Chamberlain powers to indoor PB in chaotic UK Championships 1500m Final

Club 1500m record holder Ted Chamberlain earned himself a new indoor personal best in the Men’s 1500m Final at the UK Indoor Championships on Sunday, finishing 8th in a stacked field containing Olympians Neil Gourley and Elliot Giles.

Twenty-five year-old Chamberlain was representing Jersey Spartan for the first time at a UK Championships, after making us his first claim club in January, after transferring from West Yorkshire club Holmfirth Harriers AC.

In a rarely seen straight final at Birmingham’s packed Utilita Arena, Chamberlain, the second slowest athlete on paper, ran 3:44.98 to earn a well-deserved 8th place out of 14 in his first UK Championship Final.

This was also only Chamberlain’s third indoor 1500m race and improved on his previous indoor best of 3:46.64 achieved at the BMC Cardiff Indoor meet last month.

The field of 14 men, all going for national glory with some chasing qualifying times for the upcoming European Indoor Championships, made for a chaotic, physical and at times, erratic race where it sometimes seemed like the main challenge was staying upright.

Seven-time UK champion Giles unexpectedly cramped up after just short of a kilometre before defending champion Piers Copeland was forced to abandon the race with what looked like an ankle injury soon after.

Chamberlain spent the first 800m holding the inside line towards the back of the field before patiently picking off several athletes in front of him to come home 8th, 6 seconds behind Giffnock North’s five-time UK champion Gourley, who kicked away in the last 200m to take the title in a Championship Record of 3:38.84.

Cambridge and Coleridge’s Thomas Keen was second, narrowly ahead of Great Yarmouth’s Tyler Bilyard.

Chamberlain’s 3:44.98 was not only his second fastest time ever over 1500m, and his fastest indoors, but would have been enough to win three out of the last five UK Indoor titles.

The 2024 England 1500m silver medallist has had a successful indoor season, running three consecutive indoor PBs over 1500m and 800m.

He will represent Jersey at the Island Games in Orkney over 800m, 1500m and is part of the relay squad.