Jess Piasecki should have been racing one of the most exciting London Marathons in recent history this weekend. In only her third marathon start she’d have been lining up as the third fastest British marathoner of all time.

As one of four Brits with an Olympic qualifying time in the bag she was one of the favourites to take a Tokyo spot. Instead, Jess will be at home in Ashbourne on the edge of the Peak District.

She might go out for a long run, possibly with her husband cycling alongside, but she won’t have streets lined with supporters, nor a finish tape to draw her onwards. We caught up with Jess last week and she is stoic about the situation.

“It comes and goes in waves” she says, reflecting the feelings of many of us across the nation. “We’re lucky that my husband and I can still work from home and there’s a lot worse going on right now”.

Dreams on hold

Like all those she was competing against, Jess was close to peak mileage when the race was called off. Initially the elites were told they would still run a time trial behind closed doors. Not ideal when you’re hoping for the power of the crowd to get you round, but a necessary situation with the Olympics looming and selections to be made.

However, it was only a matter of days later that the UKA cancelled all competitions in April. Athletes were left in limbo as no formal announcement was made to cancel the trials as well and yet it was clear that they couldn’t possibly continue.

Eventually an email arrived confirming what we all knew to be the correct, though disappointing decision. No more trials, no more London Marathon in any form. This was followed shortly after (but long enough to be stressful for those in training) with the announcement that the Olympics would be postponed until 2021.

No stranger to biding her time

So what does the top British marathoner do when her dreams are put on hold? Jess Pisasecki is no stranger to adversity. A promising runner in her early years, a spate of injuries as the result of RED-S included a DNF at Frankfurt marathon when she was on target for Rio qualification time.

She started training again in 2018 and working with Rob Hawkins eventually resumed racing after a period of cautious progression. Promising showings at the Podium 5k and Trafford 10k led onto Cross Country trials and a GB vest.

Then, in Florence at the end of last year she stormed into the UK all-time top five with a 2:25:30, winning the race and earning an Olympic qualifying time in what was her first ever marathon finish. But even after this incredible high she still had further obstacles to overcome.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Throwback to my last race. Whilst current motivation may come and go, it’s moments like these that keep me heading out the door. Excited for whenever racing may resume. #throwbackthursday #stayhome #workfromhome #runfromhome

A post shared by Jess Piasecki (@jess_piasecki_runscience) on Apr 23, 2020 at 3:59am PDT

Funding confusion

Jess along with the other three athletes who hit the standard did not pick up an automatic selection for Tokyo. When the London Marathon announced its funding rosta and she wasn’t included. Jess doesn’t make a big deal out of it though.

“Presumably London thought I was on the British Athletics funding, which I might have been but it didn’t happen. So, I didn’t get either”.

She does have local support from the Derbyshire Sport Institute. “They have played a massive role in me staying in one piece and without them I wouldn’t be where I am now. It just shows that it’s never easy to get funding.

It’s frustrating when you’ve had that big breakthrough and sometimes I forget I’m third fastest in the UK ever, but you can’t dwell on it – I just have to let my legs do the talking”.

While she might not be training quite as normal, those legs are ticking over quite nicely for now. Since January Jess has cut down her day-job to three days a week and with the support of coach Robert Hawkins, a nifty home gym built by her husband (containing her favourite kit – a Wattbike), and her local S&C coach, she was building well.

After getting confirmation of the trial’s cancellation she took a week off to mentally and physically reboot. Now she’s back to training and “back to basics, no pressure”. She points out that while it’s a shame not to have a race to prove training has worked, this situation gives us all “the chance to run for the love of it, which a lot of athletes are really appreciating”.

One big impact though has been the lack of physio. Normally she’d see hers once a week but instead they’ve been Skyping and her husband has even been given some lessons so he can do the hands-on stuff. It’s a strange world we live in right now!

Female Athlete Podcast

Jess is a lecturer in Exercise Physiology at Nottingham Trent researching Masters athletes and neuromuscular function across the menstrual cycle. She also runs a coaching business (RunScience) and is third of the newly launched “Female Athlete Podcast”. Dr Piasecki has plenty to keep her busy in this racing no-man’s-land!

Jess met Fitr’s Georgie Bruinvels through running and work. “ We wanted to do something for ages to raise awareness of female physiology and to keep girls in sport”. After Bruinvels got chatting to sports journalist Lucy Lomax the idea of the podcast was born.

With their own experiences including assisting other top flight sportswomen such as Chelsea Ladies FC, the podcast provides science and experience-based discussions, contains insights from other women in the sporting world and has a Q&A section.

Episodes so far have covered a wide range of topics. Nutrition with regard to menstrual cycles, the effect of Coronavirus-related stress on your cycle and performance. How athletes are adjusting their regimes in lockdown. In the future they will look at the impact of oral contraception. Another interesting area is how training equipment is currently designed using male physiology (the first “female” football boot has recently been released).

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Our first episode is out! Available on apple podcasts and all regular platforms. Rate, like, share and subscribe as much as you can. If you want to ask any questions, leave a comment on our @femaleathletepod page. #podcast #podcastlife #femaleathlete #menstrualcycleawareness #menstrualcyclehealth

A post shared by Jess Piasecki (@jess_piasecki_runscience) on Mar 18, 2020 at 6:03am PDT

Female role models

We discussed the lack of female coaches and the impact it has on young female athletes.

“It would be good to have female role models for young athletes. It might seem odd to talk to a guy about it. Who knows, perhaps it would have changed things if I’d known some of what I do now at an earlier age”.

Thankfully changes are afoot with big names such as Shalane Flanagan, Paula Radcliffe and Liz McColgan coaching. There is also the success of coaches she as Allison Benton and Helen Clitheroe we can point to.

She has no problem raising the subject of her period with her own coach, although she admits that she’s lucky she doesn’t have any major symptoms of her cycle. It is perhaps also a window into her general mindset when she says “I just crack on with the training.

There isn’t enough research to show that there is definitely a performance impact so I don’t make allowances for it in the plan. If I had a bad session and my cycle was the reason I’d just tell my coach that was why it was crap and he’d say ‘ok, move on’. No big dramas, running is simple and that’s how I like it”.

This no-nonsense love of running comes through as Jess speaks – even as she talks about retirement, whenever that might come. It may seem odd to raise that at this early stage in her career but as she says,

“I turned thirty last weekend so I’ve been thinking about it more. I’ll just keep going until training for races becomes a chore. I won’t stop running though, I know I’ll always run”.

With the advice of Jo Pavey, the inspiring performances of Sinead Diver, and Piasecki’s own scientific understanding there’s no way she” be disappearing from top flight running again any time soon.

Looking ahead

We finish by talking about the future and what she’s looking forward to. A covid-free world brings smaller desires initially…

“the chance to go to the pub on a Friday, go out for a meal and to see family”

Like the rest of us, she hopes she may be able to do some competitive running in the autumn. For now though there are no races in the diary, not even virtual ones (“if I tried to run the Podium 5k now I think my hamstrings might explode”).

In the meantime she’s working, training and keeping in touch with her own athletes. Once a return to racing is confirmed she and Hawkins will work back to start a structured build-up again. “Hopefully whenever the trials do happen it will be just as it should have been. It’ll happen eventually and hopefully everyone will be in a better place”.

Amen to that. Here’s to the future.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Patient Piasecki bides her time appeared first on Fast Running.

Now what on earth are we going to write about next weekend? Leave it with us, we’ll come up with something. Or tweet some ideas at us, that always helps.

Your fastest male and female parkrun athletes of all time are…. unnecessary drum roll…. Andy Baddeley (13:48) and Charlotte Arter (15:49).

So Andy Baddeley, a 1500m Olympian and 13:20.99 5000m runner, is still the quickest of all time, way back from 2012 at the home of parkrun, Bushy Park. Little interesting fact to go alongside is that the 3:49 miler also has a double-first in Engineering from Cambridge University. Speedy and smart.

Your ladies parkrun world record holder is none the than Charlotte Arter. The GB distance star was at the rapido Cardiff parkrun in south Wales, and has run a handful of times that would have made this top ten. According to Wikipedia the Welsh star is originally from Cumbria, but is now the Welsh record holder for half marathon with a 69:40 at Barcelona Half last year.

The runners up

Alex Yee is a runner that always gets people excited, possibly linked to the fact my laptop tries to autocorrect to “Alex Yeehaw”. When he ran 14:05 a couple of years ago at Dulwich parkrun it was the second quickest all time and people loved it. Then the triathlon pro went one better and ran 13:57 at the same park. Could Yee break Baddeley’s record in the future?

When Dr. Jess Piasecki ran 15:51 and captained GB at the World XC Champs you might have felt that the Stockport Harrier could have relaxed for the rest of 2019, content in the knowledge that the year had been smashed, but the Exercise physiologist went on to run one of the performances of the year, winning Florence Marathon in 2:25:29, the third fastest British marathoner of all time.

Completing the podium

When Adam Clarke goes for a run at parkrun you now it’s going to be speedy. Another effort from Dulwich and the 2019 Armagh International winner (in 13:52 no less) probably lists his 14:00 parkrun on a similar level of achievement… or maybe slightly less than his simply staggering 13:39 5000m PB. Who knows?

The third fastest lady was also at Cardiff parkrun and Jenny Nesbitt is actually one of our Fast10 for 2020. Clocking 15:54 already in 2020, Nesbitt is clearly in great form and also had a road 10k best of 32:42 from Valencia in January this year. Another one who might challenge her training partner Arter’s parkrun best in the future.

A shout out must go to Clara Evans, training partner of Arter and Nesbitt, for posting the only time in this top ten that didn’t even come with the sweet joy of being first finisher on the day. On 1st February this year the seventh quickest UK parkrun all time was second on the day to Arter’s world best.

The fastest events?

142 men have broken 15 minutes at parkrun as of last weekend, which is pretty much on par with a good year at Armagh 5k international, whereas 137 ladies have broken 17 minutes, which feels like our equivalent result in the round up each week, with the time difference for fastest in each category the same as well (15:49 & 13:48 both just over 70 seconds quicker).

In a veritable who’s who of speedy parkruns, which event features most as well? Unsurprisingly Cardiff and Dulwich pop up repeatedly and the old school Bushy Park still has enough marks in the rankings to feature as the quickest with six, but it’s only a matter of time before the others surpass the home of parkrun.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Bushy ’12
Andy Baddeley, 13:48, Harrow
2) parkrun: Dulwich ’18
Alex Yee, 13:57, Kent AC
3) parkrun: Dulwich ’19
Adam Clarke, 14:00, Aldershot,Farnham & District
4) parkrun: Llanelli Coast ’18
Dewi Griffiths, 14:12, Swansea
5) parkrun: Southend ’16
Adam Hickey, 14:15, Southend
6=) parkrun: Pegwell Bay ’18
Chris Olley, 14:17, Tonbridge AC
6=) parkrun: Bakewell ’19
Andrew Heyes, 14:17, Hallamshire
8) parkrun: Bushy ’10
Mark Draper, 14:20, Bedford & County
9) parkrun: Exmouth ’18
Jake Smith, 14:21, Cardiff AC
10=) parkrun: Bushy ’10
Benedict Whitby, 14:24, Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow
10=) parkrun: Cardiff ’15
Ieuan Thomas, 14:24, Cardiff

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Cardiff ’20
Charlotte Arter, 15:49, Cardiff AC
2) parkrun: Long Eaton ’19
Jess Piasecki, 15:51, Stockport
3) parkrun: Cardiff ’20
Jenny Nesbitt, 15:54, Cardiff AC
4) parkrun: St Albans ’13
Hannah Walker, 15:55, Birchfield Harriers
5=) parkrun: Bushy ’11
Justina Heslop, 15:58, Clapham Chasers
5=) parkrun: Walsall Arboretum ’19
Hayley Carruthers, 15:58, Birchfield Harriers
7) parkrun: Cardiff ’20
Clara Evans, 16:04, Cardiff AC
8) parkrun: Bushy ’13
Julia Bleasdale, 16:05, Hillingdon
9) parkrun: Dulwich ’19
Steph Davis, 16:08, Clapham Chasers
10) parkrun: Bushy ’12
Gemma Turtle, 16:09, Gloucester

If you would like to run faster at parkrun, top tips to help runners of all abilities can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you

The post 10 fastest UK parkruns all time appeared first on Fast Running.

Brits excel in the Czech Republic

A few British athletes headed out to the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon in the Czech Republic and it was a very worthwhile trip with Jess Piasecki’s run the pick of the bunch.

The women’s race offered some huge surprises. A small group of runners came together shortly after setting off, but at the fifteenth kilometre mark the only two left were Jess Piasecki and Daria Mykhailova. In the end victory went to Piasecki who delivered a fantastic time of 1:11:34, enhancing her personal best by two seconds. “The time is great, though I had wanted to do it a bit faster. I mainly concentrated on beating Daria. The finish was pretty tough. It was a good performance because I’m training for the Frankfurt marathon,” the winner revealed.

Seventh placed in 1:15:31 was Bristol and West AC’s Jenny Spink, who we interviewed earlier in the year after the evergreen athlete won the Manchester Marathon. In the men’s race Josh Griffiths was fifth in a strong 1:04:23, which is a 31 second PB for the Welsh marathoner.

Rotherham Harriers & AC and Leeds City AC claim Northern title

The road relays remain a central feature and of the British endurance running scene with all the romance of the national cross. Whilst the depth may not be what it once was when I speak to athletes road relay medals and successes are almost amongst the first mentioned and imbued with the most pride.

We had a full update on the Welsh Road Relays last week. Also taking place last weekend was the Northern Road Relays. Great thanks goes to Elizabeth Renondeau who gave us a real sense of the competition in a closely fought women’s race where just one minute separated the top five teams.

A stunning 21:12 final leg from Nicola Devine dragged Rotherham Harriers & AC (1:27:07) from 5th place through to take the win a performance which saw her finish a full 38 seconds faster than the next quickest athlete on stage four, Rochelle Harrison of Lincoln Wellington.

The Rotherham Harriers & AC team of Zara Knappy (22:09), Keril Pearson (22:02), Jenny blizard (21:44) and Nicola Devine finished 10 seconds clear of a strong Leeds AC team (1:27:17) which included England runner Lucy Crookes (20:57), Sarah Hodgson (22:15), Leila Armoush (22:03) and Georgia Malir (22:02).

Lincoln Wellington were 3rd in 1:27:20 (Abbie Donnelly – 20:14, Laura Wilkinson – 22:18, Claire Cooney – 23:03, Rochelle Harrison – 21:45). Close behind were Ribble Valley Harriers (Hannah Stroud – 21:58, Helen Glover – 22:30, Eleanor Bolton – 21:14, Nicola Squires – 21:55) and Vale Royal (Liz Renondeau – 21:01, Holly Smith – 22:17, Amelia Pettitt – 22:22, Sarah Murphy – 22:03).

The fastest legs were run by Abbie Donnelly (Lincoln Wellington) in 20:14, Lucy Crookes (Leeds City A) in 20:57 and Abigail Howarth (Leigh Harriers A) in 21:00.

Credit: Steve Bateson – www.runningpix.co.uk

Sesemann leads the way

The men’s race didn’t see quite the same close battle for the win but there was a strong battle for podium places with Morpeth Harriers & AC (2:05:28) just edged out by Salford Harriers 3rd in 2:02:59 and Sale Harriers Manchester 2nd in 2:02:43. The winners by over were Leeds City AC in 2:00:31.

A strong overall team performance from Leeds saw fastest legs from Matthew Grieve (leg two – 20:19) and Phil Sesemann (leg four – 19:18). Finishing leg one in 7th place 21 seconds down on the lead after the leg run by John Ashcroft (20:12), Grieve’s performance on leg two pulled them into the lead which they held and extended to the finish with efforts from Linton Taylor (20:26), Philip Sesemann, Alex Bellew (20:26) and Graham Rush on the anchor (19:50).

Sale Harriers (Philip Robertson – 19:58, Patrick Magner – 21:06, Gavin Hill – 20:16, Nigel Martin – 19:36, Daniel Kashi – 20:59, Matthew Barnes – 20:48) were in the mix throughout never dropping outside the top four places with Barnes sticking closely to Carl Hardman of Salford Harriers to secure the silver medal.

Salford Harriers (Elliot Palmer – 20:20, David Rigby – 20:59, Joseph Bailey – 20:24, Marc Brown – 20:18, Karl Darcy – 20:12, Carl Hardman – 20:36) moved into a podium spot on leg three and held it to the finish. Salford Harriers as a club fielded an amazing eight teams.

Fastest legs were run by Philip Sesemann (Leeds City A) – 19:18, Mohammed Aburezeq (Altrincham A) – 19:22,  Carl Avery (Morpeth Harriers A) 19:27.

Credit: Steve Bateson – www.runningpix.co.uk

Birchfield dominate the Midlands

A stunning performance from Omar Ahmed capped a fine victory for Birchfield Harriers A in 1:48:30 (Ed Banks – 18:40, Alex Tovey – 18:36, Sam Johnson – 18:14, William Richardson – 17:28, Andrew Peat – 18:33, Omar Ahmed – 16:59. Ahmed’s 16:59 was comfortably the fastest leg on the day but by that point a fine team display had all but sealed their victory from Bristol & West AC in 2nd (1:50:47) and Notts AC in 3rd (1:51:23).

It was actually Team Bath Ac who led at the end of leg one with Birchfield back in 7th but this had been overhauled by the end of leg four with a fine performance from William Richardson in clocking the second fastest leg of the day.

A strong Bristol & West team (Andrew Watt – 18:17, Harry Allen – 18:03, Jed Bartlett – 19:04, Kurt Taylor – 18:15, William Christofi – 18:49, Andrew Chambers – 18:19) saw them challenging hard early on holding the lead at the end of leg three.

Notts AC (Patrick Townsend – 18:48, Anthony Woodward – 19:00, Stuart Spencer – 18:12, Freddie Hessian – 18:25, Tim Hartley – 19:06, Alastair Watson – 17:52) fought back from 10th at the end of leg one to third after a strong third leg from Stuart Spencer which they held to the finish with Watson’s leg the 4th fastest on the day.

The fastest legs were run by Omar Ahmed (Birchfield) – 16:59, William Richardson (Birchfield) – 17:28 and Thomas Mortimer (Stroud & District) – 17:48.

AFD and Cambridge & Coleridge victorious at the Southern’s

Cambridge and Coleridge’s women’s team clinched an exciting victory passing Reading AC in the final 200m with Aldershot Farnham and District in third. The AFD men however came out on top ahead of Serpentine in 2nd and Bedford & County in 3rd.

At the time of publishing we were still waiting on full results w- we will update this report when they are available…

Senior women on leg 1. Credit: Tracy Barlow

Gunn and Carruthers lead Birchfield charge

Birchfield Harriers A (1:00:47) were women’s winners as they led from start to finish after a strong first leg from Bryony Gunn (14:55) saw them with a 24 second lead. Carli Baldwin (15:50) and Elizabeth Watters (15:41) maintained the lead but a strong run from Taunton AC’s Hannah Taunton (15:21)  saw their lead cut to just three seconds before handing over to Hayley Carruthers. The England marathoner ran the fastest leg of the day (14:21) to make the overall win look more comfortable than the numbers appear on paper.

Charnwood AC are always expected to be in the mix and they finished 2nd with 1:02:40 with stalwarts Juliet Potter (15:14) and Gemma Steel (15:02) joined by Mia Atkinson (15:32) and Eleanor Here (16:52). Charnwood were one second off the lead at the end of leg two but slipped to 4th after leg three before Gemma Steel ran the third fastest leg of the day to pull them into second.

Taunton AC were one of the stories of the day claiming bronze with a fine overall team display from Alice
Murray-Gourlay (15:26), Katie Drew (15:42), Hannah Taunton (15:21) and Kirstie Booth (16:59). Well done to club coach Charlotte Fisher for carving out one of the strongest teams in the area.

The fastest legs on the day were run by Hayley Carruthers (Birchfield) – 14:21, Bryony Gunn (Birchfield) – 14:55 and Gemma Steel (Charnwood) – 15:02.

Cockram and Clements claim victory in Swansea

Natasha Cockram claimed a huge PB to win the Admiral Swansea Bay 10km running 33:26 to take over a minute off her previous best. The Micky Morris Racing Team athlete will count this as one of the best wins of her career as she fought of a strong challenge from Clara Evans (33:35) and Jenny Nesbitt (33:46).

The men’s battle was just as right with Shaftesbury Barnet’s Kieran Clements taking the win with 30:03. Second place went t0 10km first timer Liam Dee whose incredible debut time of 30:17 was enough to see off the challenge of James Hunt (30:22) for second.

Other road 10ks

Cade Wright (36:45) and Marc Brown (30:49) were the winners of the Scottish 10km on the flat, fast course in Musselburgh. Brown was joined on the podium by Callum Reid (31:50) and Mark Haskett (33:40). The second placed woman was Ruth Joss who ran 37:03 to just edge out Jennifer Wetton’s time of 37:14.

In the Scottish Half Marathon Howell Craske fought off the challenge of Sam McCutcheon (68:45) to win in 68:26. Lindsay Gordon was third in 69:37 and Hugh Campbell also cracked 70 minutes with 69:46. Alison Rowatt was a dominant women’s winner in 78:43 ahead of Sheena Logan (81:49) and Lisa Macdonald (82:44).

The RunThrough Olympic Park 10km took place yesterday with Finnish athlete Tuomo Salonen winning in 33:09. The 3:46 1500m man was well clear of second placed Patrick Vis of Leeds City AC (34:41) and Eoin Brady of Herne Hill (35:07). Marina Johnson was the winning woman in 40:51 ahead of Lauren Wallace who also ran 40:51 but with a gun time of 41:46 with Kate Rose (41:49) in third.

Three’s a crowd

It was an incredible at Stafford 10km with first three athletes dead level on their chip times. James Egleston of Telford Harriers was the winning man with 33:42, exactly the same chip time as 2nd place Pravesh Patel and 3rd place Lee Gratton just sneaking the win by a second off the gun.

Giorgia Chattwood was the standout performer overall taking over three minutes off her PB to win in 36:05. Heaton’s Danielle Smythe was 2nd a few seconds outside her own PB in 37:46. Third was Kelly Butler in 38:40.

The Vets AC 10000m Champs took place in the week with Ben Goddard running the fastest time on the day with 33:12 ahead of Aaron Burgess (33:43). Susan McDonald ran the fastest v50 time in the UK this year with 39:11 with Simon Bean running the 3rd fastest v60 time with 38:27. Terry Booth clocked a PB with 34:42 seeing him move to 6th on the 2019 v50 rankings.

Thompson in back to back wins

Having won last week’s Richmond RunFest Marathon Chris Thompson won the Great Eastern Run Half Marathon this weekend in a time of 66:43, two minutes clear of Andrew Rooke of Framlingham who ran 69:38 and Danny Rock in 3rd in a PB of 70:21.

Havering’s Lauren Deadman was a comfortable women’s winner clocking 79:03 with Sophie Delderfield 2nd in 82:20. Alice Heather-Hayes was third running 87:38.

Both course records tumbled at Rutland Water Marathon with Beth West the winning woman in 3:13:54 and Phil Martin crossing the line in 2:47:17.

At Hull Marathon there was a good tussle between the eventual winner Gareth Cooke who crossed the line in 2:31:02 and Joshua Rowe who finished in 2:33:54. Finn Nugent was third in 2:40:55. There was a similar winning margin between the leading women with Sally Ford the winner in 3:17:38 ahead of Joey Armitage (3:19:57) and Sammy Bunce (3:23:59).

Anne Marie McGlynn a popular winner in Belfast

Anne Marie McGlynn ran a superb 72:58 to win Belfast City Half Marathon nearly five minutes clear of second placed Gladys Ganiel (77:26) with Joanne McCandless completing the podium with a big new PB of 79:50.

There was also a dominating performance in the men’s race with Gideon Kipsang Kimosop winning in 66:58 ahead of Eoin Hughes in a new PB of 68:30 and John Black of North Belfast also running a big PB of 69:12.

The Swindon Half Marathon is now in it’s third year and it was Christopher Wood of Wimborne who triumphed with a time of 73:44 in a tight race with Brendan Morris who finished eight seconds back with 73:52. Alex Smith was third with 75:13. Susannah Gill was the women’s winner running 86:57 again in a tight race just beating Rachel Owen (87:06) and Miriam Jones-Walters (87:40) to head the podium.

RunMaccFest saw races over 5km, 10km and half marathon. The 5km was won by Finley Proffitt (16:19) and Alannah Birtwistle (19:35). Colin Bishop (35:46) and Hannah Bridger (41:06) topped the podium in the 10km.

Andrew Heyes broke the course record at Asda Foundation Sheffield 10km with 30:44 well clear of Mohamed Saleh of Sheffield RC (31:23) and Jamie Hall (32:13).

Elaine Livera was the winning woman 37:39 ahead of Anna Watkinson-Powell (37:55) and Hannah May Fletcher (38:31).

Tooting was the location for the Self Transcendence 24 hour race where Robert Payne moved to 9th on the UK all time list running 251.989km. Jo Newens moved to 11th on the UK all time list as she ran 221.373km to finish first woman and 3rd overall.

The second placed man was Peter Windross who covered 230.283km with Nate Filer 3rd man and 4th overall with 210.036. Emma Bird ran 195.116km to finish 2nd woman with Alison Walker 3rd running 185.934.

Douglas and Collinge win the British Mountain Championships and Trial

The British Mountain Running Champs, and the trial for the World Mountain Running Association Championships in Patagonia this November, were held on Moel Eilio, in Llanberis this Saturday. Andy Douglas, who is taking a year’s sabbatical from work to focus on his mountain running, was the star of the day, winning by almost three minutes.

Douglas, who is the current leader for the WMRA World Cup series, was running for Scotland as part of a home countries international (we’re not really sure how many races were included in this one race, it was also the final of the British Mountain Running Challenge too).

Emmie Collinge has raced sparingly this Summer so it was unsure how well she would run over the up and down course. It was a much closer race in the women’s event, with only 33 seconds separating the top three. Italy based Collinge ran 62:32, whilst Philippa Williams was 10 second back in 62:42 and Heidi Davies just another 14 seconds back in 62:55.

The men’s podium was completed by Joe Steward (55:21) and Tom Adams (55:30), a fair way back of seasoned international Douglas in 52:32. A fine performance by Gary Priestley, a man rumoured to run through brick walls as part of his training regime, saw him take fourth spot in 56:46 ahead of fell runner Chris Holdsworth.

More in the mountains

At the Salomon Skyline Scotland Ring of Steall race Britain’s Holly Page was racing again and finished 2nd in 3:54:18 behind the winner from Switzerland Judith Wyder who ran 3:36:46. Fanny Borgström was third in 4:02:01.

Italian Nadir Maguet (3:14:47) finished nearly five minutes clear of his next challenger, the Swiss Marc Lauenstein (3:19:37) with American Max King in third (3:20:42). Ricky Lightfoot was the leading British athlete in 9th finishing in 3:35:40.

In the Ultra Scotland’s Murray Strain took the win in 7:51:31 with Yorkshire’s Katie Kaars-Sijpesteijn finishing 3rd overall and winning woman with 8:05:28.

Nadir Maguet Credit: James Philip Elson

Sub 2 attempt fails

Finally there was a fair bit of noise in the week about a sub two hour marathon attempt on a downhill course billed as The World’s Fastest Marathon’. As with many things in life the internet billing didn’t quite live up to reality with Kenyan Antony Karinga Maina eventually clocking 2:09:38.

A tweet from the race organisers stated that he was on for sub two hours until 30km, presumably before the wheels came off – an experience familiar to many readers I am sure. We think it was Grete Waitz who said “the race starts at 30km”…

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Piasecki PBs and all the action from the road relays – weekend roundup appeared first on Fast Running.

The women of Kenya created history in Kampala, not just becoming the first senior women’s long course team to register a perfect score or completing Kenya’s first clean sweep of the medals in that race, but by becoming the first team in history, in any of the world cross country races, to fill the top six places.

Yes, the entire Kenyan team home before anyone else got a look in!

While a repeat of such utter dominance at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark on Saturday (March 30) is unlikely, there is enough firepower among the Kenyan women to make securing the team title for a record thirteenth time a mere formality.

Kenyan athletes have won the last six individual titles, and are expected to dominate the podium once again.

Lillian Kasait Rengeruk, bronze medallist in Kampala, is the only starter from the all-conquering 2017 team, but she will be joined by a star-studded line-up which includes reigning World, Commonwealth and African 5000m champion Hellen Obiri and world steeplechase record holder Beatrice Chepkoech.

Such is the strength of the Kenyan team, that Agnes Tirop, the 2015 champion and 2017 fifth placer; and 2018 African Cross Country Championship runner-up Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi, are only reserves this time around.

Kenyan studs

Obiri, who also holds the Kenyan 5000m record, ran a 29:59 for 10k on the slightly downhill San Silvestre Vallecana course in Madrid on New Year’s Eve, won the IAAF Permit meet in Elgoibar in January, and took the Kenyan trials victory in February.

She may well start as favourite, and will look to add world cross country gold to her global indoor and outdoor titles. If successful, she would become the first female athlete to do so.

Chepkoech, like Obiri, is better known for her track accomplishments than she is for her cross country pedigree. She did finish third at the Kenyan trials and picked up a win at the IAAF Permit race in January.

The Commonwealth Games silver medallist shot into fame when she knocked an incredible eight seconds off the world steeplechase world record last summer, and she will look to use her steeplechasing strength to good effect in Aarhus.

Beatrice Chepkemoi Mutai – who split the track stars at the Kenyan trials – won bronze at the 2016 African Cross Country Championships. Mutai, the older sister and training partner of world 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon, may also be a contender.

Can anyone stop the Kenyans?

Among the Ethiopians attempting to halt the Kenyan dominance will be 2015 and 2017 under-20 champion Letesenbet Gidey, and Dera Dida the runner up in the younger age category in 2015.

Gidey, originally a reluctant recruit to the sport and once temporary expelled from school for refusing to run in her physical education classes, now boasts a 5000m best of 14:23.14.

Dida, who won the Ethiopian trials ahead of Gidey has a marathon PB of 2:21:45, and the five-lap energy-sapping course should be less of an issue for her proven endurance.

Stella Cheseng is the Commonwealth 10,000m champion. The Ugandan trials winner, who finished second to Obiri in Elgoibar and runner-up to Chepkoech in Seville in January, could also feature.

With the roof of the Moesgaard Museum – which participants will have to navigate five times – seemingly steepening as the hours pass, the most significant result on Chesang’s CV may well be her World Mountain Running title from 2015.

Photo: Lone Dybdal

The challenge from Bahrain will be led by World Marathon champion Rose Chelimo, who finished ninth in Kampala; Eunice Chumba, 2016 Asian cross-country champion and a 66:11 half marathoner; and Winfred Mutile Yavi, who won the Cinquemulini IAAF Permit meet in January.

The team battle

If anyone is to get close to the Kenyans in the team stakes, it will be the Ethiopians. The East African rivals have shared the past twenty team titles between them, and it’s difficult to see anyone coming between the pair this time around.

Bahrain, with a team comprising Kenyan and Ethiopian exports, were third last time out, and the bronze medal battle looks set to be between them, the Ugandans, and a strong USA contingent led by world steeplechase silver medallist Courtney Frerichs.

Incidentally, Portugal, the last non-African team to win the team title, way back in 1994, don’t have a single athlete entered in the race this time around. The European nation, with a strong distance running history, and have only entered one athlete across the five races.

Local interest

London-based Danish athlete Anna-Emilie Møller, who won the European under-23 title in December, will be the star attraction for the Danish crowd.

Photo: Andy Peat

The 2016 Olympian and 2017 European under-23 steeplechase champion became the first non-British female BUCS Cross Country champion in February.

Møller finished second to Kenya’s Gloria Kite at the IAAF Permit meet in Soria in November, and will be hoping to put in an inspired performance on home soil.

In the absence of the top five finishers from the senior race in Tilburg, Møller may even start as leading European challenger, though Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack, a two-time European champion, and Germany’s Elena Burkard, sixth in Tilburg, may have something to say about that.

The Irish and British challenge

McCormack hasn’t competed at the World Cross Country Championships since leading the Irish team to fifth place in 2013. The three-time Olympian finished in the top 20 in 2007, 2011 and 2013, and will be one of the few to relish the conditions and the distance on Saturday.

Photo: Sportsfile

Currently preparing for the Boston marathon, the Wicklow woman has raced sparingly since giving birth to her first child last October; her sixth place from Belfast in January her only cross country performance of late.

Ireland’s other representative, Birmingham-based doctor Sara Treacy, ran her first World Cross Country Championships as a 16 year-old in Fukuoka. Thirteen years later she makes her debut appearance in the senior race.

Treacy is an athlete for the big day and the Olympic steeplechase finalist and 1o-times European Cross Country participant will be more than at home on this stage.

The British team will have an eye on a top six team finish, something which they last achieved in 2011. Like their male counterparts, there is little to choose between the sextet.

Jess Piasecki and Kate Avery, who were members of the team which so narrowly lost out on the team gold at the European Championships in December, are the most experienced members of the team.

Photo: Andy Peat

Like Treacy, both have previously competed in the junior event, but Saturday will be their first experience of the senior race.

Jenny Nesbitt was a dominant winner of the trial event earlier this month, and the Welsh Cross Country Champion, also an established competitor on the roads, will be relishing her first taste of world championship competition.

Emily Hosker-Thornhill, who took the English title on the hills around Harewood House in February, will be hoping to improve on her 90th place from Kampala two years ago.

English under-20 champion Amelia Quirk was the surprise package of the British trials finishing fifth against her older rivals. The young University of Birmingham fresher, who finished second to Møller at the BUCS Championships, will look to use Aarhus as a stepping stone to a successful senior career.

North of England champion Mhairi MacLennan, who’s put in a number of strong performances this winter, completes a strong team.

And so…

In the absence of defending champion Irene Cheptai, and with Agnes Jebet Tirop not due to make the Kenyan starting six, we’re guaranteed a first-time champion this time around.

The field is not, however, lacking in star quality, and a number of world champions and record holders will be vying to add the prestigious cross country title to their CV.

Obiri, the 5000m star, will start as favourite, but on the challenging Aarhus’ course, track pedigree may count for nothing.

Expect the Kenyans to dominate, but the Ethiopians, wounded by the trashing they received in Kampala two years ago, along with the Ugandans and Bahrainis are at least capable of getting in the mix for individual medals this time around.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey Kamworor is targeting a third straight World Cross Country gold in the senior men’s race, and a full preview can be found here.

Additionally the race timetable and TV guide can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post World Cross Country Championships: ones to watch in the senior women’s race appeared first on Fast Running.

Jessica Piasecki has been named the British team captain for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark on Saturday (March 30).

After a five-year absence from cross country, the four-time European Cross Country Championship medallist has enjoyed a resurgent season on the grass, culminating in an individual 10th place finish and a team silver medal in December’s Euro Cross in Tilburg, the Netherlands.

Piasecki’s last experience of the World Cross came in 2007 in Mombasa, Kenya, where – as Jess Coulson – she finished in 26th place, but will make her senior bow in the competition in Aarhus.

“I’m really happy and I couldn’t ask for any more than to be named captain of such a strong team,” said the 28 year-old Stockport athlete.

“In 2007 as a junior at world cross I was really happy to be there and everything happens all at once and you let it happen, whereas now I approach this year’s event in a more professional manner and I want to do my utmost to finish as well as I can and put my mark on the event.

“The European Championships came around really quickly for me but now I want to make my mark on the World Cross.

“As a team, I think we have the potential to do really well across the board. Everyone needs to go in and run their own race and if they do that, as team captain I’ll be very happy.

“At the Euros we had a really good turnout across the board from the team and hopefully everyone can do themselves and the country proud in Denmark.”

RELATED: GB names team for World Cross Country Championships

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Jessica Piasecki named GB captain for World Cross Country Championships appeared first on Fast Running.

British Athletics has named a strong full team of 24 athletes for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark on Saturday, March 30.

Winner of the trials Jenny Nesbitt, who earns her first British vest on the cross country circuit since 2016, is joined by 2018 European Cross senior team silver medallists Jess Piasecki and Kate Avery in the senior women’s team.

Third at the trials, Mhairi MacLennan, along with English National champion Emily Hosker-Thornhill and under-20 team gold medallist from Tilburg, Amelia Quirk complete the team.

Ross Millington who took senior team silver in December’s Euro Cross, will be flanked by under-23 team silver medallists from Tilburg, Oliver Fox, Mahamed Mahamed and Patrick Dever, the latter achieving an individual fifth-place finish in Tilburg.

Adam Hickey earns a first British vest since the 2015 Euro Cross in Hyères, France, following his trial win at Prestwold Hall, with Luke Traynor completing the team.

Photo: JHM Sport

Under-20 team gold medallist from Tilburg, Inter Counties and 2018/19 Cross Challenge champion Grace Brock spearheads the junior women’s selections, along with under-17 English National Championships winner, Olivia Mason.

Charlotte Alexander earns another British vest following on from her run in the Great Stirling XCountry, while Becky Briggs, Eloise Walker and Amelia Samuels all earn their first British vests.

Inter-Counties champion Matt Willis leads the junior men’s selections, alongside new English under-20 cross champion Rory Leonard, and under-20 European Mountain Running Championship team gold medallist from 2018, Euan Brennan.

Under-20 Cross Challenge champion Zakariya Mahamed achieves his first British vest, as do Benjamin West and Josh Cowperthwaite.

“I’m really excited that we are able to have selected a full team for the World Cross Country Championships that we feel can challenge some of the world’s best Cross Country runners on a tough course in Aarhus,” said Team leader Rob Denmark.

“We have opted to select full teams in the senior races as we feel it will enhance our bid for a top six team finish and given the nature of the course, will give Great Britain & Northern Ireland the best possible chance of doing so.

“Additionally, we feel that the course in Aarhus will provide another perfect development opportunity for our Under-20 athletes moving into the summer track season and a fundamental development area as they progress through the age groups.”

Meanwhile, Ireland also named its team on Tuesday (March 12) and it can be found here.

British team for the World Cross Country Championships

Senior Men: Patrick Dever, Oliver Fox, Adam Hickey, Mahamed Mahamed, Ross Millington and Luke Traynor.

Senior Women: Kate Avery, Emily Hosker-Thornhill, Mhairi MacLennan, Jenny Nesbitt, Jessica Piasecki and Amelia Quirk.

Junior Men: Euan Brennan, Josh Cowperthwaite, Rory Leonard, Zakariya Mahamed, Benjamin West and Matt Willis.

Junior Women: Charlotte Alexander, Becky Briggs, Grace Brock, Olivia Mason, Amelia Samuels and Eloise Walker.

Further information and a video preview of the World Cross Country Championships course in Aarhus can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post GB names team for World Cross Country Championships appeared first on Fast Running.

Both Jess Piasecki and Charlotte Arter broke 16 minutes for parkrun this weekend, with the Stockport Harrier just one second off Arter’s 15:50 parkrun record with 15:51. Callan Moody topped the men’s rankings with an excellent 14:33 at Dulwich parkrun.

Such was the speed of the top two women the Fast Running team felt it deserved an early article as both are running well ahead of the trial for the Aarhus World XC Championships, which will be held as part of the Inter-Counties cross country champs next weekend in Loughborough.

Stockport Harrier Piasecki, a 15:29 5000m and 32:41 10000m runner, ran the super quick time at the Long Eaton parkrun near Nottingham, which has seen many quick times in the past. The Robert Hawkins coached athlete finished 2018 with a 10th position at the European cross country championships in Tilburg, Holland and is seemingly flying into spring 2019.

Welsh runner Charlotte Arter also broke 16 minutes at Cardiff parkrun for the second time this year and has had some stellar performances including a Welsh record over half marathon. The Cardiff AC star ran 69:40 at the Barcelona half marathon on the 10th February.

Running at Dulwich parkrun in south-east London was New Zealand distance runner Callan Moody. The Kiwi posted 14:33, which is not far from his 14:21.49 best for 5000m, but also on the back of an excellent 29:31 at Telford 10k in December last year. It seems that form has been carried into 2019 and it will be interesting to see what the year has in store for Moody.

Newham & Essex Beagle John Beattie was the second fastest of the weekend with a 15:02 at Rother Valley parkrun. Beattie recent ran 14:17 for 5k at the Armagh International road races, but that was only good enough for 23rd on the day, such was the quality of the field in Northern Ireland.

Jake Shelley, anti-doping PhD student at Kingston university, was at Springburn parkrun in Glasgow and may well have taken a break from the Indoor Champs to run parkrun. Fortunately Jakob Ingebritsen didn’t add a 5k into his weekend activities, although he is doing every other race it seems, and Shelley’s 15:04 was a comfortable first finisher in Scotland.

Hayley Carruthers, so used to topping these rankings, had to settle for third place with a solid 16:20 at Walsall Arboretum due to the international standard of results this weekend. Fourth place was another Welsh international with Clara Evans posting 16:30 behind Arter at Cardiff parkrun.

With Becky Briggs (16:36) at Hull and Tamara Beach (16:48) also at Cardiff parkrun bringing it to six ladies under 17 minutes this weekend it was a fast top ten for the 5k time trials. 17:20 for 10th place might be our highest standard yet, but expect that to be different next weekend with Inter-Counties cross country champs in Loughborough.

Both Dulwich and Cardiff parkrun featured four times in the rankings this week, with good racing at both.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: Dulwich
Callan Moody, 14:33, Serpentine RC
2) parkrun: Rother Valley
John Beattie, 15:02, Newham & Essex Beagles AC
3) parkrun: Springburn, Glasgow
Jake Shelley, 15:04, Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers
4) parkrun: Dulwich
Simon Goldsworthy, 15:10, Guildford & Godalming AC
5) parkrun: Long Eaton
Freddie Carcas, 15:15, Edinburgh AC
6) parkrun: Dulwich
Owen Hind, 15:24, Kent AC
7) parkrun: Dulwich
Edward Chuck, 15:25, Dulwich Runners AC
8) parkrun: Bushy
Luke Conway, 15:27, Newham & Essex Beagles AC
9) parkrun: Cardiff
Kurt Taylor, 15:28, Bristol and West AC
10=) parkrun: York
Joe Rainsford, 15:29, Heanor RC
10=) parkrun: Dulwich
Jonathan Tipper, 15:29, Kent AC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Long Eaton
Jessica Piasecki, 15:51, Stockport Harriers & AC
2) parkrun: Cardiff
Charlotte Arter, 15:56, University of Wales Institute
3) parkrun: Walsall Arboretum 
Hayley Carruthers, 16:20, Birchfield Harriers
4) parkrun: Cardiff
Clara Evans, 16:30, Pontypridd Roadents AC
5) parkrun: Hull
Becky Briggs, 16:36, City of Hull AC
6) parkrun: Cardiff
Tamara Beach, 16:48, Les Croupiers RC
7) parkrun: Bushy
Sarah Astin, 17:01, City of Norwich AC
8) parkrun: Chelmsford Central
Elizabeth Davies, 17:09, Springfield Striders RC
9) parkrun: Cannon Hill, Birmingham 
Chloe Richardson, 17:16, Birchfield Harriers
10=) parkrun: Belfast Victoria
Rachel Gibson, 17:20, North Down AC
10=) parkrun: Southampton
Louise Damen, 17:20, Winchester and District AC

If you would like to run faster at parkrun, top tips to help runners of all abilities can be found here.

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post 10 fastest UK parkrun times on Saturday 2nd March (2019) appeared first on Fast Running.

For the first time we see two females athletes break the 16 minutes barrier in the same weekend, with parkrun record holder Charlotte Arter also running a quick time of 15:56 at Cardiff parkrun.

Stockport Harrier Piasecki, a 15:29 5000m and 32:41 10000m runner, ran the super quick time at the Long Eaton parkrun near Nottingham, which has seen many quick times in the past. The Robert Hawkins coached athlete finished 2018 with a 10th position at the European cross country championships in Tilburg, Holland and is seemingly flying into spring 2019.

Welsh runner Charlotte Arter also broke 16 minutes at Cardiff parkrun for the second time this year and has had some stellar performances including a Welsh record over half marathon. The Cardiff AC star ran 69:40 at the Barcelona half marathon on the 10th February. Last week Arter was announced for the Cardiff Bay 10km race at the end of March so it will be exciting to see how quickly the  endurance athlete will run for the road event.

The rest of the parkrun UK results and the full rankings will be added once event directors have had a chance to upload their results. 

If you would like to run faster at parkrun, top tips to help runners of all abilities can be found here.

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Jess Piasecki runs second fastest parkrun time ever, with Charlotte Arter also sub-16 appeared first on Fast Running.