 O Jermi (G&G) 25:02; 6 S Collins (Pool) 26:03
TEAM: 1 AFD 33; 2 Cambridge & Coleridge 54; 3 Tonbridge 93
Women. 1 K O’Neil (Hav’g) 27:20; 2 A Clement (B&B) 27:22; 3 M Gadsby (Norway) 27:38; 4 A Brooke (Belgium) 27:44; 5 M Dickinson (Phoe) 27:45; 6 Maddy Jordan-Lee (AFD) 27:53
TEAM: 1 AFD 45; 2 Belgrave 57; 3 Highgate 106
33 teams finished
U20: 1 K Pye (AFD) 21:54; 2 in Davie (WSZEH) 22:09; 3 M Fieldsend (WSEH) 22:20; 4 L Delvendal (High) 22:32; 5 AD (M&M) 23:00; 6 Eve Grant (WSEH) 23:01
TEAM: 1 WSEH 23; 2 Brighton Phoenix 91
Young athletes
Blackheath & Bromley’s Joseph Skanes was the runner up in the Under 17 age group but was edged out here by teammate Joseph Hill to finish second with George Armstrong-Smith third. However, the pair were just pipped in the team stakes by Cambridge & Coleridge, led by fourth-placed Finn McLennan.
Molly Smithers handed Chichester Runners a rare area championship gold by taking the women’s under-17 race from Milton Keynes’ Sophia Chapman. However, it was service as usual from Aldershot in the team stakes as their side won another title.
There was another winner from Sussex in the under-15 boys race as Taylor Thorne-Watts caused a minor upset to lead his Brighton and Hove four to team victory over Hercules Wimbledon, with Theo Creed second.
This was ahead of Elliott Langley-Aybar who was a close third.
The closest result came in the Under 15 Girls event where Summer Smith just got a verdict over Poppy Guest and the previously unbeaten Isabella Buchanan was a narrow third.
Their Brentwood Beagles and Aldershot clubs were expected to struggle in the team stakes, but fourth-placed Cara Gorman guided Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow to their second team gold.
Brentwood also claimed their second individual gold earlier when odds-on favorite Maddison Kindler led the club 1,2,3 in the girls’ under-13 race. However, it wasn’t enough for the team to win as their fourth scorer was 82nd, so it was Aldershot, led by fourth-placed Isabel Goody De Diego, who came through to take first of the four team overall honours.
The Under 13 competition saw Thames Valley’s Luis Da Silva win over Mason Sanford as Blackheath and Bromley took the team gold medals.
U17 Men. 1 J Scanes (B&B) 18:35; 2 J Hill (B&B) 18:41; 3 G Armstrong-Smith (E’brne) 18:44; 4 F MacLennan (C&C) 18:58; 5 F Lumber-Fry (E’brne) 18:57; 6 S McDonald (C&C) 19:04
TEAM: 1 Cambridge & C 63; 2 Blackheath & B 65; 3 Saint Mary 114
U15: 1 T Thorn-Watts (B&H) 13:44; 2 T Creed (HW) 13:52; 3 E Langley-Aybar (Brack) 13:56; 4 R Greenwood (Trent P) 14:09; 5 L Boulton (Herne H) 14:14; 6 J Tildersley (Porter) 14:16
TEAM: 1 Brighton & Hove 66; 2 Hercules Wimbledon 99; 3 London Heathside 113
U13: 1 L De Silva (TVH) 10:04; 2 M Sanford (Chelm) 10:06; 3 Z Evans (B&B) 10:10; 4 O Moore (Dart) 10:20; 5 C Pearl (HW) 10:22; 6 S Bryce (AFD) 10:22
TEAM: 1 B&B 88; 2 Herne H 111; 3 Chelmsford 153
U17 women. 1 M Smithers (Chich R) 21:47; 2 S Chapman (Mil K) 21:56; 3 S Allen (High) 22:06; 4 I Wheeler (Horsh BS) 22:09; 5 D Connor (Ebrne) 22;12; 6 E Hill (Chich R) 22:14
TEAM: 1 AFD 78; 2 Milton Keynes 100; 3 Chelmsford 106
U15: 1 S Smith (B’wood) 15:04; 2 P Guest (AFD) 15:04; 3 I Buchanan (Hy) 15:20; 4 K Gorman (WSEH) 15:44; 5 F Goodwin (B&H) 15:47; 6 F Hitchings (Medway Tri) 16:08
TEAM: 1 WSEH 77; 2 Brentwood Beagles 93; 3 AFD 124
U13: 1 M Kindler (B’wood) 10:36; 2 S Davies (B’wood) 10:58; 3 L Esterhuysen (B’wood) 11:01; 4 I Goody De Diego (AFD) 11:03; 5 I Purser (Hunts) 11:06; 6 M Scriven (Herne H) 11:11
TEAM: 1 AFD 37; 2 Herne H 78; 3 Brentwood B 88
