Tribute to Leah Spratley-Kemp

Everyone at Reading Athletic Club is deeply saddened and shocked to hear of the sudden passing of Leah Spratley-Kemp on 22 September, aged twenty-five.

Athletics was very much in Leah’s blood and she loved competing for the Club. Following in the footsteps of her father Nigel—a dedicated club member and former Great Britain shot putter—Leah first competed for Reading AC in 2012, specializing in the hammer, discus, and shot put.

Leah was a brilliant team player. Even as a junior, she regularly stepped up to represent the club in senior league matches, always willing to put her hand up whenever needed. Her hard work brought significant success, winning numerous Berkshire County medals and earning five county titles: Shot Put champion in 2013, 2016, and 2018; Hammer champion in 2016; and Discus champion in 2024. A particular highlight came in 2017, when she was selected to represent Berkshire in the Shot Put at the prestigious English Schools’ Championships in Birmingham.

As a senior athlete, Leah remained a true stalwart of Reading AC. Travelling distances was never a barrier—she regularly travelled across the country to compete in virtually every league fixture, always bringing immense reliability and team spirit. Her commitment was hugely valued by everyone at the club.

Leah’s contribution to Reading AC will not be forgotten, and her dedication remains an inspiration to us all. Our thoughts are with Nigel, mum Janine, brother Alex and sister Kira at this difficult time.

2026 Reading Athletic Club Award Winners

We are extremely pleased to announce the 2026 Reading Athletic Club Award winners. With so much talent to select from, the selectors had a particularly difficult task ahead of them Well done to all the winners and nominees fo helping make the club what it is. The winners in each category are listed below.

U14 Girls Improver of the Year	Katelyn Gillon
U14 Girls Athlete of the Year	Valentina Artuso Sartoreli
U14 Boys Improver of the Year	Kree Clarke
U14 Boys Athlete of the Year	Ellis Dzandu
U14 Perserverance Award	Akinniran Akinola
U16 Girls Improver of the Year	Gracie Coates
U16 Girls Athlete of the Year	Francesca Keyte
U16 Boys Improver of the Year	Tom Davies
U18 Boys Athlete of the Year	Zohar Ryan
U18 Women Improver of the Year	Arabella Seville
U18 Women Athlete of the Year	Cecilia Furley
U18 Men Improver of the Year	Jesse Addai Bosompem
U18 Men Athlete of the Year	Marcus Smith
U20 Women Improver of the Year	Anna Delavere
U20 Women Athlete of the Year	Patricia Armah
U20 Men Improver of the Year	James Titmas
U20 Men Athlete of the Year	Rhys McCormac
Junior Endurance Perserverance Award	Iris and Imogen Skinner
Junior Top Points Scorer	Ellis Dzandu
Senior Field Athlete of the Year	Alex Spratley-Kemp
Senior Track Athlete of the Year	Jonathan Hiorns
Senior Off-Track Athlete of the Year	Luc Jolly
Veteran Athlete of the Year	Sophie Crumly
Senior Top Points Scorer	Corey Robinson
All ages Sprinter of the Year	Bisan Musa
Female Athlete of the Year	Lara Richards
Male Athlete of the Year	Sammy Ball
All ages Performance of the Year	Edward Okyere Darko
International Athlete of the Year	Jacob Cilliers
All ages Team of the Year	Mixed 4 x 400m U20 Team (Bisan Musa, Rhys McCormac, Patricia Armah, Josh Allen)
Coach of the Year	Debbie Taylor
Dedication to the Club Award	Tobi Ayorinde
Official of the Year	Terry Rajkumar
Volunteer of the Year	Ray Stevens

Ann Packer Olympic Anniversary

It was on this day, October 20, 1964, that Reading Athletic Club’s Ann Packer delivered one of the most spectacular performances in Olympic history by capturing gold in the Tokyo 800m final.

Known primarily as a British champion sprinter, hurdler, and long jumper—and having already secured a silver medal in the Tokyo 400m—Packer was initially reluctant to even enter the 800m, in those days the longest distance ran by the women athletes. What’s more, the Olympic final marked only the seventh time she had ever raced the distance. Lining up for the start Ann was the second-slowest qualifier after a 2:12.6 semi-final run.

What followed was a breathtaking display of raw power, her sprinting pedigree and tactical resolve. Trailing in fifth place down the final back straight, Ann launched a devastating change of pace over the last 250 metres. Forced to work her way wide into lane three around the final bend, she powered past the field and surged down the home straight to take the gold. She crossed the line in 2:01.1 minutes, setting a new world record on a cinder track, and to this day a club record, and the longest-lasting Senior Women’s record at that.

Watch the video link below to witness this historic run. Thank you, Ann Packer—you remain a profound inspiration to today’s club athletes.

Personalized Water Bottles

Your Journey. Etched in Steel.

Every training session is a part of your unique story with Reading AC. We believe your everyday gear should reflect that journey, while also giving back to the club that supports you.

That’s why we’re re-introducing our custom stainless steel water bottles.

Designed to be as individual as your goals, each bottle is beautifully etched with the Reading AC logo and personalized exactly how you want it. You can add your name, commemorate a proud Personal Best, or include a simple message that keeps you moving forward.

Best of all, it’s an easy way to invest in our shared future. For every bottle sold, at least £3.50 goes directly back into Reading AC to help fund new training equipment for everyone to use.

Practical, personal, and purposeful. Order your custom bottle today and take a piece of the club with you, wherever you train.

Southern Silver For Reading AC Cross Country Trio

Congratulations to Reading ACs Mia Waldmann, Sophie Crumly and Vicky Hiscock who combined to great effect to replicated last season’s results at the Southern Cross Country Relays at Wormwood Scrubs, London on Saturday 17 October. The trio claimed a terrific silver medal after a very close battle with Belgrave Harriers and Thames Valley Harriers for the medal places.

Mia led the team away with a terrific run, bringing the team back in the lead as she clocked 9:56 over the 3k course. Sophie ran the middle leg and held her form well, battling hard with the Belgrave athlete to keep the team in the medal positions, handing over in 2nd. On the anchor leg Vicky produced a blistering performance, in the process clocking the second-fastest time of the day with 9:44 to fend off the TVH athlete and cross the line 2nd to secure the silver medals.

Lara Tolson, Shirley-Ann Dix and Lucy Daniels combined for the B-team, all givingdetermined effort. Lara was tasked with leading her team away and she mixed it well on the frantic opening leg, covering the course in 10:55. Shirley kept her team in the mix with a solid effort, leaving Lucy to close the race out and bring the team back in 17th position.

For the senior men’s A team Luc Jolly started although was not in the best of shapes after working abroad and came in in 7th position in 13:05 mins. Charlie Madeleine took over the second leg was just 2 seconds slower than last year, recording 14:00 mins. On the 3rd leg, Robbie Bradford was not quite as fast as last year, clocking 14:39 mins. Running the final leg was Jonathan Hiorns, who was having his first cross-country race for us and brought the team home in 7th place with a time of 15:05 mins.

For the senor men’s B team Adam Rennie opened with a great time of 14:13 mins. Adam handed over to Sandeep Simon who ran 11 seconds faster than last year, finishing in 16:06 mins. On the 3rd leg, Mike Twomey was not at his best and ran 18:02 mins before handing over to Matt Rodda was having his first run after injury and finished in 15th place with a time of 18:33.

For the younger Junior endurance Group athletes there was a fantastic start to their cross-country season with some brilliant racing, teamwork and club spirit throughout the day!

U14 Girls – 15th

Briony, Naomi and Lily combined really well to finish in 25:27.

A brilliant club cross-country debut for Lily, who flew around the final leg in 7:30, recording the 4th-fastest final leg of the U14 Girls’ race!

U14 Boys

Solomon and Ted gave Reading a great effort over the opening two legs. Unfortunately, we were unable to field a third runner. Solomon got the team off to a strong start in 7:34, with Ted in his first race for Reading following in 7:54.

U16 Boys A – 5th

A superb performance from Ted, Wilf and Noah, who produced our highest team finish of the day in 19:45. Ted clocked Reading’s fastest 2km leg of the day with an excellent 6:28, backed up by strong runs from Noah (6:37) and Wilf (6:41).

U16 Boys B – 10th

Joshua, Fergus and Irving combined brilliantly to finish in 20:19, putting both Reading U16 Boys teams inside the top 10. Joshua ran a superb 6:35 opening leg, with Irving (6:50) and Fergus (6:54) completing another excellent team performance.

U16 Girls – 24th

Great determination from Iris, Imogen and Josie as they battled hard to finish in 26:38. Iris opened strongly in 8:30, Imogen followed in 9:33, before Josie in her first race for Reading brought the team home with a strong 8:35 final leg.

U18 Girls – 9th

Victoria, Stephanie and Brooke produced another great team performance to secure a top-10 finish in 35:59. Victoria led our 3km runners with an excellent 10:43, followed by Stephanie (11:40) and Brooke (13:36) to bring the team home in 9th.

A brilliant first relay event of the season and a day full of teamwork, determination and Reading AC spirit!

Well done to every athlete who pulled on the Reading vest, and a huge thank you to our coaches, team managers and families for all their support.

Commonwealth Games Call Up for Reading ACs Sammy Ball

Congratulations to Reading ACs Sammy Ball who has been selected to compete for England in the Decathlon at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on 30 & 31 July. In preparation for the games, Sammy will compete this weekend in the British Championships decathlon in Bedford before fine tuning his techincal abilities, speed and endurance in the run up to Glasgow which will include attending a preparation camp.

This year’s decathlon at the Commonwealth Games is set to be a fantastic event with no fewer than five 8,000 point plus decathletes including Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion and 9,000 point plus decathlete, Damian Warner from Canada. The Commonwealth Games occurs every four-years and has been dubbed by many as ‘the Friendly Games’.

Sammy has said: “I’m really looking forward to the Commonwealth Games. Although I’ve been to World and European junior championships, this is my first major championships as a senior athlete and we have particulalry been targeting this event. It’s always fantastic competing with such great athletes as Damian Warner and I know the Glasgow crowd will be provided with a supercharged event.”

Sammy will be the youngest male athlete in the the England squad and will be joined at the games by his good colleague Lewis Church who is also making his Commonwealth Games debut.

Live television coverage in the UK is being provided on subscription by HBO Max with free-to-air highlights from Channel 5.

World Gold For Reading AC Athlete

Congratulations to Reading ACs Jacob Cilliers for his performances at the Bauhaus Down Syndrome World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria last week.

Representing his native South Africa, Jacob, a very popular athlete at Reading Athletic Club, secured first place and gold medal to become the World Champion in the discus throw.

In other events, and in difficult conditions due to the heat and long wait times between throws Jacob also achieved fourth position in the shot put and eigth place in the javelin throw.

Well done to everyone involved in Jacob’s development and especially to his dedicated parents and coaching adviser Nigel Spratley-Kemp.

Reading Borough Council Funding Helps Young Athletes

Thanks to funding from Reading Borough Council, Reading Athletic Club has recently launched a project to encourage more local young people to join the club.

As part of the project, the club has worked with several primary schools in the area to find children who are interested in trying track and field events. The funding has helped pay for special coaching sessions, extra free training, and a mix of free and discounted memberships.

It has also paid for £800 worth of new equipment designed for primary school children. In addition, the funding helped the club to buy new storage space, making the clubhouse at Palmer Park less cluttered and more welcoming.

Now that the project is nearly finished, the club is looking forward to seeing how the new young athletes perform this season.

Jess Gibbon Wins at UK Inter-Counties

Running for Oxfordshire Reading ACs Jess Gibbon won the UK Inter-Counties Cross Challenge in Wollaton Park, Nottingham on Saturday 7th March, making it two victories in a row at the event. After a difficult year, especially over the track season Jess and two other athletes managed to pull away from their rivals to give a three way battle. Although Jess began tofall away on the penultimate hill, she managed to claw back the gap and going into the final lap started to pull away decisively.

Other Reading AC athletes competing for their counties at the event were Sarah Holmes also in the senior women’s race. Wilf May, Noah Mazieres and Raph Odlin who helped the Berkshire U13 Boys to the fouth place team position. Katelyn Gillan competed in the U13 Girls event with Alice Haldon and Victoria Marsh going in the U15 Girls. Elsewhere Fergus Rennie and Lucy Rennie competes in the U15 Boys and U17 Women respectively with Lucy also competing with Abha Panda and Anna Nicholson. In the U17 Men Nolan Chenchery competed and Maddox Gillas competed in the U20 Men. Well done to all athletes .

Sammy Ball Wins UK Indoor Heptathlon

Congratulations to Reading AC’s Sammy Ball who won the UK indoor heptahlon championships in Glasgow on 28 Feb - 1 Mar. Sammy's score of 5,849 points is a new club record, places him number one in the current season UK rankings and seventh oun the UK all-time list. The YouTubevideo of his perfomance is attached here.