Herne Hill Harriers round-up: Georgie Grgec clocks PB to claim podium at ASICS road race
Georgie Grgec produced another top-level run this weekend – eight days after finishing second in the Comeback 5000 elite track race in Battersea Park, writes Geoff Jerwood.
Grgec placed second in probably a stronger overall lineup at the Podium 5k ASICS road race in Leicester on Saturday.
The race winner was the favourite on paper as Great Britain World Cross Country Championship team member Abbie Donnelly ran away in 15:25 to go eighth on the UK all-time women’s 5km road list. Grgec was 20 seconds behind in 15:45, finishing ahead of third place by an emphatic margin.
Grgec’s time is a PB and the fastest road 5km clocked by a Harriers female. Former Australia 1,500m champion Chloe Tighe has run the same time but on a course which not authenticated. Both are excellent runs in their own right, as is Phoebe Anderson’s recent club women’s track 5,000m record of 15:44.97.
Anderson has enjoyed a couple of busy days in the USA racing in the Ivy League Championship in Philadelphia. On Saturday she qualified in third place in her 1,500m heat in 4:30.51, then placed second in the 5,000m in 16:23.07. She won her second medal of the weekend on Sunday, finishing third in the 1,500m final in 4:19.10, her second-fastest time to date at this distance.
International sprinter Kristal Awuah ran another strong 100m race to place fourth in the second heat at the Adidas Atlanta City Games on Saturday. Her 11.64 was her second fastest of the season so far and consolidates her position in the UK top-10 females in 2023.
Gaby Reynolds produced 81:05 to finish first female overall and first W40 in the Ranelagh Half Marathon in Richmond on Sunday morning as she gets back into her running after her big marathon PB in Manchester last month.
Last weekend saw a match win for Herne Hill’s combined U17/U20 men and women’s team in the UK Youth Development League (YDL) Upper fixture at Lewes.
As well as the already reported UK leading U17 3,000m run from Eliza Nicholson and Harry Bell’s multiple event scoring performances, other highlights included a Harriers’ club U17 men’s 4x400m record from a winning team comprising Fred Hake, Keeran Sriskandarajah, Warren Wilson and Jon Goldston, who clocked 3:31.98.
There were also wins recorded by the U20 men in both 4x100m and 4x400m, the U20 women in the 4x100m, the U17 men’s 4x100m and the U17 women’s 4x300m.
Harriers’ U13/U15 boys and girls got off to a solid start at their first YDL match at Bedford on Sunday, finishing third. The club had a number of youngsters competing for the first time at this level and acquitted themselves very well in a match that fluctuated throughout the afternoon.
PICTURE: JERRY SUN
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