Six current and former athletes of the Endurance Performance Centre (EPC) at St Mary’s University, London have competed at the UK Championships 2025, with five of them making the podium in their respective races.
The UK Championships are an annual national event in outdoor track and field for athletes in the UK, and serve as a qualifying event for the World Athletics Championships. They were held in Birmingham from the 2nd-4th August.
In the Men’s 1500m race, EPC alumnus Elliot Giles finished in second place with a time of 3:47.20 while Sam Charig (EPC student) finished just behind him in third place with a time of 3:47.42. Elliot competed in the Men’s 800m at the Paris Olympics last year, having also raced in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Sam Charig expressed his pride on winning a bronze medal, saying "The World University Games was an incredible event, and I was so proud to come away with a bronze medal in an extremely strong 1500m field. Thanks to all the support at St Mary’s, I was completely prepared for multiple rounds of tactical racing and proved that I can mix it with the best students-athletes in the world!"
In the Women’s 1500m race, alumna Revee Walcott-Nolan placed third with a time of 4:16.39. Revee made her Olympic debut at the Paris Games in the 1500m event last summer.
Current EPC England Athletics Talent Hub athlete Rory Leonard made third place in the Men’s 5000m with a time of 13:54.50, while EPC alumnus Henry McLuckie came in 8th with a time of 14:07.44.
The Men’s 3000m Steeplechase saw current EPC and EA Talent Hub athlete Zak Seddon place second with a time of 8:40.69.
This success for St Mary’s at the UK Championships comes after current students Sam Charig and Joshua Hobbs represented Great Britain at the 2025 FISU World University Games. Sam (an EPC athlete) earned a bronze medal in the Men’s 1500m with a time of 3:46.62, while sports scholar Joshua finished 17th out of 50 runners in the half marathon. Alongside clocking a personal best of 01:06:09, Joshua was also the first-placed British runner in the event.
The FISU World University Games were held earlier this summer in Germany, and saw around 8,500 student-athletes and officials from more than 150 countries compete. It was one of the largest multi-sport events held so far this year.
Speaking on these results, EPC Coordinator and Performance Coach at St Mary’s Craig Winrow said: “It has been an excellent couple of weeks for EPC athletes competing at the highest level. Hopefully some of the athletes will be selected for the World Championships in the next few weeks.”
The Endurance Performance Centre (EPC) is an internationally renowned running programme at St Mary’s University, with one of the best training setups in the world. The EPC and its coaches provide an endurance performance environment that supports, challenges, and develops elite runners.
In martial arts, sports scholar Sohrab Alipour was selected to represent Great Britain in Men’s -80kg Taekwondo.
Meanwhile, St Mary’s Futsal team took part for the first time in the 2025 European University Futsal Championship in Croatia, gaining valuable international experience. The team worked incredibly hard to raise funding for the trip. The team’s captain, Deni Konstantinov said "We showed up with purpose. We fought with heart, made every decision count, and stood strong as a team. We didn’t just show up, we came to make our mark. The lessons we’ve taken from this tournament are already shaping what’s to come. So, keep an eye out."