Dunne and Hollyer lead charge as Chichester athletes get back on track

First out of the blocks were under-20 Liam Dunne and under-17 Fleur Hollyer who lined up at Worthing and Lee Valley, both athletes showing the enforced break from competition had not affected their fitness.

Dunne set a new lifetime best with a 1.54.86 clocking on a sweltering evening in breaking the Chichester under-20 club record.

He has now joined the exclusive sub four-minute barrier with a 3.59.29 clocking in London, which puts him inside the top 20 in the UK for his age group.

Hollyer competed in the 100m at the truncated annual London Inter-Club Challenge at the Lee Valley centre in north London. Hollyer took second place in a new PB time of 13.14sec.

She returned to Lee Valley for the 200m and posted a new PB of 27.06sec.

Hollyer was also among nine Chichester Runners who lined up in the first open meeting at the Mountbatten Centre on Sunday and she was once again just outside 13 seconds for the 100m, followed by 27.65. Also showing his training has paid off in recent months at Chichester University was DJ Barth with a 12.03 clocking over 100m that equalled his previous best.

Opting for the 300m distance were Amelie McGurk and Amy Peters, who both bettered their target times with PBs of 47.7 and 48.63.

A quartet ined up for the 800m with under-17 Cerys Dickinson fastest at 2.31.57 followed by under-15 Gemma Appleton in 2.55.98, equalling her previous best. Two under-13s were in action with Eden Macdonald clocking 2.56.94 and Ethan O’Donnell 3.25.0. Dickinson doubled up in the 1500m and recorded a new lifetime best of 5.11.66.

Chi senior Conrad Meagher dipped under the 10 minute barrier with a 9.57.49 clocking in the 3000m. Alfie Spurle ran a season’s best of 25.92 in the under-20 men’s 200m.

At the British Championships in Manchester, two 400m runners with Chichester links were in action. Ollie Smith notched 49.60 but couldn’t progress beyond the heats while Harries ran 46.67 in the heats, and was fourth in the final.