# 1978 UK Athletics Championships

The 1978 UK Athletics Championships was the national championship in outdoor track and field for the United Kingdom held at Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh.
It was the second edition of the competition limited to British athletes only, launched as an alternative to the AAA Championships, which was open to foreign competitors. However, because the calibre of national competition remained greater at the AAA event, the UK Championships this year were not considered the principal national championship event by some statisticians, such as the National Union of Track Statisticians (NUTS). Many of the athletes below also competed at the 1978 AAA Championships.
Sonia Lannaman defended her 100 metres/200 metres sprint double from 1977. Allan Wells took his first sprint double on the men's side and Jane Colebrook managed a double in the 400 metres and 800 metres. Athletes to retain their titles from 1977 included Lannaman, sprint hurdlers Berwyn Price and Sharon Colyear, Geoff Capes (men's shot put), Meg Ritchie (women's discus) and Tessa Sanderson (women's javelin).
The main international track and field competition for the United Kingdom that year was the 1978 European Athletics Championships. Two athletes at the UK event won individual medals at European level: the men's 800 m champion Sebastian Coe was a European bronze medallist and women's javelin throw champion Sanderson was European runner-up. The top three in the UK women's 200 m (Beverley Goddard, Kathy Smallwood, and Lannaman) plus hurdles champion Colyear teamed up to take a 4 × 100 metres relay European silver.
The four countries of the United Kingdom competed separately at the Commonwealth Games that year as well, and UK champions who won there were Wells, Price, Lannaman, Capes, Sanderson, Paula Fudge (3000 m), Sue Reeve (long jump). The same relay quartet of the European Championships also took the Commonwealth Games title for England.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Allan Wells | 10.15 | Drew McMaster | 10.55 | Steve Green | 10.57 |
| 200 metres | Allan Wells | 20.70 | David Jenkins | 21.43 | Drew McMaster | 21.56 |
| 400 metres | Richard Ashton | 46.35 | Danny Laing | 46.97 | Glen Cohen | 47.09 |
| 800 metres | Sebastian Coe | 1:47.14 | Peter Hoffmann | 1:48.30 | Paul Forbes | 1:49.09 |
| 1500 metres | John Robson | 3:43.87 | Frank Clement | 3:44.38 | Graham Williamson | 3:44.88 |
| 5,000 metres | Mike McLeod | 13:25.20 | Brendan Foster | 13:25.41 | Malcolm Prince | 13:36.63 |
| 10,000 metres | Dave Black | 28:34.77 | Geoff Smith | 28:37.31 | Bernie Ford | 28:40.45 |
| 110 metres hurdles (wind: +4.1 m/s) | Berwyn Price | 13.93w | Mark Holtom | 14.10w | David Wilson | 14.43w |
| 400 metres hurdles | Bill Hartley | 51.03 | Gary Oakes | 51.09 | Steve James | 51.83 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Dennis Coates | 8:25.98 | John Davies | 8:26.64 | Ian Gilmour | 8:31.09 |
| High jump | Mark Naylor | 2.15 m | Brian Burgess | 2.15 m | Vincent Clemmens | 2.10 m |
| Pole vault | Keith Stock | 5.25 m | Jeff Gutteridge | 5.20 m | Allan Williams | 5.10 m |
| Long jump | Ken Cocks | 7.56 m | Tony Henry | 7.47 m | Colin Mitchell | 7.30 m |
| Triple jump | Keith Connor | 16.66w m | Aston Moore | 16.48w m | Chris Colman | 16.17w m |
| Shot put | Geoff Capes | 19.80 m | Mike Winch | 17.76 m | Bob Dale | 16.93 m |
| Discus throw | Peter Gordon | 54.66 m | Richard Slaney | 54.24 m | Geoff Capes | 54.20 m |
| Hammer throw | Chris Black | 69.10 m | Paul Dickenson | 68.28 m | Jim Whitehead | 65.30 m |
| Javelin | David Ottley | 76.62 m | John Trower | 69.16 m | Gareth Brooks | 66.66 m |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +4.3 m/s) | Sonia Lannaman | 11.24w | Beverley Goddard | 11.30w | Wendy Clarke | 11.38w |
| 200 metres | Sonia Lannaman | 23.16 | Beverley Goddard | 23.27 | Kathy Smallwood | 23.36 |
| 400 metres | Jane Colebrook | 53.80 | Joslyn Hoyte | 54.03 | Liz Eddy | 54.10 |
| 800 metres | Jane Colebrook | 2:03.31 | Janet Prictoe | 2:04.78 | Lesley Kiernan | 2:05.14 |
| 1500 metres | Hilary Hollick | 4:14.08 | Ruth Smeeth | 4:14.58 | Sandra Arthurton | 4:17.06 |
| 3000 metres | Paula Fudge | 8:53.63 | Glynis Penny | 9:06.39 | Kathryn Binns | 9:15.86 |
| 100 metres hurdles | Sharon Colyear | 13.67 | Shirley Strong | 13.97 | Blondelle Caines | 14.00 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Liz Sutherland | 58.12 | Sue Smith | 59.32 | Diane Heath | 59.64 |
| High jump | Gillian Hitchen | 1.85 m | Tonia Phillpots | 1.75 m | Val Rutter | 1.75 m |
| Long jump | Sue Reeve | 6.43w m | Sue Hearnshaw | 6.39 m | Barbara Clarke | 6.22 m |
| Shot put | Judy Oakes | 15.96 m | Angela Littlewood | 15.71 m | Vanessa Redford | 14.81 m |
| Discus throw | Meg Ritchie | 57.20 m | Janet Thompson | 52.38 m | Lesley Mallin | 50.28 m |
| Javelin | Tessa Sanderson | 59.52 m | Fatima Whitbread | 52.52 m | Anne Farquhar | 49.48 m |