Athletics Success for St Mary’s Students and Alumni

Athletes and Alumni of the Endurance Performance Programme at St Mary’s University, Twickenham have seen success in athletics competitions in recent months.

St Mary’s Student Becky Briggs won the women’s race in the recent Manchester Marathon. Becky took five minutes off her personal best (PB) to complete the race in a time of 2:29:04, giving her a qualification time for the Commonwealth Games later in the year in Birmingham.

The result follows Becky’s performance at the 2021 London Marathon, in which she finished as the fifth-place British athlete in the women’s Elite Race, setting her previous PB of 02:34:34. Becky was joined in this race by fellow St Mary’s Alumna Charlie Purdue who finished as the first placed British woman, and tenth place overall in the elite women’s race. Charlie has since also competed in the Boston Marathon, finishing ninth in the women’s Elite race, in a time of 2:25:26.

In the Vitality London 10k, alumnus and former Sports Scholar Ellis Cross made headlines around the world as he defeated fellow alumnus and multiple global champion Sir Mo Farah to win the race. Ellis completed the 10km course, which takes in landmarks around the centre of London, in 28:40, with Sir Mo just four seconds behind.

After the race Sir Mo said of Ellis’s performance, “I wanted to test myself and see where I was. I would have loved to have come out here and win but Ellis did really well and deserved it.”

Speaking of Becky and Ellis’s achievements, St Mary’s Head of Sport Andrew Reid-Smith said, “It’s great to see St Mary’s students past and present developing into these longer track and road races and performing well. Charlie is a talented performer having run some of the fastest marathon times by any GB athlete, and Becky is clearly learning quickly and her run in Manchester shows the talent that she has.

“Mo’s record in these events is unparalleled and It was wonderful to see him competing again after being out for so long with injury. Ellis should be proud of his run and Mo was gracious in acknowledging the confidence and quality of the run that Ellis produced.”