B
EN PATTISON hopes there
is more to come at the
European Under-
Championships this month
after taking eight seconds off his
800m PB this season, writes Jason
Henderson.
The 17-year-old from Basingstoke
& Mid Hants AC was runner-up
behind Max Burgin’s world age best
at Bedford last month and is part
of a phenomenal flurry of top-class
junior performances by Brits so far
this summer.
Remarkably his PB before
2019 was a mere 1:54.52 but he
improved to 1:46.71 at Bedford to go
No.8 on the UK all-time rankings.
However this is mainly because he
has deliberately focused on 400m
for the past couple of seasons.
“I realised I had a bit of speed
so I thought I’d focus on that for a
couple of years,” he explains, “but I
always knew I was going to go back
to 800m because I prefer it and in
the long run I’m more suited to it.”
Pattison was runner-up to
Burgin at 800m at the 2016 English
Schools but says his dad advised
him to focus on sprints during 2017
and 2018 and he took 400m goldat the English Schools and placed
fourth at last year’s European
Under-18 Championships in Györ
over one lap.
He says he has always viewed
himself as more of a middle-
distance runner than a sprinter- and his coach, Dave Ragan, is a
good standard club 800m runner
who he often trains with – so was
it frustrating to go to meetings and
race 400m?
“It was but I was obviously quite
successful at 400m too so it was a
bit of fun,” he says, “and it means I
now have good speed not only for
moving up to 800m but for relay
teams.”
Pattison is friends with Burgin
as they shared a room in Györ last
summer. “It’s really exciting to be
in amongst all these good athletes
in Britain,” he says. “I think there
are seven of us who have run the
European under-20 standard which
is pretty crazy.
“Three have gone sub-1:47 now
as under-20s and Max has run so
fast – and it’s good to have him in
our event and age group.”Pattison has just finished his first
sixth form year studying maths,
economics and PE A-levels and
hopes to make the podium at the
European Under-20 Championships
in Sweden this month.
He thinks he can improve his PB
but was his 1:46 initially a surprise?
“Yes, a big surprise, especially at
that stage of the season when I’d
done heats the day beforehand.
I knew I’d be able to run decent
times but I was thinking about the
1:48 mark. So it was a big shock
when I saw my official time.”Pattison glad to be part
of an 800 m revolution
Max Burgin is not the
only teenager to
impress at 800m
DIGEST THE LATEST FROM THE WORLD OF ATHLETICS
AMERICAN Jim Walmsley (left) is making a name as one
of the most enigmatic and talented distance runners in
the world and his reputation went up another notch last
weekend when he smashed his own Western States
100-mile record by more than 20 minutes.
The 29-year-old clocked 14:09:28 and now has
ambitions of stepping down in distance to qualify for
the US Olympic marathon team next year.“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing to win Western States
but to do it again is pretty surreal,” he says.
Behind, Britain’s Tom Evans finished a fine fourth
in the iconic ultra-distance race in his first 100-miler
while Beth Pascall was fourth in a women’s race won by
American Clare Gallagher.
n See next week’s issue of AW for an in-depth
interview with Tom EvansNew star Walmsley wows at Western States
UK U20 800m rankings
2019
1:45.36Max Burgin (Halifax) June 23
1:46.71Ben Pattison (BMH) June 23
1:46.84Oliver Dustin (Bord) June 29
1:47.33Finley McLear (Exe) June 23
1:47.93Joshua Lay (R&N) June 29
1:48.46Alex Botterill (York) May 25
1:48.91Oliver Carvell (Telford) June 23
1:49.17Callum Dodds (Enf & Har)June 23
All-time
1:45.36Max Burgin (Halifax) 2019
1:45.64David Sharpe (J&H) 1986
1:45.77Steve Ovett (Brighton) 1974
1:45.78Kyle Langford (SB) 2015
1:46.46John Gladwin (Belg) 1982
1:46.63Curtis Robb (Liv H) 1991
1:46.70John Davies (Sale) 1968
1:46.71Ben Pattison (BMH) 2019
1:46.84Oliver Dustin (Border) 2019
1:46.97Markhim Lonsdale (Crook) 2017DAVID HEWITSONBen Pattison
(33) and Max
Burgin at
the English
Schools in 2016