In this week's edition of Athletics Weekly

A nice photo of Abby Ward who won the U20 Women's High Jump at the Northern Athletics meeting last weekend:

2015 - a year in review

As the year starts to draw to a close it's time to look back on another great year for sporting photography.

The year usually starts off with a host of indoor athletics meetings, culminating in the UK Indoor Athletics Championships (http://www.britishathletics.org.uk/british-athletics-series/indoor-british-championships/) at the EIS in Sheffield where Katarina Johnson-Thompson set a new UK record for the high jump of 1.97m:

As Spring really starts to get going, Sheffield hosts the Snooker World Championships (http://www.worldsnooker.com/) over 17 days at the Crucible theatre.  Ronnie O'Sullivan again was a main focus of attention and, having missed all of his noteworthy antics this year (taking his shoes off, putting the chalk on the table, hitting the table with his cue...) it was good to see Stuart Bingham come good and claim the title:

Manchester hosts one of the series in the 'Great City Games' (http://www.greatcitygames.org/manchester) where athletics comes out of the stadiums and onto the streets.  Jessica Ennis-Hill continued her comeback with a strong performance in the 100m hurdles:

June saw me splash out on a GoPro Hero4 (http://gopro.com/) which has been very impressive it's capabilities for recording video while stuck on the end of a long pole (basketball) and propped up at the base of the water jump (athletics - steeplechase).

Nottingham hosted National Table Tennis day (http://tabletennisengland.co.uk/news/how-will-national-table-tennis-day-inspire-you/) in July and the highlight of this fest was playing a game against Desmond Douglas:

September saw the 10th running of the Great Yorkshire Run (http://www.greatrun.org/great-yorkshire-run) and I was fortunate enough to be asked to be the official photographer for the day which resulted in a double-page spread in Athletics Weekly:

And so the year finishes with Sheffield Sharks (http://www.sharksbasketball.org/) delighting the home crowd at the EIS with a hard-fought 69-66 win over the London Lions:

A brief rest over Christmas and then it's back to it starting 2nd January 2016 with the 'Finish Line' indoor athletics event at the EIS, Sheffield.

All the best to everyone over the festive season and especially for a great year in 2016.

First double-page spread in Athletics Weekly!

After getting picked up occasionally over the years by AW for the odd pic or two (blog passim), my coverage of last weekend's Great Yorkshire Run has made a double-page feature in the UK's no1 athletics magazine: http://www.athleticsweekly.com/

Kept off the cover only by the imminent retirement of the great Haile Gebrselassie?  Next time!

Action from the Northern Athletics Senior Indoor Championships

Some photos of the action at the Northern Athletics Senior Indoor Championships held at the EIS, Sheffield 17-18th January 2015.

 Katarina Johnson-Thompson sails through the air on her way to 6.63m and first place in the Senior Women's Long Jump.

 Alexandra Russell (Wigan) 5.97m, Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Liverpool) 6.63m, Micaela Brindle (Wigan) 5.82m - the medal winners in the Senior Women's Long Jump.

 

Kristie Edwards (Sheffield AC, coach Lewis Samuel) easing over the line in her heat of the U20 Women's 200m.

Louise Bloor (Trafford AC) easing over the line in her heat of the Senior Women's 200m.

Richard Yates (City of Sheffield AC)  battling it out with James Williams (Liverpool AC) in their heat of the Senior Men's 200m.

Craig Jones (Liverpool Harriers AC) competing in the Senior Men's Long Jump.

Full results can be found at: http://www.northernathletics.org.uk/download/senior-indoor-championship-full-results-2015/

Coverage in Athletics Weekly at: http://www.athleticsweekly.com/featured/weekly-round-up-jan-19-15842/

John Lane makes Athletics Weekly

For two weeks on the trot, one of my pictures has made it into the results section of Athletics Weekly - first KJT and now the record-breaking John Lane.

It is always nice to see your work published and it makes me look forward to the UK Indoor Athletic Championships at the EIS Sheffield on 8th/9th February even more!

Athletics Weekly covers Katarina Johnson-Thompson's personal bests at the Northern Athletics Indoor Championships

Athletics Weekly decided to publish one of my pictures of Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the edition for 23rd January 2014 (page 43):

 

Go KJT!  On track for a great year in 2014!