Belgrave finish season strongly with a big turnout in Hendon

Belgrave rounded off their 2026 NAL Championship East season with their best result of the campaign, finishing third on the day at the final fixture on 22 August. Five event victories, many of them from familiar faces delivering once again, helped the team end the season level on points with third-placed Herts Phoenix, with Championship division status retained.

Words by James Roberts. Photos by SwishPics.

The women's programme was excellent from start to finish, with Sian Harry, Lara Mangan, Orla Walsh and Billie McClosky all claiming gold, supported by a host of athletes who doubled up to maximise every point available. The men contributed steadily throughout, with strong performances across the middle-distance and field events. A big thank you to all the officials and everyone for making themselves available for this fixture.

The full results are available on OpenTrack.

Sprints

The men's sprints were competitive throughout, with Neil Holloway the busiest contributor, running fourth in the 400m A string in 51.02 and fifth in the 200m A string in 22.75 in quick succession. Cameron Salter added further points with third in the 400m B string, while Pierre Walker and Ciaran McGuire covered the 100m strings. The men's 4x100m team of Pierre Walker, Ciaran McGuire, Ewan Somerville and Cameron Salter ran 47.00 to score six points, and the 4x400m squad of Neil Holloway, Cameron Salter, Julien Doumergue and Adam Justice produced a strong 3:37.11 to take third and eight points.

For the women's sprints, Sian Harry produced the performance of the match, winning the 400m A string in a superb 54.68, the quickest women's 400m of the championship season, before anchoring the 4x400m relay team to second place. Rachel Donnison matched her with a B string 400m win in 59.23, the pair combining for 22 points from that single event. Carmen Antonia Gadea Arcos continued her consistent season with third in the 200m A string and fourth in the 100m, while Megan Loney chipped in with points in both 100m and 200m B strings and would later add further contribution in the field. The women's 4x100m squad of Carmen Antonia Gadea Arcos, Megan Loney, Karis LeBon and Jodie Albrow ran 51.73 for third and eight points. The 4x400m team of Sian Harry, Lara Mangan, Madeleine Evans and Rachel Donnison finished second in 3:57.75.

In the hurdles, Mike Burslem was dependable as ever in the 400m hurdles earning eight points while Holly Aldridge made a welcome debut appearance in the same event, running a strong 1:06.56 for second place and ten points.

Middle Distance

Belgrave's middle-distance athletes were once again the backbone of the club's points haul, and this was a particularly rich afternoon for the women.

Lara Mangan completed a hat-trick, winning the women's 800m A string from gun to tape for the third successive match, this time in 2:15.47. Emily Barrett made an impressive debut contribution, storming past the field in the last 200m to win the 800m B string in 2:21.38 to give Belgrave maximum points from both strings.

Felicity Williamson-Sarll set the pace in 1500m before finishing second in 4:37.97 for a season’s best. Orla Walsh added a double win for a valuable 22 points on her NAL debut, winning the 1500m B string in 4:43.98 before returning to claim the 3000m A string in 10:34.12.

Billie McClosky again won the women's steeplechase, this time in 7:25.72, despite feeling under the weather. Billie completed a clean sweep of all three steeplechase victories across the championship season for another standout performance.

On the men's side, Benjamin Ringrose-Voase produced another composed 800m in a tactical race, finishing second in the A string in 1:58.20. Sam Sommerville finished in 4:04.54 for fifth in a competitive 1500m A string with Pierre Guillaume in the B string. Oliver Young and Adam Justice covered the 3000m strings, finishing fifth and second in the A and B strings respectively. James Roberts also claimed the steeplechase B string win, doubling up having earlier run the 400m hurdles, while Valentin Rigori added points in the A string steeplechase.

Field Events

The field events continued to be a rich source of points for the team, with multiple athletes competing across several disciplines throughout the day.

Ram Choudhury was once again the men's standout multi-eventer, scoring in the shot put, discus and hammer to accumulate around 23 points from the throwing circle. Nigel Isherwood was equally busy in the horizontal and vertical jumps, finishing second in the high jump A string with a clearance of 1.68m before adding seven more points in the long jump. Valentin Rigori vaulted 3.23m for fifth in the pole vault to add to his steeplechase points, and Julien Doumergue picked up eight points apiece in the long jump B string and javelin B string, a useful double. Edward Chia-Croft threw 44.28m for fourth in the javelin A string while Chris Privett, Adrian Armstrong and Paul Sutherland scored valuable points in Discus, Hammer and Shot respectively.

On the women's side, Martha Bevan was the standout throws contributor after picking up points in the javelin A string (third, 34.17m), shot put, and hammer, totalling 20 points from three events. Mia Callenberg made an assured contribution in the discus B string and hammer A string, throwing 36.74m in the hammer for third place. Neva Jansen threw 37.66m for third in the discus A string, capping off a fantastic season in which she consistently ranked within the top 50 in the UK. Jodie Albrow added points in the triple jump B string and shot-put B string, while Dee Olympio threw a personal best for second in the javelin B string. Georgia Patterson completed a fine day's work in the multi-discipline mould, clearing 1.38m for third in the high jump before adding seven points in the long jump, and Megan Loney rounded off her busy afternoon by taking third in the triple jump A string with 10.30m.

Season Review

Belgrave finish the 2026 NAL Championship East season fourth overall, level on points with third-placed Herts Phoenix, a result that reflects real improvement across the campaign and confirms Championship division status for another year.

The women's programme was the standout story of the season. Lara Mangan and Billie McClosky each won their events in every single match showing consistency that any club would be proud of. Several athletes made significant contributions across multiple events throughout the season, with Carmen Antonia Gadea Arcos, Martha Bevan, Cameron Salter, Mike Burslem, Rachel Donnison, Adrian Armstrong and Nigel Isherwood among those who gave the team points in event after event.

The NAL continues to offer some of the best team competition in British athletics, with a great atmosphere and a competitive programme that helps deliver season and personal bests. The final day result, third on the day, showed what is possible when Belgrave puts out a big squad. We look forward to building on this season's foundations in 2027.

Full results: data.opentrack.run

A string winners: Sian Harry: 400m, 54.68 Lara Mangan: 800m, 2:15.47 Orla Walsh: 3000m, 10:34.12 Billie McClosky: 2000m Steeplechase, 7:25.72

B string winners: Rachel Donnison: 400m, 59.23, Emily Barrett: 800m, 2:21.38 Orla Walsh: 1500m, 4:43.98 James Roberts: 2000m Steeplechase, 11:01.19

Top points contributors (estimated): Megan Loney (~28 pts across sprints, relay & triple jump) · Julien Doumergue (~24 pts across two throws & relay) · Ram Choudhury (~23 pts across three throws) · Carmen Antonia Gadea Arcos (~23 pts across sprints & relay) · Orla Walsh (~22 pts across 1500m & 3000m) · Sian Harry (~22 pts across 400m & relay) · Lara Mangan (~22 pts across s 800m & relay) · Jodie Albrow (~22 pts across two field events & relay) · Martha Bevan (~20 pts across three throws) · Rachel Donnison (~20 pts across 400m & relay) · Nigel Isherwood (~17 pts across high jump & long jump) · Georgia Patterson (~15 pts across high jump & long jump)

Competing clubs: Belgrave Harriers · Chelmsford AC · Havering AC · Herts Phoenix · Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers