The 800m runner shows what he can do at the Novuna UK Indoor Championships in Birmingham after injury scuppered his 2025 campaign.
This time last year Ben Pattison was injured and on crutches. Given this, he is simply glad to be fit and healthy this indoor season. The fact he’s actually in great form is a bonus.
At the UK Indoor Championships in Birmingham on Sunday (Feb 15) he controlled the men’s 800m from the front before striding away fairly effortlessly on the last lap.
He wasn’t sure of his time for a while as it incorrectly went into the results system as 1:52 but it was soon confirmed as 1:46.74 as Henry Fisher finished runner-up and Ethan Hussey third.
How did the Loughborough-based runner get into such great shape at a time of year when outdoor track sessions are cold and wet and most of the work is endurance based? Turns out he had a recent spell of training in Tenerife with Olympic finalist Max Burgin, although he couldn’t persuade his old friend to race indoors with him this season.
“Going into it I thought some of the boys would try to go off at the pace because of the wave lights being at a world standards pace – I was the only one with the time,” he said. “It was quite nice for me going into it. I could just race it as a race; I didn’t have needing to chase the time in the back of my head.”
He added: “No one was going for it, so I went to the front so I could control it. It is the best place to be because they had to work to get around me, which is very hard indoors! Ideally, I wanted to race in the middle of the pack really; I wanted to learn to be better tactically. Ultimately, I wanted to win, so I had to do what I had to do to achieve that.
“Last year was so rubbish for me with injuries, so I want to be racing as much as possible now. I don’t know where I am in 800m running at the moment which may sound odd, but I am learning every single race. When I get to those world standard races, I need to be ready for those and up my standard.”
In the men’s endurance races the 1500m and 3000m were much closer. After Adam Fogg set a brisk pace in the 1500m, he was overtaken in the last lap sprint and ended up fourth as Jack Higgins came from fourth to first with a nicely timed finish to clock 3:38.12, breaking Neil Gourley’s championships record.
James McMurray was runner-up with Henry Jonas third.
The 3000m was even tighter with Tom Keen pipping Henry McLuckie by two hundredths of a second as he won in 7:51.68.
Josh Kerr, the 2024 world indoor champion, was missing after twinging his back during the journey from the United States.
Keen said: “Obviously, a few people have dropped out which changed the dynamic of the race, so I didn’t really know if it was going to go out hard or not. It went out at a decent pace; preferably it would have been a bit slower.
“Henry had been doing a really good job at winding it up, but I probably would have gone a bit earlier, but I made sure I tucked in. I wanted to make more of a gap to him, as he was still close to me at the end but luckily, I had enough to hold on.”
Cameron Corbishley put on an exhibition performance as he won the men’s 3000m race walk by more than half a minute, lapping most of the mixed sex field several times in the process as he clocked 11:55.13.
He said: “This is my first indoor title, so I have got the full set now. I have got 35km, 20km, outdoor track and indoor track, so that is a career highlight ticked off there. I am absolutely over the moon to get my first indoor title. I have come second and third a few times – always the bridesmaid – but today I am the bride!”