Race report by Yasmine Chaffer

On the evening of Wednesday 10th January 2024, Barnsley Athletics Club hosted an open track meet at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium in Cudworth. Two striders were in attendance – myself and Seth Kirby. Two distances were on offer – the mile and 2 mile, and you could race one or both for the very reasonable fee of £6.50. 

Everyone I told that I was off to a January track meet had the exact same reaction – ‘OUTDOORS?!?!’. It is true that the freezing temperatures of January do not make ideal conditions for track racing, but one thing I have learnt about myself is that I simply cannot say no to these sorts of events, rain or shine. Luckily, I was forewarned by our coaches at Thursday track sessions that this particular track is infamously cold and windy, so I opted to wear an extra layer under my vest. Aside from the weather, it is an impressive facility and was a nice track to run on. 

Having decided that I am in absolutely no shape to be running at my previous mile pace at the moment, I opted to just run the 2 mile, which I finished in a time of 12:37, and I was pleased to finish my first race in a long time. Seth ran in the same heat as me in an impressive 10:46. He then also ran in the mile which must have been pretty painful after the strong 2 mile effort. 

There are another 2 events in this series (14th Feb, 13th March – with the March date including a 5000m which could serve as a good target race). I highly recommend getting involved if you want to have a go at really pushing yourself – abilities over the mile ranged from 04:34 to 8:05 and races are seeded so you will be with people of similar ability. Pretty tragically, I actually ran my 2 mile at the pace I could run 10k this time last year, but that is beside the point – it’s a fun evening out, the feeling of satisfaction of giving something a good go and a chance to catch up with running friends from across the region, and you don’t always get these mid week opportunities this time of year.

The 1 mile race was won by Joe Firth from Tadcaster in 4.34.2 and the 2 mile race by Kai Sunman from Holmfirth in 9.47.1

Striders Results: