THURROCK Harriers are proud to be reviving the Mel Batty road race this year in memory of the late Mel Batty who passed away last September. Mel was a talented and deicated athlete who broke the 10 miles world record way back in 1964 with a time of 47 minutes and 26.8 seconds.
The 800m relay was very exciting with the U13G finishing in 4th and the final race of the evening was for the U15 boys medley relay which consisted of 800m, 300m, 300m, 200m. This was probably the most challenging race of the evening with the rain lashing down Tyler Chu ran a very impressive 1st lap in the 800m, however an injury he had sustained earlier in the day made every step of the 2nd lap extremely painful.
FORMER GRAYS Convent student, Jessica Judd produced a sensational run last night (Thursday) in the 800 metres to win a silver medal at the World Junior champs in Barcelona.
This time last year, he was turning up for pre-season training at Ship Lane in Thurrock. Last night he won the gold medal for the 100 metres in the World Junior Championships in Barcleona.
THURROCK triathlete Matt Harris proved he is an 'Ironman" beyond all doubt when he completed the gruelling Ironman triathlon in Klagenfurt in Austria.
To us...
THURROCK hurdler Hayley McLean won the senior girls 400 metre hurdles in Bedford at the weekend. Hayley was made captain of the Essex side and stepped up to the plate with a controlled performance winning in 60.01 seconds.
The Junior boys team continued in the same fashion and began with both Jake Bailey and Lewis Beard hammering it down the track in the 80m hurdles final. Separated by a whisker, top spot went to Lewis as Jake had to eventually settle for silver. Jake, however got his rewards and was crowned High Jump champion with a great jump of 1.75m taking the gold.
PALMER'S College student, Hayley McLean did the borough proud by reaching the final of the 400 metres hurdles at the UK Olympic trials in Birmingham on Sunday.
The three regular mainstays of the team, Dan George, Mark Jenkins and Michael Shortall all turned in their usual selfless contributions. The ultimate team man, Michael Shortall, covered 5 events and both relays
to contribute 13 points to the total. His best event was the 58s 400m hurdles for 2nd place. Dan and Mark were hampered by injuries but helped out the team filling in in throws and jumps. Dan notched up 8 points before 'retiring hurt' while Mark, restricted to 3 events,brought his 30 years league experience to the team ethos.
Thurrock had only a handful of athletes competing and all did well. James Pearson won a silver medal in the 100m with a time of 12.47s U15B. Liam Barnard and Tom Wakeling ran the U13B 75mH. Liam came in 3rd with a personal best time of 14.19 and Tom came in 4th with a time of 16.80.
IT WAS a stunning display of 100 metre sprinting by Adam Gemeli at a meet in Germany that could see him line up against Usain Bolt at the London 2012 Olympics.
Again the triumvirate of Mark Jenkins, Michael Shortall and Dan George notched up half the team's points total. They also covered half the
events. Dan George, whose work committment and recent bout of ill health have restrictred his training, notched up many good performances
in the jumps and throws. The best performance was a 1.85m high jump.
