Kettering Town Harriers runner Alice Bennett finished an excellent seventh place in her first British Championships final in Birmingham at the weekend.
The Northampton athlete was up against the very best athletes in Britain at the Alexander Stadium, including world superstar Georgia Hunter Bell.
Competing in the Kettering Town Harriers colours, the Under-23 runner ran a superb heat on Saturday to set a new personal best of 2:04.41 to finish ninth overall.
With just eight runners qualifying for the final, that meant Bennett agonisingly missed out, but with an athlete falling ill overnight, the Northampton ace, who was first reserve, was promoted to compete on Sunday.
That meant she could prepare to run in the final of the British Championships for the first time in her career.
It was a strong field, but there was only ever going to be one winner with worlds silver medal winner Hunter-Bell streaking away to win the race in a Championship record time of 1:55.93.
Bennett concentrated on running her own race and with Hunter Bell stretching the field from the start, she sat back and found herself in a battle for sixth to eighth place on the final bend.
Charging to the line, Bennett finished in a highly credible seventh place, setting another superb PB of 2:03.57.
That is a Harriers record and makes Bennett the fastest female 800m runner in the club’s history.
Bennett was delighted with her run, especially as she has had a delayed start to the season due to an ankle injury.
The Northampton athlete will now look to find some high-quality races so she can improve her time still further and close in on getting below the magical two-minute mark.
