Competing in the Podium 5k in Leicester on 15th March 2025 Katie Snowden (Herne Hill) set a new best time for a Surrey athlete of 15:18 when winning the race. This was an improvement on the previous best of 15:23 which she set in 2023. Georgie Grgec (Herne Hill) was 3rd in the race with a time equalling the previous best performance.
With great sadness we must report the death of Don Turner. Don, A member of Epsom and Ewell Harriers for 70 years, dedicated most of his life to athletics in
Surrey, the southeast and beyond.
Don was an international standard distance runner. He ran 65 marathons in his
career, but his real talent was in longer races. He broke the World record for a 6-
hour track run in appalling conditions on the cinders at Stompond Lane. He twice
won the race around the Isle of Man TT course, and in the 1962 Comrades Marathon
in South Africa (54 miles and 4,000ft of ascent). He was part of a team of 3 Surrey
runners who finished in the first 4 places. Altogether he ran 135 races at distances
longer than 26.2 miles.
When he stopped running Don threw himself into athletics officiating and
administration. He has been president and/or secretary and/or treasurer and /or
Race Organizer, of his club, of Surrey Athletics, of SEAA, of South of the Thames
Cross Country Association and many more.
As an official his first love was timekeeping. He inspired all officials who worked with
him to appreciate the high standards of accuracy that are essential. He was also an
early master of photo finish. In the heyday of international competitions at Crystal
Palace Don Turner would be in the photo finish booth. In 1981 he worked with Chris
Brasher and John Disley to organise the first London marathon.
Don would be welcomed as an official at the highest level of Athletics competitions.
But probably his most endearing feature was that he was just as happy to work at
the grass roots of the sport. He was an ever present at local young athletes meetings
and mid-week fixtures.
Athletics in Surrey and the Southeast will miss Don Turner. As an official, but more
importantly as a friend, he is a great loss.
A memorial service will be held at 2pm on 10 April 2025 at St Johns Church, Stoneleigh KT19 0QZ to be followed by a wake at The Station Pub on Stoneleigh Broadway. The family would love you to join them to celebrate Don’s many achievements and contributions to the community.
[Just to add a warning about transport options. Both St Johns Church and the Station Hotel are within 50 metres of Stoneleigh station, one one each side of the track. But to deter commuter cars, parking is seriously restricted for at least half a mile around. And those streets that do allow parking have limited space because of access to driveways. There is no car park at the station, the church or the Station Hotel. Suggest you go by train or be prepared to walk some distance.]
CAU INTER-COUNTY CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS, NOTTINGHAM, 8TH MARCH 2025.
A GREAT DAY FOR SURREY - OUR TEAMS WON 6 OF THE 10 TEAM EVENTS (U15B/U17M/U13G/U15G/U17W/SW) AND WERE 2ND (SM) AND 3RD (U20W) IN 2 OTHERS.
WE HAD 2 INDIVIDUAL WINNERS - KATIE PYE (AFD) & ALEX LENNON (S&D).
CAU INTER-COUNTY CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS, NOTTINGHAM, 8TH MARCH 2025.
A huge congratulations and thankyou to everyone who was involved in yesterday's CAU championship in Nottingham.
Not only did we win the under 13 girls, under 15 girls, under 17 girls,Senior Women, Under 15 boys, Under 17 boys and 3rd in the Under 20 women and right at the end of the day 2nd in the Senior men’s team competition, which also meant we won The Ken Rickhuss trophy for best overall county.
We also had plenty of individual medals Katie Pye 1st under 17 woman and finally a National medal for Sabrina Coppola Johanssen in 3rd. In the under 20 men Matt Pickering finished 4th and Jacob Pearce 9th. Anna Wait 7th under 13 girls. In the under 15 boys Caspian Holmes’s 3rd and a young man who is on form Alex Lennon won the under 17 mens title with Oliver Jermy 7th. In the under 15 girls Kitty Scott 1st led in a phenomenal team with Poppy Guest 8th. Sam Eglen senior man, ran a fantastic second half to bring him in a well deserved 7th place with a very proud father shouting him on from the side lines. In the Senior Women Suzy Monk finished 9th and she has consistently turned out for her county over many years.
When I look at the senior men and women it is with great pride that so many of these athletes have been with Surrey since they were juniors.
This day could not have been achieved without the support of some very enthusiast parents, friends and coaches who have driven these athletes all over the country, constantly turning out in all weathers to support or hold a stop watch or to give them a hug when it hasn’t gone well.
Last but by no means least a big thankyou to our team managers, Frances Ratchford who arrived at the course very early to pick up numbers and to look after the early arrivals. Phil Aiken who was at Surbiton station at the crack of dawn to help load up the coach, and who has an amazing wealth of knowledge on the sport. Rob Russell who even though he has moved to Devon still came up to organise the Senior and under 20 mens teams and to pick up the last remaining trophy of the day.Then of course we have Andrew Davies, Anne Hegvold, Stewart Flack, Maureen and Nick Hancock and Andrew Collings who not only have taken on the role of Surrey team managers over the last few years but also coach some of the athletes who qualified. Outstanding contribution.
And what would we do without Patricia and Michael Cole who organise and distribute the kit to eager athletes and Ray and Marie Anne Cowper who carry everything to and from the coach, put up and take down tents and turn their hand to anything.
What an amazing team Surrey is and a privilege to be part of it
Rachel Disley - 9/3/2025EUROPEAN INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS, APELDOORN, NETHERLANDS, 6TH/9TH MARCH 2025.
The following Surrey athletes have been selected to represent Great Britain & Northern Ireland:-
Morgan Lake (WSEH) - High Jump Romell Glave (Croydon) - 60m (subsequently withdrew from team)
Conor Kelly (Hercules Wimbledon) has been selected as part of the Ireland team for the mixed 4x400m.
SURREY UNDER-20 MEN & SENIOR MEN INDOOR 400M RECORDS
Competing in the Irish Senior Indoor Championships held at Abbotstown on 22/23 February 2025 Conor Kelly (Hercules Wimbledon) broke the Surrey U20M record of 46.80, which he set 2 weeks earlier, on two occasions. The record now stands at 46.54. This performance is also better than the previous Surrey SM record of 46.59 which was set by Paul Harmsworth (Team Solent) in March 1987.
UK INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS & EUROPEAN TRIALS, BIRMINGHAM, 22/23 FEBRUARY 2025
OWEN HEARD RETAINS HIS POLE VAULT TITLE. 60M BRONZE FOR CHEYANNE EVANS-GRAY.
HIGH JUMP GOLD FOR MORGAN LAKE.
Owen Heard (Harrow) cleared 5.26m to win the Men's Pole Vault for the second year running. Cheyanne Evans-Gray (Croydon) was timed at 7.26 for third place in the Women's 60m.
Morgan Lake (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow) cleared 1.94m to retain her title in the Women's High Jump.
Competing in the Sutcliffe Indoor 60s meeting held at Eltham on 16th February 2025 Piers Spencer-Simms (Blackheath & Bromley) has set a new Surrey U15B Record for 60m. His time of 6.97 beat the previous record of 7.00 which he set in December 2024.
Congratulations everyone especially Laura, Graham, Fran and Christabel our county team managers.
U15 BOYS 1ST WIN GOLD
U15 GIRLS 1ST WIN GOLD
U13 GIRLS 1ST GOLD
U13 BOYS 3RD BRONZE
U11 GIRLS 1ST WIN GOLD
U11 BOYS 2ND SILVER
Full results to follow.
You can select news items for a specific year by clicking on the year below:-
SURREY COUNTY OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2025
Due to the high numbers of athletes entering our T&F Championships (Surrey is one of the biggest county champs in the country), the event has significantly over-run the last couple of years. A few events were moved to a different day last year but that didn't make enough of a difference so the decision has been taken to move more events this year - please see below for details:
Saturday 12th April - at WAAC, Kingston - same day as Surrey Disability Champs.
All sprint hurdles
All steeplechase events
Entries have now opened at the following link. Closing date 4th April:
https://www.athletics.app/wedstrijd/main/42533/
Sunday 18th May - at WAAC, Kingston - same day as Surrey Masters Champs.
All long hurdles (300H and 400H)
1500m for U17 M&W, U20 M&W, SM&SW
3000m for U15 B&G, U17 M&W, U20 M&W
5000m for SM&SW
Sat 10th / Sun 11th May - WAAC, Kingston
All other events.
Please note that for field events, with the exception of HJ and PV, if there are more than 15 entries, the event may be split into two pools. Each athlete will have three attempts. The top 8 athletes across the two pools will then get a further three attempts, with all six attempts counting towards the final result.
Fell / Mountain running – Surrey Team
In 2024 four women from Surrey competed in the UK inter-counties mountain race
championships in the Lake District. The three scoring runners placed 15th, 20th and
21st putting the Surrey team in 5th place ahead of many more mountainous
counties. A Surrey athlete was the first U23.
We plan to have a Surrey team in the 2025 event. It will take place on Saturday
14th June in North Yorkshire. For now, we are asking for expressions of interest from
any Surrey athlete who might wish to be considered. There will not be a selection
race, but we would expect runners to be able to show experience and aptitude in this
type of event.
You will find more information on the event at ICMR webpage and the Senior Rules
for 2025. Also fellrunner.org.uk has information about races ahead of the
championship race.
Anyone interested should contact us as soon as possible, stating your level of
experience and current form, at phil.aiken@surreyathletics.uk.
SURREY COUNTY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The SCAA 2025 AGM will be held on Friday, 28th March 2025 at The Leatherhead Institute, 67 High Street, Leatherhead KT22 8AH commencing at 7:30pm. Notices have been sent to all member clubs.
HURDLES WORKSHOP, DWLC, CARSHALTON, 16TH MARCH 2025
The Surrey Athletics Coaching & Development Committee in partnership with the Bruce Longden Coaching Foundation have organised a hurdles workshop for Sprint and Long Hurdles. Lorna Boothe will take the sprint hurdles and Marina Armstrong the long hurdles. It will be open to athletes aged 15 and above, and as always with our workshops or training days, coaches will be able to attend free of charge.
SPRINT HURDLES WORKSHOP TO BE HELD ON SUNDAY 16th MARCH 2025 at the DAVID WEIR CENTRE, MIDDLETON ROAD, CARSHALTON SM5 1SL - START TIME 12.00PM UNTIL 2.OOPM.
ATHLETES WHO WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND, PLEASE COMPLETE THE LINKS BELOW. PAYMENT FOR THE WORKSHOP IS £13.
If the links below fail, then you can apply directly to the following website to join the workshop: Brucelongdenfoundation.com. Go to the opening page and towards the bottom of the page you will see the link for the hurdles workshop.
REQUESTS FOR PAYMENT FROM SURREY ATHLETICS OFFICIALS
If you are asked for an unexpected payment appearing to come from SCAA then please contact the Treasurer email: treasurer@surreyathletics.uk.
SURREY COUNTY ATHLETICS HISTORICAL INFORMATION - CAN YOU HELP?
Keith Burchell currently holds the archives for the Surrey County AAA and Surrey County WAAA. These are far from being complete. If you have any past information such as programmes, committee minutes, championship results etc that you are thinking of disposing then please contact Keith Burchell. In particular, sets of County Championship results prior to 1980 are sought.
RESPECT TO OUR TEAM MANAGERS
Surrey County Athletic Association does not accept or condone the use of offensive behaviour towards or abuse or bullying of team managers under any circumstances. Team managers are all volunteers and make their decisions on the basis of information available to them. While not everyone is likely to agree with all of their decisions they must respect them and all the hours of work and agonising that go into the difficult task these team managers carry out in the interests of encouraging athletics in the county.
CARDIAC RISK IN THE YOUNG
England Athletics is publicising this charity.
CRY is a charity that was established to raise awareness of conditions that can lead to the sudden cardiac death of young people. They operate a screening programme at a number of clinics around the UK and support this with mobile units that travel to other locations.
Full information about CRY and their services can be found on their website at www.c-r-y.org.uk. Young people between the age of 14 and 35 who would like to have cardiac testing can go to www.testmyheart.org.
You can also see www.uka.org.uk/governance/health-safety/cardiac-screening-for-athletes/ for information on work being done by UKA in this area.
Following the death of a young member of Croydon Harriers, Mike Fleet has been promoting this charity for several years and anyone wishing to have copies of his photographs has been asked to make a donation to CRY. Further, he has been exchanging for donations bookmarks signed by famous athletes to raise funds for this charity. We thank those of you who have shown your support in the past.
Mike Fleet has started an Olympians Charity "Art" project. His request is to Olympic athletes who would be willing to contribute a drawing, sketch or even a "work of art". The target is to obtain 100 items. Currently contributions include matchstick men and women, smiley faces, fine portraits, crayoned landscapes and water colours. Amongst the Surrey contributors are Shirley Cawley, Judy Vernon, Jack Parker and Martyn Rooney with promises from Shireen Bailey and Donna Fraser. Mike has also received pictures from Olympic Gold medallists, David Hemery, Kelly Holmes, Anne Packer and Tessa Sanderson. The plan is for a one-off book of the boldly signed originals to be publicly auctioned, and for the submitted art, to feature in a limited edition book of prints for general sale.
Contributions on A4 duplicating paper should be sent to Mike at 2 Ridge Park, Purley, Surrey, CR8 3PN. Any queries, please call 020 8647 1341.
BOOKING REQUEST
FORMS FOR PHOTO-FINISH, RACE CLOCK, RADIOS & FIELD COUNTDOWN CLOCKS
SCAA has photo finish, race clock, radios and field countdown clocks for hire. You can download forms to request a booking for any of these by clicking on the buttons below. The forms come in either MS
Word or Adobe PDF format.
