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. 

PositionCompetitorClubTime on ClockStart TimeActual TimeDistance
1Lucy Walker U15GMeadowhead School31:59(12:42)19:173km
2Simon Pugh M55Rotherham Harriers32:01(00:00)32:015km
3Toby Chaplin U13BCity of Sheffield & Dearne32:24(19:23)13:012km
4Lara MacColl U15GCity of Sheffield & Dearne32:28(13:20)19:083km

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.

PositionCompetitorClubTime on ClockStart TimeActual TimeDistance
1Lara MacColl (U15G)City of Sheffield & Dearne31:25(12:45)18:403km
2Natalie Myers (SW)City of Sheffield & Dearne31:44(05:00)26:445km
3Lucy Walker (U15G)2Dash31:51(12:48)19:033km
4Simon Pugh (M55)Rotherham Harriers31:58(00:00)31:585km
5Tony Bell (M50)Lancashire WC32:54(00:51)32:035km

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.

PositionCompetitorClubTime on ClockStart TimeActual TimeDistance
1Simon Pugh (M55)Rotherham Harriers31:25(13:05)18:203km
2Tony Bell (M50)Lancs WC31:37(00:00)31:375km
3Imogen WalkerGreenhill School31:45(24:57)06:481km
4Toby Chaplin(U13B)City of Sheffield & Dearne32:10(18:43)13:272km

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 PositionCompetitorClubActual TimeTarget TimeVarianceHandicap Position
1Simon Pugh (M55)Rotherham05:4905:37+12 seconds3
2Ethan Morgan (U13)Silverdale06:2106:06+15 seconds4
3Ellis Simmonds (U13)Dobcroft06:2106:06+15 seconds5
4Lauren Robertson (U11)Abbey Lane06:5506:51+04 seconds1
5Emily Morgan (U11)Dobcroft06;5806:54+04 seconds2
6Daniel Wellings (U11)Abbey Lane08:3907:11+01:286
7Leo Platt (U11)Dobcroft10:0606:47+03:199
8Isaac Rosson (U11)Dobcroft10:0606:53+03:138
9Peter Bilson (M35)City of Sheffield & Dearne13:0609:58+03:087

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. 

PositionCompetitorClubTime on ClockStart TimeActual TimeDistance
1Tony Bell M55Lancashire Walking Club31:22(00:11)31:115km
2Alex Wellings U13GMeadowhead School31:34(24:42)06:521km
3Toby Chaplain U13BCity of Sheffield & Dearne AC31:42(18:41)13:012km
4Daniel Wellings U11BAbby Lane School32:11(27:58)04:13600m
5Simon Pugh M55Rotherham Harriers32:21(00:00)32:215km
6Ethan Morgan U13BSilverdale School32:29(25:35)06:541km
7Lara MacColl U15GCity of Sheffield & Dearne AC33:08(19:16)13:522km

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.

PositionCompetitorClubTime on ClockStart TimeActual TimeDistance
1Lucy Walker U15G2Dash31:12(12:37)18:353km
2Simon Pugh M565Rotherham Harriers31:21(00:00)31:215km
3Ellis SimmondsDobcroft School31:25(25:57)05:281km
4Lara MacColl U15GCity of Sheffield & Dearne AC31:38(12:50)18:483km
5Ethan Morgan U13BSilverdale School31:44(18:45)12:592km
6Alex Wellings U13GMeadowhead School32:35(25:14)07:211km
7Tony Bell M55Lancashire WC31:22(00:11)31:105km

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. 

PositionCompetitorClubTime on ClockStart TimeActual TimeDistance
1Chris Bent M70Buxton AC39:13(00:00)39:135km
2Imogen Walker U13GGreenhill School39:20(25:35)13:452km
3Lara MacColl U15GCity of Sheffield & Dearne AC39:35(21:02)18:333km
4Lucy Walker U15G2Dash39:45(21:15)18:303km
5Ellis Simmonds U13BDobcroft School40:16(28:20)11:562km
6Tony Bell M55Lancashire WC40:46(08:52)31:545km

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.

PositionCompetitorClubTime on ClockStart TimeActual TimeDistance
1Tony Bell M55Lancashire WC31:03(00:16)30:475km
2Lara MacColl U15GCity of Sheffield & Dearne AC31:04(19:20)11:442km
3Imogen Walker U13GMeadowhead School31:06(24:39)06:271km
4Lucy Walker2Dash31:06(19:22)11:442km
5Toby Chaplin U13BCity of Sheffield & Dearne AC31:38(18:33)13:052km
6Simon Pugh M55Rotherham Harriers31:39(00:00)31:395km
7Ellis Simmonds U13BSilverdale School31:48(22:38)09:101.5km

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.

PositionCompetitorClubTime on ClockStart TimeActual TimeDistance
1Chris Bent M70Leicester WC36:48(00:00)36:485km
2Simon Pugh M50Rotherham Harriers38:08(06:27)31:415km
3Imogen Walker U13GMeadowhead School38:25(24:19)14:062km
4Ben Heley U13BNotre Dame School38:28(31:51)06:351km
5Tony Bell M55Lancashire WC39:59(07:31)32:285km
6Lara MacColl U15GCity of Sheffield & Dearne AC40:21(27:11)13:102km

Final Positions – S.Y. Race Walking League – 2018

PositionNamePointsPositionNamePointsPositionNamePoints
1Simon Pugh747Ellis Simmonds61=13Natalie Myers18
2Lucy Walker738Ethan Morgan46=13Emily Morgan18
3Tony Bell739Chris Bent4015Ben Heley16
4Lara MacColl7110Alex Wellings3216Peter Bilson14
5Imogen Walker6911Daniel Wellings3117Isaac Rosson13
6Toby Chaplin6512Lauren Robertson2018Leo Platt12
League Results 2018