The first British Milers Club meeting of the year takes place on Sunday in Sheffield. The English Institute of Sport has seen some memorable races in the traditional year-opener, and this year is set to be no different. Who can forget Phil Sesemann pipping Jake Wightman on the line in the 3000m in 2024, for example? Let us take you through some of Sunday’s key races.
Men’s 1500m (four races)
Four men in the field have PBs inside 3:40, all set last year. With a PB of 3:36.12 set last July, Frenchman Corentin Tixier is fastest. He is currently based at Loughborough University. He is joined by Tonbridge brothers Jack and Ted Higgins.
Jack, part of the quartet who won silver in the mixed relay at last month’s European Cross Country Championships, has never raced the distance indoors. More frequently seen over 800m, including at the European Indoor Championships. His 1500m PB came at the BMC Grand Prix in Birmingham last summer.
His brother Ted had an excellent December. He won the Southern Indoor Championships 3000m in 7:57.31, his first time under eight minutes, before a step-change 5k PB of 13:38 on New Year’s Eve. His last indoor 1500m was seven years ago, with his outdoor best now 3:37.36.
Harry Wakefield of Salford Harries is the fourth athlete with a sub-3:40 best (3:38.57). He is a BMC regular and won the ‘b’ 800m at this meeting last year.
Also due to race is Will Rabjohns, stepping up in distance from his superb PB of 1:45.41 at the Watford Grand Prix last summer. That is the second fastest time by an U20 athlete in a BMC race.
Women’s 1500m (two races)
Holly Dixon has the quickest PB of those entered. Like Jack, she was part of the medal winning mixed relay team at the European Cross Country Championships. That outing in Lagoa was Holly’s Great Britain debut. Impressively, she set PBs at every distance contested last year from 800m to 5k. Her 800m and 1500m PBs both came in BMC races.
Molly Hudson has twice competed at this event, both times over 800m. Much of her racing last season came stateside at Boston College, with notable indoor times over 800m (2:04.61) and 1500m (4:14.71). Those are just outside her outright PBs. She ran at three BMC meetings last year.
Charlotte Buckley knows the Sheffield track well having won the BUCS Indoor Championships 800m last year. She raced at three BMC meetings last year, setting her 1500m PB of 4:16.38 at the Twickenham Record Breaker Races.
Abigail McAndrew of Blackburn Harriers and Aberdeen’s Hannah Cameron are also due to compete.
Men’s 3000m (three races)
The men’s 3000m is often a highlight in Sheffield and this year looks no different. Six athletes entered have run under eight minutes, three doing so last year. The quickest on paper is Joe Tuffin. He has had excellent start to 2026 with a 28:25 PB at the Valencia 10k. He ran at four Grand Prix fixtures last summer and finished fourth in last year’s 3000m.
James McMurray also ran in the 3000m last year, finishing eighth in 7:59.74.
Stepping up from last year’s b-race, where he finished second, is Rowan Miell-Ingram. He too has had a good start to the year, running a PB of 7:57.08 at the Scottish 3000m Championships. He is joined by brother Quinn Miell-Ingram in the field, who competed at the European Cross Country Championships in December.
Andrew Penney, Ben Potrykus, Biruk Aduna Kebede and Alex Melloy are also entered. The first three have run inside eight minutes previously, with Alex just outside.
Women’s 3000m (one race)
The women’s 3000m may miss some of the star power of previous editions, but an interesting field will compete. Beth Barlow returns to Sheffield after racing the same distance in 2024. It will be a first race track in England in over a year, having spent last year at Florida State University. Her PB of 9:12.29, set indoors last year, is fastest in the field.
She is joined by BMC regular Lauren Church. Lauren missed much of the summer but returned with a 15:54 5k PB on New Year’s Eve in London. She ran 9:23.67 in her one and only 3000m (excluding races as a junior over ten years ago), but has run faster on the roads.
Men’s & Women’s 800m
There will be six men’s and four women’s 800m races to kickstart the day’s racing. As usual in Sheffield, these will not be paced. They will also follow the new World Athletics rules that use a revised break point.
With PBs of 2:00.96 and 2:01.09 respectively, Lucy Armitage and Emily Simpson lead the women’s entries. The men’s field includes three who have run inside 1:48 (Nirobi Smith-Mills, Joseph Owen and Alex Glew). A further nine have run under 1:50.
Full start lists and timetable can be found here.