With the Tokyo Olympics approaching, Alastair Aitken looks back on Ann Packer, who won gold and silver at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and her husband Robbie Brightwell, who took a relay silver at the...
On 19 May in the Wimbledon Distance Night on the track in Wimbledon Park Hannah Viner ran a season's best time of 16:49.75. for 5000m and was followed home by Yasmin Goater, who ran a personal best of...
Highgate Harriers were the top club in the Middlesex Young Athletes League in the last season that they competed in before the virus took a hold of events. After the first fixture of 2021 held over...
In the Harrow 3000m Open on 22 April Matthew Buckley (U20) was second in race 6 in 9:51:68. Ross Doran (U20) ran 9:29.34 and Mathew Kaminer (U20) 9:35.27 in race 8. It was in race 3 that Lauren...
Nina Griffith was the seventh woman home in the Cheshire Elite Marathon at Pulford on 25 April. Her time was a new PB of 2:36.45. Griffith will be remembered for her racing in 2020, when she came...
When I was 8 years old, I was taken, with my brother Ian, to my first ever big athletics meeting, which was the AAA Championships at the White City Stadium. My father, Colonel David Aitken, was a...
It was very sad news to hear that on the morning of the 10 th of April 2021 Highgate Harrier John Wild died. He was born on 28 th of February 1927. He joined Highgate Harriers on the 31 st of May 1954...
Catherine Airey and Kani Hinshelwood were the first two in Race 2 of the Covid-19 one lap Challenge at Finsbury Park, on the 4th of April. Both runners ran for Highgate on the track over 3000m last...
Many of Highgate’s 'Star' middle distance runners had a good team victory at the high quality Wimbledon 5k road race on the 11th of April. Even with a tough hill to negotiate in it the 'Gate' runners...
Harry Wakefield of Highgate Harriers, running in the Podium 5k race at Barrowford, Lancashire on 3 April, recorded a very fast personal best time when coming 3rd of 33 in race six of seven. His time...
Robert Wilson, the Highgate Harriers men’s cross country Captain, was the only Highgate runner to compete in the 'Comeback 5000’ m races at Battersea on 31 March. He clocked a time of 15:27.69 in race...
The Night of 10,000m PB's scheduled to be held at Parliament Hill Fields athletics track on June 5th 2021 has been cancelled, and the British Olympic 10,000m Trials and European Cup will now be held...
Olympic walker Vincent Paul Nihill died aged 81 on the 15 December 2020 in a care home, but as a competitive athlete he was among the very best race walkers in the world. For much of his life he lived...
Dominic Ogbechie still, a junior Under 20 athlete on the track & field, is among the best 10 high jumpers, including seniors, in the UK, according to Athletics Weekly’s 2020 rankings. His best...
Even though classified as 'unofficial racing', Fireworks night drew out a bunch of Highgate Harriers to the evening meeting in the Finsbury Park series, on the 5th of November. In the 3000m Ross Doran...
That was Ben Pochee's description of the Highgate Harriers running in the muddy cross country race at the Merchant Taylors’ School course at Northwood on Saturday 31 October. A total of 238 finished...
The thoughts of everyone at Highgate Harriers are with the family, friends and club mates of Chris Smith of Thames Valley Harriers who has tragically died aged 43 whilst out running in the Perthshire...
On October 8th, George Gandy, the international coach, died in hospital aged 80. Anyone who is or was involved with high-level athletics will remember him as, countless Loughborough University...
Finlay Sleeman, an under 17 runner, ran a personal best 800m time on the Harrow track on 24 September in an evening that saw 12 800m and 12 1500 m races. His time was 2:03.13 in 4th place in his 800...
University College student, Henry Murdoch of Highgate Harriers, ran his fastest 3000m to date with a time of 9:01.99 in the Watford Graded meeting on Wednesday 4 September. His previous best was 9:15...
Amy Rutherford ran into second place in the race 14 of the 200m at The Lee Valley Sprint Open on the 28th of August with a time of 28.63. She has been consistent around that mark for the last two...
Highgate’s Charlie Haywood was out running well again on 21 August at Watford. Having run the respectable time of 14:51 in the Hercules 5000m Festival, organised by Ben Noad at Wimbledon recently, he...
Now Highgate Harrier, Tony Richards is 70, he is still performing very well and in the British Masters Championships at Perry Bar, Birmingham on 10th August, in his over 70 category, he won the...
Dominic Smith improved on his personal best of 15:59.71, that he achieved in the Southern League at Parliament Hill earlier in the summer, when, at Wimbledon in the Hercules 5000m Festival on...
Alastair's Favourite Games - 1968 & 1969 (August 2020) MEXICO 50 YEARS LATER (November 2018) Perhaps, the last really unusual venue and amateur Olympics was, in Mexico City in 1968. I went to Mexico...