Kieran Maxwell Memorial Open – 16/04/2023

by Sam Etherington

Myself, Ryan & Alex had entered the 800m in the Kieran Maxwell Memorial Open, this event was hosted by Darlington Harriers and had a great turnout.

In good fashion, me and Ryan got there with very little time to get a warm up done before being called up to the start where they set off the younger age groups first and worked their way up to the u17’s/seniors race. Alex joined us not long after having managed to get a good warm up in, and we all had our worthy spikes ready to change into

When it came to the seniors race, Alex & Ryan were called up and I was left for the next race initially with having a slower estimated time, but due to there being a few absences from their race I was moved up to the start block in lane 7 which was a shock to the system as I was stood waiting to see a good race unfold before mine. Anyways we lined up, set off and we all got a good start, settling in to a good pace throughout the first lap.

For most of the race, I was a part of the middle group which was lead by Alex who was cruising round, with Ryan around 10 meters adrift. I thought with 300m to go I could try and push up a bit but with around 150 to go my legs said otherwise. From this point, Alex was coming into the finish in front of his group and I had Ryan gaining on me and he caught me with less than 100m to go, I may have gave him a nice word of encouragement as he flew past but that’s one to stay in the race

Upon finishing, I had managed to get a PB of 2:16, while Ryan managed better than he initially thought he would with 2:15 and Alex coming in with 2:11 after a steady week

Thanks to all who organised the event and we will be having another crack at an 800 in the near future

Sam