Herne Hill Harriers round-up: Katie Snowden third at Diamond League meeting

BY GEOFF JERWOOD

Katie Snowden finished third in the women’s 1,500m race at the Muller Grand Prix Diamond League meeting in Gateshead on Sunday.

The Herne Hill Harriers athletic had posted two impressive wins in California going into the event.

Snowden placed a clear third behind top Brit Laura Muir and Morocco’s Rababe Arafi to clock 4:08.92, leaving fellow in-form compatriots Eilish McColgan and Adelle Tracey, among others, in her wake.

This was very good running in awful weather just days after returning from altitude with inevitable travel fatigue. Snowden is looking very strong and tactically astute in again defeating some world-class opponents.

Kristal Awuah, Herne Hill’s other Tokyo Olympic hopeful, has run three more rust-buster 100m races over in the USA, culminating in a season’s best time of 11.46 against a minus-0.5 metres per second wind at the Adidas Boost Boston Games to go fourth in the British women’s 100m rankings for the year to date.

The Herne Hill Endurance Track open meeting was a success at Battersea Park on Saturday afternoon.

Keeran Sriskandarajah’s 1:59.1 for 800m would have topped the UK U15 boys rankings for 2021, but another athlete from his age group finished just ahead of him in 1:58.5 in a superb race within a race.

Nick Dewar achieved his aim of sub 15 minutes for 5,000m, clocking 14:59.0. Andrew Warburton ran 15:34.2 and Brandon Dewar toughed it out to finish in 15:58.2. Phoebe Anderson (U20) ran a PB of 16:52.9, while M45 Jon Key ran 17:31.5 and M50 Jonathan Ratcliffe ran 17:53.8.

Mike Cummings placed second in the A 1,500m race with his opener for the season in 4:07.9. After a PB 17:05 for a 5km road race earlier last week, M55 Gary Ironmonger ran 61.7 for 400m, then 4:42.6 for 1,500m – great form just six months before his 60th birthday. Poppy Craig-McFeely, another of the club’s fine crop of U20 women, coached by Wayne Vinton, ran a season’s best 1,500m of 4:45.6.

Allan Long (M75) ran 52.7 for 300m.

Simon Coombes (M45) and Jeff Cunningham (M35) showed returns to form with 9:03.90 and 9:14.25 respectively on Saturday evening at the MK3000 PB Special meet at Milton Keynes .

Fiona de Mauny raced again over 800m as part of her early season heavy training and heavy racing programme and just missed her season’s best with her 2:17.48 at the Basingstoke Two Lap Open Meet. Husband Chris ran a season’s best 2:23.60.

PICTURE: JAMES RHODES