Scullion off to Tokyo and Twell moves to 5th on UK AT list in Houston

Kicking things off this week, the Houston Marathon was a last-chance for American hopefuls to grab a qualifying time for their Olympic trials, but for one Northern Irish gent it may well have been enough to get him a fast-track ticket to the Irish team.

Stephen Scullion ran the race of his life to take 5th in a PB of 2:11:52 despite windy conditions. Top 5 place at a gold label race means he’s automatically got a spot on the squad unless three others meet that criteria in a faster time. Job done Steve, for now. Next stop Tokyo.

Steph Twell was in action over the Houston Half Marathon in Texas, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Hitomi Niiya (just out of retirement Japanese runner – check her out), Ruti Aga and Caroline Rotich. Twell went out with strong intent finished with 8th place, a chunky PB, a time of 1:08:54 and a huge shout out to all the other UK women marathoners that she’s in fine form to fight for her place on the Olympic team. Twell’s time sees her move to 5th on the UK all time list.

Lothian’s Sarah Inglis was also testing herself out over 13.1 and took exactly 2 minutes off her own PB to run 1:10:22. It wasn’t just the women chewing up the road either, Bedford & County’s Matt Leach also nudged his best down considerably, running an eyewatering 1:02:55. He also set a father/son world half marathon record with his father Andrew (M55) running 71:10.

Back to back wins for McColgan

Eilish McColgan appears to be touring America taking down whatever race she can find. This week she turned her attention to the Butterfield Front Street Mile, Bermuda. She won the race in 4:45.70 despite 67km/h gusts of wind and then went on to win the Bermuda 10k the next day in 33:38 and dominate the Bermuda Triangle Challenge.

In Seville, Kate Avery ran a strong race to place 10th in the Cross Internacional de Itálica as a member of the England team. Dani Chattenton was 14th, Jessica Gibbon was next in 19th place and Fast Running’s Hannah Irwin running her first Senior XC race for England to take 25th place. There were no Brits in the men’s race but there were several fine performances from Irish athletes which we will have covered tomorrow!

Gloucester sees fine performances over half, full marathon and 50k

Back in the UK Gloucester Marathon organisers offered the chance to race over 50k, 26.2 and 13.1 this weekend. In The 50k edition the men smashed the ultra distance as Ollie Garrod of South London Harriers stormed home in only 3:05:47, with Andrew Siggers (Kenilworth Runners) behind him in 3:09:19 and Mark Innocenti (Highgate Harriers) third in 3:10:32. Top in the women’s race was Chelsea Baker from the Royal Navy AC with a time of 4:09:50.

In the standard marathon distance Damian Holmwood of Finch Coaster scored a early-year win in 2:44:06. Second place went to Shyam Lama in 2:45:53 and Peter Stockdale of UKNetRunner 2:46:06 came third. 3:08:27 was tantalisingly close to Gemma Mallet’s PB and enough to secure her the win and plenty of time to get her cool down done before Emma Horner came home in 3:15:06. Cathrin Nather took third in 3:19:42.

In the Half Marathon Anita Seaford brought it home for the ladies in 1:20:13 and while her lead wasn’t wasn’t quite as large as Gemma’s, she was certainly comfortable with a three minute breather before Weston Athletic Club’s Susan Duncan finished in 1:23:36 and Elizabeth Dimmond (Lliswerry Runners) in 1:23:47. Will Munday (Swansea Harriers) ran a speedy PB to run 1:09:57 and take the win in what was only his second attempt at the distance. One to look out for in the future. Pravash Patel of Wolverhampton & Bilston was second in 1:11:48 and Oxford Uni took the third place in 1:12:23 thanks to Alexander Betts.

Course records tumble in Chepstow

**Update – we have been made aware there are athletes missing from the results due to a chip timing issue including Phil Norman and Lucy Niemz – as soon as we have results we will update them

In it’s 4th year, the Chepstow Harriers Speedway 10k is fast becoming known as a place to run, well, speedy! Although some of the Welsh talent were away in Spain and there were a few apparent non-starters from the published list, the field was still stacked going into the race.

Once again it was course record holder Ohmar Ahmed (Birchfield Harriers) who won out in 28:58. Jonathan Cornish of Hercules Wimbledon ran is first sub-30 to take second place in 29:38 and ‘fat – now fast’ (their words, not ours) Paul Graham also grabbed his sub-30 and third place with a 29:42. Fourth was Ben Cole in 29:43 with Kadar Omar Abdullami fifth with 29:44 as eight men ran sub 30.

A last minute entry from Verity Ockenden paid off and secured the Swansea Harrier a top spot and a course record thanks to her 33:08. Oswestry’s Ali Lavender is an up and coming marathon runner but her 10k PB (34:11) was also ripe for a re-write and re-write it she did, running 34:03 for 2nd place. Third went to home-club runner, Katherine Matthews (V40) in 36:39. Natasha Lewis of Team Bath AC took over a minute off her PB to finish 4th in 36:44.

Some fast runners at today’s Speedway 10k in the shadows of the Severn Bridge. @Birchfield1877‘s Omar Ahmed took the win with a new course record and @SwanHarrierDev‘s @youngverit21 was first female home. pic.twitter.com/37ns5Vjo6G

— Robert Gale (@awv) January 19, 2020

Rounding up the roads

At the Helsby Half (aka Essar Four Villages Half Marathon) another of the current slew in up-and-coming women marathoners was in action. Elsey Whyman-Davis took her first win of the year with a 1:14:31. Kirsty Longley of Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton H AC was a little after her in 1:16:34 and Sophie Wood of Sale Harriers Manchester ran 1:18:16 for third. For the gents, Mohammad Abu-Rezeq ran a swift, but comfortable (for him) win of 1:06:14. Cardiff Athletics’ Michael Kallenberg was second in 1:07:03 and Matthew Shaw of Chorlton Runners took third in 1:10:19.

The Benfleet 15 provided no returning podium placers from last year, leaving the medals open for a new set of winners. The crisp, sunny Sunday was a fine day to be running and one that suited clearly suited winner Ram Osman of Colchester Harriers who completed the course in 1:32:56. Second place went to Aaron Graves Tiptree Roadrunners 1:34:33 and third place to Kurtis Swan of Braintree and District AC in 1:35:08.

In the women’s race Vegan Runners’ Lindsey Colman finished first in 1:49:13 with V40 Nikki Woodyard (Springfield Striders AC) next in 1:50:28 and Jennifer Ansell of East London Runners rounding out the podium spots in 1:49:34.

Aaron Scott took 20 second off the course record at the Folksworth 15, which will be a nice confidence boost to his London Marathon training full results are yet to be released.

 

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@aaronscottruns clipped 20 seconds off the course record in the Folksworth 15 this icy morning. @londonmarathon training going well… #maurten #soar

A post shared by JLF racing (@jlf_rcng) on Jan 19, 2020 at 6:26am PST

The Stormforce 10 always attracts some of the best athletes across the South West and this year was no different. Tony Brewer came away with the win in 55:03 followed by Matt Yates in 55:36 and Paul Smith in 55:53. South West Intercounties XC Champion Heidi Tregenza was the winning woman in 60:03 ahead of CAC legend Emma Stepto (60:44) and Tamara Beach (60:58).

Emma Stepto straight to the top of the W45 10 mile rankings. Credit: Brett Stepto

The Race Organiser Victoria Park 10k was won by Charlie Stoneham in 34:59 with Sophie Cowper of Rotherham Harriers second in 36:25 and Natalie Ruffell of Clapham Chasers third in 38:29. In the men’s race Ralph Collett of Worthing and District Harriers grabbed top spot in 33:50. Chris Norris and Rick Weston (Serpentine RC) were his podium buddies in 34:25 and 34:42 respectively.

And if that’s not enough for you, how about a 268 mile race up the Penine way? That was what US runner John Kelly did for 87 hours 53 minutes and 57 seconds to win the Montane Spine race. It looked for a while like the Barkley Marathons finisher might beat Jasmin Paris’s course record set last year but brutal weather conditions put paid to that in the end leaving her 83 hour record intact. Sabrina Verjee was the first lady to reach the finish at Kirk Yetholm in a total time of 108hrs 7mins 17 seconds.

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The post Scullion & Twell perform in the States and Speedway 10km sees PBs – weekend roundup appeared first on Fast Running.

Dewi Griffiths continued his build up to a return to 26.2 mile racing with a strong 61:44 run at the Houston Half Marathon on Sunday (January 20).

Griffiths was running with the front pack of a high-quality men’s field in the early stages before dropping off the lead group and clocking 28:50 at the 10k mark.

During the second half of the race, the 2:09 marathoner maintained his position among the top 10 and posted 58:33 at 20km – running 29:43 for the second 10km – before crossing the finish line 11 seconds outside his personal best in eighth place. Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata took the win in 60:11.

The Welshman’s 2018 season was disrupted mostly due to injury, however, in recent months he has patiently been building back up to his best form – including a 28:49 10k performance – ahead of a marathon comeback in London this spring.

In the women’s half marathon, Tracy Barlow returned to the Texas city and took over a minute off her time from 12 months ago, while Alice Wright, Britain’s second fastest 10,000m female runner in 2018, produced a strong debut over 13.1 miles.

GB international marathoner Barlow went through the 10km mark in 33:59 with US-based Wright posting 34:19. As the race progressed Wright closed the gap on her compatriot and by 20km the pair were in 17th and 18th place.

Barlow and Wright maintained their race positions in the closing stages and crossed the finish line in 73:03 and 73:17 respectively.

Chicago Marathon champion Brigid Kosgei, who will return to the London Marathon in April, won the women’s race in a course record 65:50.

Elsewhere, Emily Sisson was just five seconds off Molly Huddle’s American record after running 67:30 to finish in fifth place.

PB marathon performances

In the Houston Marathon, Ireland’s Stephen Scullion broke 2:15 for the first time, while Welsh athlete Natasha Cockram also ran a new best.

Photo: Stephen Haas

Scullion, who is sharing his journey this year on Fast Running, clocked a personal best 2:14:34 to finish in 10th place and knocked more than a minute off his previous mark from London last year.

The 30 year-old’s time is the quickest by an Irish runner since Mark Kenneally’s 2:13:55 at the Amsterdam Marathon in 2011, while only two Northern Irish men – Greg Hannon and Tommy Hughes – have run faster.

Scullion’s race was not without incident though, and somewhere around the 25km mark he took a wrong turn.

After average paces of 5:07, 5:03, 5:06 for the early 5km splits, the US-based athlete logged 5:17 for the 5km before the 25km mark. He then made up for the lost time by running an average pace of 4:59 between 25km and 30km.

Ireland’s 10,000m champion went on to post a second half split of 67:31 compared to 67:03 for the first 13.1 miles, before crossing the finish line in 2:14:34, taking one minute and 21 seconds off his previous best.

In the women’s race, Cockram, who is also sharing her journey this year on Fast Running, ran a PB of 2:34:18 to cross the finish line in 11th place.

The 26 year-old has made huge progress in the marathon over the last 12 months and most recently clocked 2:35:49 at the 2018 Dublin Marathon.

Cockram’s performance in Houston sees her overtake Hayley Nash on the Welsh all-time rankings, with Caryl Jones (2:34:12), Tracey Morris (2:33:13) and Susan Tooby (2:31:33) the only athletes with quicker marathon bests.

Kenya’s Albert Korir won the men’s race in 2:10:02, while Biruktayit Degefa claimed the women’s win in a time of 2:23:28.

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The post Dewi Griffiths runs 61:44 at Houston Half Marathon appeared first on Fast Running.

Successfully coming back from a career threatening injury is the inspirational story every running fan wants to read.

It is not always the case, but thankfully Natasha Cockram’s account is one of the positive tales of coming back from the depths of injury hell – and now she can’t wait to write the next chapter.

During a few difficult years the prospect of not running again was all too real, but after a successful knee surgery, plus her resilient attitude and dedication to get back running, the 26 year-old can now once again dream of earning a GB vest for a major championships.

Cockram’s breakthrough performance of 2:35.47 to finish fourth at the Dublin Marathon in October catapulted her fifth on the Welsh all-time list. It was a nine minute personal best after winning April’s Newport Marathon in 2:44:58, despite spending the prior three months only cross training.

Both performances were a surprise to the Micky Morris Racing Team athlete, and she humbly says she is just “enjoying running again, which is the main thing” after her injury battles.

The Welsh athlete now aims to target three big marathons in 2019, beginning with the Houston Marathon on January 20, followed by London in April, where she hopes her performance will bag her one of the coveted places on the GB team for the World Championships in Doha.

Dublin Marathon breakthrough

Back in 2017, Cockram made her marathon debut at the Dublin Marathon running 2:49:37. Although not the fastest of courses, she enjoyed Ireland’s premier 26.2 miler and decided to return the following year for her third outing over 26.2 miles.

It would prove a wise decision, and running somewhat under the radar she stormed through the field to cross the finish line in 2:35:49, finishing just behind Irish Olympian Lizzie Lee in fourth place.

“I surprised myself with my performance, I wasn’t expecting to run that fast, at least not yet,” says Cockram. “Before the race, my coach said to not run any quicker than 6:00 minute per mile pace or preferably keep it at 6:10 pace for the first 20 miles and then race the last six miles.

“I went out at 6:00 minute pace and it just felt so easy, so I maintained it and then dropped to a few 5:50 miles. Around mile 18 I turned the corner and the lead car was there, so I picked the pace up even more and ran a 5:35 and 5:34 mile and then raced the last six miles as fast as I could.

“It felt so easy at the start and then being able to drop down to 5:30s has given me a lot of hope for the future.”

Photo: Paul Stillman

American connections and injury

The coach Cockram refers to is US-based Tony Houchin, who also coaches Swansea Harriers’ Verity Ockenden.

Strangely they have yet to meet in person and speak on the phone or via Facetime. However, she says the relationship is working well for both of them, emphasising the trust they have with one another.

“Tony is based in America and I saw him when he was coaching another university but not as my coach,” she explains. “The relationship works well even though it is not in person. I trust him and he trusts me and my performances have been improving and that’s what ultimately matters.”

That American relationship and her academic achievements at the University of Tulsa provoke warm feelings for the US, but the jump up in training mileage after moving stateside was also a catalyst for the difficult times to come.

“I personally didn’t have the best of times,” she explains. “I don’t think I was ready when I left the UK based on my mileage and also my coach Dave Lewis passed away during my last year at high school. So it was already a hard time going out to America, but I hoped for the best.

“I was running 40 miles a week at the time and upped my mileage quite quickly to 70 and then 100 miles a week. The jump was too much for me and I was just constantly tired all the time. I was not racing well and it knocked me mentally to the point that I dreaded racing.

“The overall experience was good though. I valued my education and Tulsa was a good academic university.

“There seems to be a pattern that if you go to university in the UK first and then head to the NCAA as a graduate student you tend to do better as your body is more developed and you’re ready to make that jump. Just going straight from high school proved I wasn’t ready for that.

“I picked up the knee injury during my senior year at Tulsa after the cross country season. I raced my last race and then it happened at some point between that race and when I came home for the Christmas break.

“I then went back out to the states and basically raced on through the injury. I was having cortisone shots while cross training and rehabbing. I then did a fifth year in Tulsa before I came home that Christmas and the doctors here told me I would never run again.

“I headed back out to America in January and pretty much went to a lot of different doctors until I found one that was willing to help me.

“The surgeon saw me on the Wednesday and I had the surgery the very next day. I was out for about six months rehabbing, then learning to run again and then more rehab after that. It took almost two years to get back running.

“By the time I was finally back running my thoughts were that it would just be for fun and keeping fit. I was always hoping I could race again but I was never sure to what level.”

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This year has not gone to plan in any shape or form but hey I can walk WITHOUT crutches. And I can run after being told by doctors I'll never run again. I have a degree…got accepted into the university of South Carolina medical school- turned it down and here I am back in rainy Wales. Although I'm not racing tonight (due to tonsillitis) I am not pouting on the sideline thinking I'll never stand on a start line again! Here's to a healthier 2017!!!

A post shared by Natasha Cockram (@natruns92) on Dec 31, 2016 at 9:04am PST

Now a more robust and mentally strong athlete

After returning home to Newport after five years stateside, Cockram had a bit of a gap year working with horses mostly and she credits that time in enabling her to successfully recover from the knee surgery.

She now works full-time in the civil service, and the dedicated athlete pursues her running ambitions with early morning training that can start as early as 4:30 am.

“It is hard because my days are very long, especially on long workout days,” she explains. “Most of my days start at 4:30 or 5:00 am, but I am quite fortunate in that I do like the morning.

“Of course it is hard to balance everything, full time work and full time running along with everything else.”

One positive gained from her serious injury is becoming a mentally stronger athlete. That surely plays its part along with the motivation and dedication required to train again in the evening after the early start and a day’s work.

“The mental aspect of the injury was the hardest but that is also what has brought me back as I am a lot stronger now and more resilient,” she says. “Looking back the most difficult thing was we weren’t sure what the actual issue was, many people even said there might not be anything wrong and it was just in her head.

“When I saw the surgeon then I just envisaged him opening my knee up and seeing there was nothing wrong – and I thought ‘maybe it is in my head’ – but clearly there was and thankfully he was able to fix it.

“I also train mostly on my own and mentally I find that has made me tougher. Grinding out a 10 mile on tempo on your own just makes it feel so easy then on race day.”

Photo: Paul Stillman

Cross training plays a big role

Cockram credits the important role cross training played in her rehab from injury, and it is something she has not forgotten, with it still featuring heavily in her training programme.

“Cross training has been a big help and I know it works for me,” she says. “Leading up to the Newport Marathon in April (2018) all I did was cross train for three months and that got me a PB.

“When I then joined Tony, our main aim was about staying healthy because it has been a tough few years on the injury front. For a marathoner, my mileage is actually quite low, but supplementing that with cross training has been a big help.

“I do it mostly on an Elliptical Cross Trainer, and maybe an hour on a bike, but I am also hoping to get access to a pool soon through the council. I then plan to split my time 50/50 between the cross trainer and the pool.”

A bright future ahead

Following Cockram’s 2:35 marathon performance in Dublin, recognition of her potential came from Welsh Athletics and the London Marathon. She was named among the athletes on Wales’ Commonwealth Games Programme and the London Marathon funding for endurance athletes.

Along with some financial support that can help towards training camps, she will have vital medical and physio support, which will be a big help over the next couple of years with her running goals.

She heads into 2019 ranked fifth on the Welsh all-time list and surpassing the 30 year-old national record of 2:31:33 – belonging to Susan Wightman (Tooby) – is one of Cockram’s main aspirations.

“Looking ahead, my main aims are to get a GB vest at a major championships and chase the Welsh record,” she assuredly says. “In the immediate term, I will be running in the Houston Marathon and then have a quick turn around for the London Marathon in April.

“The two races are quite close, but I do recovery quite quickly from a marathon, so my coach and I are confident that I can run both well. For Houston, I am not aiming to run anything amazing, but hopefully repeat my 2:35 performance from Dublin or a bit quicker.

“London is then where I want to really give it my all. Ultimately the goal will be to try and get a GB vest for the World Championships in September.”

RELATED: Top British and Irish athletes set for Houston

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The post Natasha Cockram has big marathon goals appeared first on Fast Running.