City of Stoke Athletics Club

The City of Stoke Veterans squad began their 2026 campaign with an excellent showing at the opening Midland Track and Field fixture of the season.

A team of just eight athletes and one official travelled to Telford, with competitor ages ranging from 42 up to 73 years old.

Small in number but huge in heart, club members competed across a variety of events, many of which they don’t specialise in, to ensure the women placed sixth overall, with the men finishing fourth.

With the exception of one pulled hamstring, the team left with smiles on their faces.

Special mention goes to Jo Donnelly and Donna Sherwin who made up the entire women’s team on the night, and Derek Yeomans who was returning back to individual competition after a near 60 year break.

If you can help with the next ‘Vets sports day’ at Birchfield’s Alexander Stadium on Wednesday 20th May, please get in touch. All ages and abilities are welcome, with opportunities to compete and/or officiate available.

Saturday saw some of City of Stoke’s younger athletes take on the London Mini Marathon Championships—an iconic event, with these athletes following in the footsteps of world champions such as Jake Wightman, Keely Hodgkinson, Josh Kerr and Sir Mo Farah, who all competed here in their younger years.

You needed to qualify and come in the top 6 for your region to compete, we had 4 competing for the West Midlands This in itself is an amazing achievement.

Competing in the Under 18s category we had 3 girls, Tilly was the first counter for the West Midlands finishing in a fantastic 32nd not far behind was Lara in 54th place and 3rd counter and finally Grace in 58th place and 5th counter for the West Midlands, the team finished 10th place overall.

Competing in the Under 16s category we had Zara who had an amazing run in 18th place and 1st counter for the team, who finished a fantastic 5th place.

Well done Girls

Good luck to all our athletes, parents and supporters who are competing in the London Marathon today, we’re with you every step of the way… you’ve got this!!!! 🏃🏃‍♀️❤️🤍🖤

Good luck to all our athletes competing in the London 2026 mini Marathon today 🤞🏻🤞🏻❤️🤍🖤

Aria Aberley-Barker and Josh Roura have just returned from Valencia where they combined an holiday, warm weather training and a race - the Valencia 5k.
Both are track specialists and rarely run road races of any sort so this was slightly out of their comfort zones. However, they both put their fitness to the test before hitting the track.
A very successful day was had by both with Josh recording 17:05 for 11th place despite going off a little too fast.
Aria was more conservative in her start which meant that she finished strongly and crossed the line in 1st place with a big PB of 17:55.
Both are adamant that they can go much faster as track 800s and Steeplechases await them

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWhV0c7jDiX/?igsh=eTRzeG5hemg0c2E5

That’s a wrap on our pre-season opener!

Did it create some challenges? Absolutely… the weather was horrendous, and competitors, spectators and officials were cold to the bone. But despite it all, it turned out to be a great day with plenty of highs and lows.

We saw personal bests, we saw disappointment, but most importantly, we set a solid benchmark for the season ahead.

A massive shoutout to everyone who braved the conditions, your determination and resilience didn’t go unnoticed. And a very special mention to all the volunteers who worked so hard to make today happen… you’re truly amazing 🌟

On to the season ahead!

Little update to the recent Woollaton park and the clubs athletes

Several of our female athletes recently travelled to Woollaton Park in Nottingham to compete in the fantastic Inter Counties Cross Country race, which was combined with the Cross Challenge on the same day.

First race of the day for the girls was the U11 2km Cross Challenge race in which we had 1 runner. Gabriella ran a really strong race against very strong competitors and came home in an excellent 5th place.
Following this was the U13s girls running a very testing 3km course for the Inter County Championships. We had 3 girls running in this race, all currently in the younger year of the age group, and all wearing their Staffs County vest with pride. There were over 300 of the best runners in the country in this race and it was the girls first experience of being held in single file pens. Luna-Rae had a great race, she was let out of the team pen last so had to work really hard for her place which she did well and finished in a strong 3rd place for Staffs. Evie D ran a very strong race throughout and fought hard for her position against some very strong runners and finished in 4th place for Staffs, followed by Lilly who also ran really well on a very tough course, fought hard for her place and came back in 6th place for the County. Well done girls!
Finally it was the turn of the U15 girls who ran a very challenging 4km course. We again had 3 runners representing Staffordshire in this race who all ran really well and wore their County vests with pride.
Evie M worked really hard throughout the whole race and did a great job coming back 1st for the Staffs team. She was followed home by Shauna who again ran a really strong race against very strong runners and came back 3rd for Staffs. Maisie worked really hard throughout the whole race, ran really well and came back in 7th place for Staffs.

With over 300 runners in each of the Inter County races, these girls have done a fantastic job and have represented their County so well. Well done everyone 👏👏

The Wilmslow Half Marathon on 22nd March was being used as a qualifying race for England Masters. Emma Taylor has recently returned to racing and is getting stronger and showed that she is heading in the right direction as she qualified as 3rd lady in her age group with a fantastic time of 80:34.
It was Donna’s 1st road race since May 25 and she ran brilliantly finishing 2nd in her group with a 83:41. An impressive time but she will get quicker.
Both have qualified to represent England Masters
Dave Morris narrowly missed out on selection but his time of 72:19 is his best for 3 years and reflects how strong he is this year

City of StokeAC’s Chris Gidlow is going from strength to strength and getting faster as he ages.
On Sunday, the 46 year old smashed through the 70 min barrier at the Wilmslow Half Marathon.
His 69:28 saw him come 2nd in his age group and 15th overall out of 3727 runners

City of Stoke AC had three of their young and upcoming stars competing at the National Primary Cross-Country Finals this weekend. The event is widely regarded as the premier, well-organised and highly competitive Cross country competition, bridging the gap to English Schools’ events.
Seb capped off an outstanding cross-country season with a dominant performance. Taking the lead early in the race, he continued to extend his advantage and crossed the finish line an incredible 28 seconds ahead of the field and winning the gold medal. Seb is currently ranked number one in the country for his age group.
In the Year 5 boys’ race, Theo —who has also enjoyed a fantastic season—made a strong start, sitting in 6th place early on. Maintaining an excellent pace throughout, he pushed on to finish an impressive 4th overall and only 3 secs off the bronze medal. Theo is now ranked among the top five runners in the country for his age.
Finally, Gabriella delivered another superb performance in the Year 6 girls’ race. Starting strongly, she showed great determination and resilience, and despite being pulled back during the race, she finished strongly in 19th place out of 200 runners. Gabriella is also ranked within the top 20 nationally for her age group.
All three athletes have worked incredibly hard this season and truly represent everything City of Stoke AC stands for.