Battersea Park November 30th 2025
With an entry limit of 500, the event was heavily oversubscribed, despite the clash with the previous day’s South of England Cross-Country Championship at Horsenden Hill. Those who did compete delivered many top-class performances throughout the day.
The Headline Performance
W65 Monica Williamson stole the show with a British all-time age-group record of 19:53—an impressive mark that underlines the quality on display.
Men’s Main Race
The men’s race played out across a congested park layout, with M40 James Copeland showing the best tactical awareness by sprinting clear in the final kilometre to claim victory in 15:04, just three seconds outside his lifetime best. Copeland has had an excellent 2025 campaign, setting a 10km personal best of 30:41 and a half-marathon time of 68:51.
New M35 Thomas Almond took second place overall and claimed M35 gold, while Adrian Mussett retained his M50 title in 15:38, finishing clear of M45 winner Nicholas Browne (15:50).
Age-Group Highlights
Double World Masters indoor middle-distance champion Mark Symes retained his M55 title, winning gold by 24 seconds with a time of 16:28.
The M60 category proved to be one of the day’s most competitive races. Andrew Leach defended his title with 16:42, edging double European Masters champion Chris Upson. World Masters indoor 1500m silver medallist David Williams finished third, while M60 world record-holder Andrew Ridley took fourth place. Despite their pedigree, Commonwealth Games marathon fourth-placer David Taylor and Ben Reynolds found the competition too strong.
Women’s Races
Rebecca Piggott made an impressive debut in major masters competition, winning the women’s race in convincing fashion. The South of England Southern Inter-counties 5000-metres senior champion finished well clear of Sarah Winstone.
W50 Carole Coulon (17:49) topped the overall women’s standings, with W40 champion Nicola Sutton and W45 champion Zoe Oldfield also excelling. Kate Ramsey continued her impressive 2025 form by clocking 18:33 to win the W55 age group.
Clare Elms (W60, 18:39) added another strong performance following her August personal best of 18:15 set in Cheshire, while the Charnwood runner had also won her age group at the Masters Cross-Country International earlier in the month.
Veteran Performances
European Masters W70 800m and 1500m champion Anna Garnier won her age group, as did W75 Anne Dockery and W80 Janice Newman, whose time of 28:20 places her second on the all-time UK W80 lists.
On the men’s side, BMAF 5000m champion Paul Reddaway won M65 gold in 18:27. Jonathan Haynes, a Masters Cross-Country International third-placer, claimed the M70 title in 19:24, with Frank Brennan taking M75 honours.
Multi-world champion Peter Giles, claiming his fourth Masters International cross-country title this year, dominated the M80 category, while Dave Moorekite added M85 gold to secure the second-best UK all-time M85 performance.
Photographs are courtesy of Cliff Hide. More photographs can be seen on his Flickr site.
BAMF 5k 30/11/2025 Race 1. | Flickr
BMAF 5k 30/11/2025 Race 2 | Flickr