Much Ado About Something: A busy weekend of athletics across Europe on OpenTrack
With the road running season underway, the indoor season drawing to a close, and the track season looming large, things are as busy as ever at OpenTrack.
This was evidenced by another weekend of gargantuan athletic variety, and much to savour incoming.
The Teddy Hall Relays remain as popular as ever and we took the entries for 556 athletes who filled the 133 teams. As one might expect, Oxford Uni won the men’s and ladies’ competitions, whilst the lesser known Burgess’s Major Carrolling Studs took the mixed.
There was a wonderful turnout for the Northern Ireland and Ulster Junior Indoor Championships for which OpenTrack handled the requirements of 565 competitors over 100+ events for the U13-U19 range. A few days earlier there was another busy meet up in Falkirk, the highlight of which was 16-year-old Brodie Nixon carding 7.50s for the 60m.
In Norway, 444 competitors headed to the Leikvang Friidrettshall in Trondheim, whilst we also handled the entries up in Ulster again for a 5K on the Coleraine Campus for 406 souls.
It’s great to see how popular the pentathlon remains. 184 competitors headed to Lee Valley for the British Masters Championships with a wide array of results, including a busy 3000 metres as well — Mike Cummings won in 9:01, and Anna Critchlow still goes brilliantly, running 11:06 as a W55. The great Jodie Albrow may now be into her fifth decade, but her athletics remains ‘on point’. Here’s what she returned for the 60H, HJ, SP, LJ & 800.
It’s a rare athlete who wants to compete outside in mid-March, but 57 competitors kept the flame burning at the Basingstoke Winter Throws Series, of whom our top pick was 16-year-old Eloise MacDonald hurling the hammer 48.25.
At the St. John Athletic Track in Malta, OpenTrack welcomed 180 young athletes’ entries, with two girls under 27 seconds over 200 metres, while 14-year-old Nick Bonett ran a 24.42.
One of our tiniest hubs is the cacophony of athletic joy in the Åland Islands, with 61 results being returned at the Eckerohallen, while OpenTrack was also in use up in Trondheim for the Klubbmesterskap Ranheim friidrett.
Finally, last Sunday we were back at Lee Valley and were honoured to support the BFTTA (Be Fit Today Track Academy) open meeting where we took entries for 321 competitors.
Incoming!
We can savour more of the same this weekend — more wonderful athletics, from far and wide. The enormously popular Friday Night Under the Lights 5K series in Battersea Park is back, or if more to your liking, the Altamuskin 5K in Omagh will take place, 481 miles to the North West.
Birmingham University have a busy Winter Throws and Distance Meeting planned, whilst the Scottish Young Athletes Road Races have 385 competitors set to tear up the North Berwick macadam, with six races over distances from 2.5 to 5K.
The thriving Middlesex Indoors (back at Lee Valley) is here with 317 entries taken by OpenTrack, with the Serbian Junior Championships on in Belgrade, and entries are still being taken for the Kalesija Championships in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Finally, looking ahead to 21 March, we’re delighted to be taking entries for one of the Schools Olympic Project meetings that we support in Marsa, Malta.
It’s a feast of athletics all over Europe that we’re delighted to be a part of.