McMurray runs Lee Valley stadium record of 3:57.60 as world M50 and M60 records also fall

Three athletes broke four minutes headed by James McMurray's stadium record 3:57.60 but that was arguably topped by three masters world records, Steve Smythe reports.

Since turning 50, Kojo Kyereme has set a British 3000m record of 8:41.06 and here he targeted the M50 800m mark.

An earlier try in the South of England Championships failed after too fast a start but here he paced perfectly. He was just inside 59 seconds at 400m and around 88 seconds at 600m. Using the strength that saw him run a 2:21:28 marathon, he held on to run 1:58.80 to better the world mark of 1:59.30 by American Mark Williams last year.

M60 Rob McHarg has had some very near misses at his best event the 800m but here he succeeded at the mile surviving a quick start to run 4:50.22 to better American Nolan Shaheed's 4:50.95 from 2012.
That record had lasted 13 years but McHarg's was only to last less than 10 minutes as in the very next race world masters champion Andrew Ridley improved to 4:45.16.

Though Ridley had been having a few injury problems of late, he finished strongly with great support from McHarg but it was a pity the two weren't drawn in the same race.

Last year Ridley won the world masters outdoor 800m and 1500m titles with McHarg winning medals in both and Ridley also bettered the outdoor M60 800m mark but was unable to get it ratified due to a photo finish failing but he did break the outdoor mile record with 4:41.81.

There was also a British W40 mile record for Scot Laura Haggarty who ran 5:02.79 to break Zoe Doyle's record of 5:03.96.

There was a near miss in one of the other mile races for W60 Clare Elms. Had she not been balked on the last lap she would have bettered the listed world mark of 5:30.73 but had to be content with 5:31.69.

A few days earlier she had been on for bettering her own world 1500m record when a fellow competitor fell heavily in front of her and she hurt her ankle hurdling him.

The men's elite mile was an exciting race with Callum Elson showing good form in his first track race since his bad injury at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

He led into the last lap and was ahead on the final bend but James McMurray edged past to win in 3:57.60 to 3:57.82 with Alex Mellon a close third in 3:58.42.

McMurray had won the Leeds Abbey Dash 10km over the winter in 29:00 and this was an outright mile PB.

The women's elite mile lacked the men's depth but did feature a runaway win for the 2023 English National cross-country champion Sarah Astin in a PB 4:42.84.

Jorjia March who won the under-13 race when Astin won the senior title at Bolesworth Castle, was third in 4:52.33.

In the BMC 800m races the pick of the senior performances was Grace Vans Agnew's solo 2:02.81 which was an indoor PB.

In third place Holly Mills, the former world indoor heptathlon fourth-placer, set an outright PB of 2:07.79 to better her previous PB set in Gotzis in her PB score of 6200 in 2022.

World under-20 finalist Charlotte Henrich set an indoor 400m PB of 53.94.