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The centrepiece to the British indoor season gets underway in Birmingham tomorrow, with a whole raft of world-class international athletes set to descend upon The National Indoor Arena. The Aviva Grand Prix offers the majority of British entrants their last, and most competitive, taste of action before they set sail for Istanbul and the IAAF World Indoor Championships in three weeks time. Saturday also promises to unveil several rivalries between those elite athletes set to clash throughout 2012, with many opening their competitive accounts fo...

One of the enduring images of last weekend's Aviva World Trials is sure to be that of the beaming smile on Lewis Moses' face after crossing the finish line to win the men's 1500m title. It was a moment that represented a massive amount of hard work coming to fruition and the fulfilment of a dream. Moses could not have asked for much more from the start of 2012; a personal best and national title, which combined mean that he will represent Great Britain for the first time at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul. Moses was under intense pre...

The countdown to the London 2012 Olympic Games has begun for many of Great Britain’s chief selection hopes with the commencement of the indoor season several weeks ago. Next month’s World Indoor Championships in Istanbul provide an early opportunity for the athletes to test their mettle under the spotlights of a global domain that will demand much more of them come August. Although, rivalries on home soil must come to a head first, with the Indoor UK Trials and Championships taking place in Sheffield today and tomorrow.   The ...

It is getting to the time of year that fans of distance running love; big races seem to be upon us almost every weekend with action occurring both in the indoor arenas and the muddy parks of Britain. The Armagh International 5k provided some mid-week respite as a high quality field gathered in the small Northern Irish town for possibly the best 5k road race in Britain. There was no shortage of excitement as the field of 68 men raced around the one kilomtre circuit, flanked closely by spectators providing an atmosphere that very few similar eve...

The McCain Indoor City Challenge took place in Sheffield on Saturday and spectators that took advantage of free admission were treated to a feast of fine performances from some of the country’s top athletes. The event also got a huge thumbs up from participants who enjoyed the format of the competition and the opportunity to compete in a high profile event in front of an enthusiastic crowd.   World silver medalist Jessica Ennis was in action in her home city and she helped the Sheffield Flames to their total of 197.5 points, enough ...

I have attended the last two BUCS Cross Country Championships’, held in Stirling and Birmingham, and I have found on each occasion it is an event which supersedes many others in its ability to unerringly represent athletics in its purest, most addictive form. At the height of Saturday’s races the competition between the UK’s rival universities will border on tribal proportions. The cauldron of noise which will encase Cardiff’s Blackweir Fields and the atmosphere created by each team’s set of marauding supporters, ...

SOUTH OF ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS   Brighton played host to the South of England Championships and spectators who braved the cold weather were rewarded with a number of epic battles and fine performances.    In the Junior Men’s race there was a victory, and a first South of England medal, for Niall Fleming. The Shaftesbury Barnet athlete saw off challenges from the in-form Kieran Clements and Harvey Dixon to win one of the tightest races of the day. This performance could not have came at a better time for Fleming who has end...

With the standard New Year curtain-raiser at Edinburgh out of the way, attention turns to the prestigious championship races which run the course of the remaining months in this cross-country season. Approaches to said championships differ, but for many athletes, the UK Cross Challenge at Cardiff tomorrow offers the perfect opportunity to take stock of fitness ahead of a relentless period of races.   Just four of those who raced in the elite categories at the Great Edinburgh Cross-Country line up in Wales tomorrow, with Frank Tickner, Jon...

After a frustrating 2010, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson returned to form in 2011 and has her sights set on further progress in the coming year. The Liverpool Harrier, who turned nineteen on January 9th, has undoubted talent and is hoping for the opportunity to fulfill her potential in 2012 and beyond.   Her 2010 season was written off by patella tendinopathy, commonly known as ‘jumper’s knee’ which left a bitter taste for one of Great Britain’s leading heptathlon prospects. She explains: “I decided no...

The balance between cross-country and track has long been a tricky equation to solve for distance athletes. The absence of the former at the prestigious Olympic Games often marks it down as a winter appetiser for each summer’s main meal on tracks around the world. Consequently, success over mud and hills is often footnoted with a need to represent said success in a recognised track discipline. This argument is painfully transparent when track form becomes a concern for an individual medallist at the European Cross-Country Championships. ...