1st Event – 20th March 2018 – Millhouses Park
The weekend snow cleared fairly quickly on the Monday and Tuesday, just in time for our first South Yorkshire League event.
Simon Pugh led all the way with Lucy Walker just a few seconds off the pace. But, a last 500m lap of 3:01, compared to Simon’s 3:10, saw her snatch victory by 2 seconds. Lucy was back on her expected form with 19:17 after a slightly disappointing 19:56 in Coventry.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Lucy Walker U15G | Meadowhead School | 31:59 | (12:42) | 19:17 | 3km |
| 2 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham Harriers | 32:01 | (00:00) | 32:01 | 5km |
| 3 | Toby Chaplin U13B | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 32:24 | (19:23) | 13:01 | 2km |
| 4 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 32:28 | (13:20) | 19:08 | 3km |
2nd Event – 20th April 2018 – Millhouses Park
A tough 51 seconds handicap between first man off, Simon Pugh, and Lancashire WC’s Tony Bell was just too much for Tony to get involved in any battles as they both tackled 5km. Lara MacColl and Lucy Walker joined in seconds behind Simon as he completed his first 2km at the front. They had caught him 500m later but Simon took advantage of Lucy’s presence to motivate him to a rare sub-32 minute clocking.
Once in the lead, Lara was never headed to take victory and get down to a 3km time in the mid-18 minutes. Opening up a half-minute gap over Lucy made her look slow but Lucy actually came away with a 14-second PB.
Natalie Myers came through fast in the closing stages to move from 4th to 2nd in the last 300m.
After 2 races, it is close with Lucy on 37, Lara on 36 and Simon on 34.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Lara MacColl (U15G) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 31:25 | (12:45) | 18:40 | 3km |
| 2 | Natalie Myers (SW) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 31:44 | (05:00) | 26:44 | 5km |
| 3 | Lucy Walker (U15G) | 2Dash | 31:51 | (12:48) | 19:03 | 3km |
| 4 | Simon Pugh (M55) | Rotherham Harriers | 31:58 | (00:00) | 31:58 | 5km |
| 5 | Tony Bell (M50) | Lancashire WC | 32:54 | (00:51) | 32:03 | 5km |
3rd Event – 16th May 2018 – Millhouses Park
A slightly disappointing turn out of 4, each walking a different distance! Simon Pugh had a comfortable victory. Imogen Walker held off the challenge of Tony Bell until the last 150m.
Simon Pugh leads the series with a Win, a 2nd and a 4th.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Simon Pugh (M55) | Rotherham Harriers | 31:25 | (13:05) | 18:20 | 3km |
| 2 | Tony Bell (M50) | Lancs WC | 31:37 | (00:00) | 31:37 | 5km |
| 3 | Imogen Walker | Greenhill School | 31:45 | (24:57) | 06:48 | 1km |
| 4 | Toby Chaplin(U13B) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 32:10 | (18:43) | 13:27 | 2km |
4th Event – 8th June 2018 – SHU City Stadium, Woodbourn Road
We used the coaching session aimed at the qualifiers for the Primary Schools Championships to introduce some new walkers to the South Yorkshire League, all racing over 1,000m.
Of the new walkers, four walked with very good technique and determination. Emily Morgan built up a small advantage over Lauren Robertson for fourth position but was caught and passed in the last 200m. These two filled the first two places on handicap.
Around 30 seconds ahead of the girls, two boys, Ethan Morgan and Ellis Simmonds, had a race long battle to cross the line together in 6:21 to lead the new walkers home behind regular Simon Pugh.
Simon now leads the series on 71 points having competed in all 4 races.
| Target Position | Competitor | Club | Actual Time | Target Time | Variance | Handicap Position |
| 1 | Simon Pugh (M55) | Rotherham | 05:49 | 05:37 | +12 seconds | 3 |
| 2 | Ethan Morgan (U13) | Silverdale | 06:21 | 06:06 | +15 seconds | 4 |
| 3 | Ellis Simmonds (U13) | Dobcroft | 06:21 | 06:06 | +15 seconds | 5 |
| 4 | Lauren Robertson (U11) | Abbey Lane | 06:55 | 06:51 | +04 seconds | 1 |
| 5 | Emily Morgan (U11) | Dobcroft | 06;58 | 06:54 | +04 seconds | 2 |
| 6 | Daniel Wellings (U11) | Abbey Lane | 08:39 | 07:11 | +01:28 | 6 |
| 7 | Leo Platt (U11) | Dobcroft | 10:06 | 06:47 | +03:19 | 9 |
| 8 | Isaac Rosson (U11) | Dobcroft | 10:06 | 06:53 | +03:13 | 8 |
| 9 | Peter Bilson (M35) | City of Sheffield & Dearne | 13:06 | 09:58 | +03:08 | 7 |
5th Event – 26th June 2018 – Millhouses Park
As usual, Tony Bell and Simon Pugh were the first onto the course, both racing over 5km and starting 11 seconds apart. Tony took the lead just before they had completed 1km. As he reached 2km to go and 1km to go, fresh walkers joined the race just ahead of him. He had no trouble getting past Lara MacColl who was struggling in the high temperature. In the penultimate 500m lap, he caught Toby Chaplin then in the final lap he caught newcomer Alex Welling. It was good to see 3 newcomers to the Millhouses Park races, all recruited from schools competitions.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Tony Bell M55 | Lancashire Walking Club | 31:22 | (00:11) | 31:11 | 5km |
| 2 | Alex Wellings U13G | Meadowhead School | 31:34 | (24:42) | 06:52 | 1km |
| 3 | Toby Chaplain U13B | City of Sheffield & Dearne AC | 31:42 | (18:41) | 13:01 | 2km |
| 4 | Daniel Wellings U11B | Abby Lane School | 32:11 | (27:58) | 04:13 | 600m |
| 5 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham Harriers | 32:21 | (00:00) | 32:21 | 5km |
| 6 | Ethan Morgan U13B | Silverdale School | 32:29 | (25:35) | 06:54 | 1km |
| 7 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne AC | 33:08 | (19:16) | 13:52 | 2km |
6th Event – 18th July 2018 – Millhouses Park
Our race started in the usual way with Simon Pugh and Tony Bell on the road first as they were tackling 5km but Tony was unable to eat into Simon’s lead. Lucy Walker started her 3km just after Simon had completed his first 2km, with Lara MacColl (3km) a further 13 seconds back. As Simon and Lucy had a great battle, Lara was dropping back and looked to be struggling but she was actually walking at her normal pace, or perhaps a little faster, just overshadowed by Lucy’s pace, who moved a further 13 seconds clear of Lara.
Lucy was able to raise her pace more easily than Simon and eased away for victory in a big PB. Simon was exactly 1 minute faster than last time. Ellis Simmonds entered the fray with 1km to go and walked well to pass 3 walkers and take 3rd place for a great PB.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Lucy Walker U15G | 2Dash | 31:12 | (12:37) | 18:35 | 3km |
| 2 | Simon Pugh M565 | Rotherham Harriers | 31:21 | (00:00) | 31:21 | 5km |
| 3 | Ellis Simmonds | Dobcroft School | 31:25 | (25:57) | 05:28 | 1km |
| 4 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne AC | 31:38 | (12:50) | 18:48 | 3km |
| 5 | Ethan Morgan U13B | Silverdale School | 31:44 | (18:45) | 12:59 | 2km |
| 6 | Alex Wellings U13G | Meadowhead School | 32:35 | (25:14) | 07:21 | 1km |
| 7 | Tony Bell M55 | Lancashire WC | 31:22 | (00:11) | 31:10 | 5km |
7th Event -10th August 2018 – Millhouses Park
Chris Bent returned to our competition after a knee replacement followed by 3 further operations to sort out infections. Starting out first with a target time of just outside 40 minutes, Chris comfortably beat this and just hung on for a 7 second victory over Imogen Walker. Imogen walked a solid race to produce a great PB, dipping under 14 minutes for the 1st time.
A 3km race long battle ensued between Lara MacColl and Lucy Walker starting just 13 seconds apart. A determined effort by Lucy saw her close the gap to about 3 seconds but perhaps she had worked too hard as at this point Lara managed to open up the gap again. They finished with great times of Lucy 18:30 and Lara 18:33.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Chris Bent M70 | Buxton AC | 39:13 | (00:00) | 39:13 | 5km |
| 2 | Imogen Walker U13G | Greenhill School | 39:20 | (25:35) | 13:45 | 2km |
| 3 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne AC | 39:35 | (21:02) | 18:33 | 3km |
| 4 | Lucy Walker U15G | 2Dash | 39:45 | (21:15) | 18:30 | 3km |
| 5 | Ellis Simmonds U13B | Dobcroft School | 40:16 | (28:20) | 11:56 | 2km |
| 6 | Tony Bell M55 | Lancashire WC | 40:46 | (08:52) | 31:54 | 5km |
8th Event – 5th September 2018 – Millhouses Park
A really tight race with the leading 4 walkers covered by just 4 seconds. Imogen Walker (U13) spent most of the last 300m trying to hold off Tony Bell and was just 3 seconds adrift at the line. Next, Lara MacColl challenged Tony with 150m to go but her sprint came too early and Tony re-passed her befor the end for a 1 second victory.
Lucy Walker chased down her younger sister but had to settle for 4th place, 1 second behind Imogen. They both produced PB times. Lucy started 2 seconds behind Lara and finished 2 seconds behind her to be given the same time.
With 1 race to go, today’s winner Tony joins Simon and Lucy at the top on 73 points, 4th Lara 71 points, 5th Toby 65 points, 6th Ellis Simmonds 61 points and 7th Imogen Walker 52 points.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance |
| 1 | Tony Bell M55 | Lancashire WC | 31:03 | (00:16) | 30:47 | 5km |
| 2 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne AC | 31:04 | (19:20) | 11:44 | 2km |
| 3 | Imogen Walker U13G | Meadowhead School | 31:06 | (24:39) | 06:27 | 1km |
| 4 | Lucy Walker | 2Dash | 31:06 | (19:22) | 11:44 | 2km |
| 5 | Toby Chaplin U13B | City of Sheffield & Dearne AC | 31:38 | (18:33) | 13:05 | 2km |
| 6 | Simon Pugh M55 | Rotherham Harriers | 31:39 | (00:00) | 31:39 | 5km |
| 7 | Ellis Simmonds U13B | Silverdale School | 31:48 | (22:38) | 09:10 | 1.5km |
9th Event – 2nd October 2018 – Millhouses Park
Going into the final race of the series, Tony Bell, Simon Pugh and Lucy Walker shared the lead on 73 points, using their 4 top races of the season.
Chris Bent was dirst away and was never headed, improving by 1 minute over his Jeff Ford time, which itself was almost 90 seconds faster than his first post knee operation time at the 7th SYL. This improvement gave him a 80 second victory.
Simon took second place 3 seconds inside his target time to add 1 point to his score, break the deadlock and retain his South Yorkshire County AA title from last year.
Lucy, who was not present to add to her score, took the silver medal on a count back rule leaving Tony with the bronze medal.
| Position | Competitor | Club | Time on Clock | Start Time | Actual Time | Distance | |
| 1 | Chris Bent M70 | Leicester WC | 36:48 | (00:00) | 36:48 | 5km | |
| 2 | Simon Pugh M50 | Rotherham Harriers | 38:08 | (06:27) | 31:41 | 5km | |
| 3 | Imogen Walker U13G | Meadowhead School | 38:25 | (24:19) | 14:06 | 2km | |
| 4 | Ben Heley U13B | Notre Dame School | 38:28 | (31:51) | 06:35 | 1km | |
| 5 | Tony Bell M55 | Lancashire WC | 39:59 | (07:31) | 32:28 | 5km | |
| 6 | Lara MacColl U15G | City of Sheffield & Dearne AC | 40:21 | (27:11) | 13:10 | 2km |
Final Positions – S.Y. Race Walking League – 2018
| Position | Name | Points | Position | Name | Points | Position | Name | Points |
| 1 | Simon Pugh | 74 | 7 | Ellis Simmonds | 61 | =13 | Natalie Myers | 18 |
| 2 | Lucy Walker | 73 | 8 | Ethan Morgan | 46 | =13 | Emily Morgan | 18 |
| 3 | Tony Bell | 73 | 9 | Chris Bent | 40 | 15 | Ben Heley | 16 |
| 4 | Lara MacColl | 71 | 10 | Alex Wellings | 32 | 16 | Peter Bilson | 14 |
| 5 | Imogen Walker | 69 | 11 | Daniel Wellings | 31 | 17 | Isaac Rosson | 13 |
| 6 | Toby Chaplin | 65 | 12 | Lauren Robertson | 20 | 18 | Leo Platt | 12 |