Trackstaa looks ahead to a big weekend of British Athletics as the first of the Saucony BMC Grand Prix meets kicks off in Trafford, Manchester on Saturday 8th May.
Whilst over the pond gear up for the USATF Golden Games and Distance Open and look ahead to possibly the most-stacked field of athletes since the 2019 World Championships in Doha, back here in the UK, we’ve managed to assemble possibly the strongest domestic field ourselves since at least the start of the year.
In races from 400m to 5000m, it’s really a who’s who of British athletics with particular focus likely to be on the depth on show in the men’s 5000m. Of the starters in the 5000m, 10 have run inside 14:00 and 2 inside 13:30.
The fastest man in the field is Jonathan Davies (13:23.94) who comes into the race in form, following up last year’s British Indoor victory (3,000m) with a victory last month in Birmingham. Those looking to cause an upset include Phil Sesemann, fresh off pacing the Cheshire Elite Marathon with Jake Smith, 18-year-old rising star Henry McLuckie, who will be looking to build on his previous PB of 13:56.20 at Comeback 5k in March and Tom Mortimer the U23 athlete who will be seeking to run inside the European standard of 13:53.00 (Which he will easily).
On the women’s side, the talent in the 5000m starts with former Commonwealth Games athlete, Kate Avery and Jenny Nesbitt. But it’s the 1500m which features women with international colours including Irish athlete, Sarah Healy. Reeve Walcott-Nolan, usually an 800m runner (2:01.74), runs in the 1500m and after a few attempts over the 5000m/5k, it will be interesting to see how she adapts – she’ll certainly have the speed. Issy Boffey, the European U20 champion over 800m runs in the 1500m for only the second time after a strong showing at the European championships in February.
The men’s 1500m looks set to be an exciting race too with many eyes on Rory Leonard, running fresh after last month’s PB of 3:45.70. His training seems to have gone well and after a 5k in London last month of 13:50.22, he’ll be confident of challenging at the front of the race. The fastest on paper is Thomas Keen (3:41.44) who’s been spotted training alongside Jake Wightman in Flagstaff. So unless he travels back within the next 24 hours, he seems like a no show.
The excitement keeps coming because in the 800m, former Running Pod guest, Alex Botterill goes up against another U23 athlete in Ben Pattison who’ve both set PBs of 1:46. Keep an eye on Archie Davis who last week ran 1:47.26 to take a second of his previous PB. In the women’s race, the favourite is clearly Alex Bell (1:59) who took the win in the 1500m last month in Birmingham and seems to be hitting some nice form at the right time.
When’s it on?
The racing will start at 16:30 and throughout the evening until 21:20 (UK time).
How can I watch?
You can watch all the race on Vinco Sport for free, by signing up for their free membership. Just follow this link: https://www.vincosport.com/live/132376/
Full details and start lists
For full details on the event, timetable, start lists, venue and more, click this link:
https://www.britishmilersclub.com/meeting/trafford-grand-prix/