World Athletics Championships, the Big Half, Vets 5K and the Highgate Open
This week’s report features a write-up of the World Athletics Championships, results from the Big Half, the Highgate Open and the Vets AC 5K in Battersea.
K-Masters. World Masters Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea. August 22, 2026 – September 3, 2026
Well done to the Heathside’s athletes who competed in the World Masters Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea. Adrian Day sent in the following report:
“Three Finsbury Park regulars competed at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea over the past two weeks – Adrian Essex in the M75 Sprints , Robin Hardy in the M60 Throws Pentathlon (javelin, discus, shot, weight and hammer) and I also ran in all three M65 sprints events (100m, 200m and 400m).
The games were well organised and funded, hot and 8 time zones away from home. Several stadia were in use including the 60,000 capacity World Cup stadium (sadly never more than 1% full – masters athletics isn’t a crowd-puller) and lots of facilities, publicity, tourist tours, side-events and a multitude of volunteers. I’ve been to dozens of international sports events and this was the closest to the Olympic track and field on many fronts. Cooling tents and spray frames went a little way to combating temperatures in the high 30s and sauna-like humidity.
Robin notched a couple of PBs - particularly impressive given his event was held during a storm that blew tents over the fence (will include a shot of flying tents).
Eliminated early from all his heats, Adrian E found a number of excellent places to eat and visited several temples.
The highlight for me was joining a very strong GB 4 x 400 relay team that included the world record holder John Wright and the 2nd and 4th finishers in the individual 400; I’d finished 12th. Of the seven teams, it was quickly obvious the race was between Japan and GB. I lost our narrow lead in the 3rd leg leaving John Wright a lot of ground to make up but the world champion did it with 0.11s to spare – our time was 4min 10.58 secs. The ‘takeaway’ is that if you want a World Championship Gold Medal: (a) enter the world championships (b) be prepared to travel (c) be just fast enough to get in the GB relay team, and (d) ensure that team includes the fastest person ever to run that distance in your age group. Thanks to Coach Israel and the group of masters sprinters who train with me.
GB’s team of around 150 athletes finished 5th in the medal table behind US, Japan, Australia and Germany with over 7000 competitors from over 100 countries taking part. The esprit de corps in the GB team was terrific and wherever you went in Daegu there was a friendly masters athlete to talk to (or gesticulate with).
The next World Champs will be a little closer, in Breda, Holland in 2028 (with the European Indoor Champs in Glasgow also that year and the European Outdoor in Jyväskylä , Finland in August 2027) – I’d encourage any Heathsider over 35 to give it a go.”
Heathside’s results from the championships can be found in last week’s report.
The Big Half 2026, Central London, 6.9.26
56th James Hurrell (V40) 1:12:20 (2nd V40M)
109th Sion Lewis (V40) 1:15:31
152nd Etienne Daries 1:17:21
197th Andrew Robertson (V35) 1:18:29
269th Gareth Creagh (V45) 1:20:02 (9th V45)
325th Sammy Keenan 1:21:01
387th Eliza Bond 1:22:10 (24th SW) PB
422nd David Lee 1:22:47
508th Alfred Wrigley 1:24:11 PB
954th Alex Straight (V40) 1:29:03 PB
969th Peter Otto (U23) 1:29:09
1124th Benjamin Hall 1:30:18
1730th Michael Crook 1:35:03
1848th Stephen Topp (V45) 1:35:50
2121st Ciera Kennedy 1:37:34
2166th Tatyana Potiyenko (V35) 1:37:47
2613rd Anna Lowne 1:40:03
2686th Olivia Sweeney 1:40:20 PB
2807th Femi Ogunkola 1:40:56 PB
2983rd James Connell (V50) 1:41:53
3152nd Duy Bui 1:42:44 PB
4285th Alex Green (V35) 1:47:52
4904th Alvaro Robledo Vega 1:50:12
5131st Martha Murray 1:51:05
6634th Tolessa Adeba (V50) 1:56:57
8409th Marianne Gibson (V55) 2:03:10
8709th Georgios Kousouris 2:04:34
Highgate Autumn Open, Parliament Hill, 9.9.26
Well done to all athletes who completed in the Highgate Open and to Rory who was delighted with his 3000m PB.
100m
Rd 1
H6 3rd Hallam Dixon 11.41s
H4 3rd Dylan Dang (U16B) 12.45s
Rd 2
H5 3rd Hallam Dixon 11.46s
H3 1st Mo Rahman Fofana (V35) 12.10s
H3 2nd Dylan Dang (U16B) 12.22s
400m
H1 4th Tony Killilea (V60) 68.88s
H3 1st Greg Sweet (V20) 55.74s PB
H4 3rd Marc Mullen (V40) 57.39s
1500m
H1 5th Graham Downing (V60) 5:45.06
H2 10th Mark Jefford (V60) 5:09.64
3000m
H1 6th Rose Schofield (U18W) 10:36.95
H2 3rd Tom Aldred (V45) 9:07.13
H2 7th Wayne Morley (V40) 9:27.18
H2 8th Rory Willis (U16B) 9:27.79 PB
High Jump
1st Edith Deakin (U14G) 1.40m
Rory, Wayne and Tom after their 3000m Race at the Highgate Harriers Autumn Open
Discus (1kg)
6th Robin Hardy (V60) 33.02m
Shot (5kg)
5th Robin Hardy (V60) 9.63m PB
Chase the Sun Battersea Park, Battersea 9.6.26
10 Km
72nd Henry Massey (U23) 41:35 PB
Stan Allen Mile, London, 9.9.26
Mile
2nd Sam Martin 5:27.32 PB
BMC Regional Meeting, Gillingham 5.9.26
800m
4th Dylan Mills (U18) 2:00.13 PB
6th Richard Macaulay (V40) 2:01.76
Vets AC 5k Battersea Pk Tues 8th Sep
Well done to Pete Crockford who was the 3rd in his age group and Heathside’s only representative in the Vets AC 5K race in Battersea.
62nd Pete Crockford 21:45 3rd MV65 SB
Parkrun
Well done to the 103 Heathsiders who took part in parkrun last Saturday. Congratulations for first place finishes go to: David Kirk (Ally Paly, 18:26), Chloe Wilkinson (Hampstead, 20:49), Andrew Baldock (Spring Rock, 17:33), Jonny Forsyth (Whitstable, 17:22), James Haynes (Pymmes, 18:35). Full results can be found here.
Compiled by Emilia, with thanks to Adrian Day, Simon Baker, Pete Crockford, Ruth Miller