This weekend’s racing started on Friday night with the Mid Chesire 5K, the incorporated the England Championships. Aldershot’s Richard Allen won the men’s title, while Leeds City’s Stevie Stockton won the women’s race. A race report can be found here.

British Masters Road Relays

Men’s V35 – Salford Harriers took the win in emphatic fashion by nearly three and a half minutes from Thames Hare & Hounds, who just edged out Tipton Harriers by six seconds for the silver medal.

Salford’s six-piece line up of Bruno Lima, James Kovacs, Chris Livesey, Billy McCartney, Carl Hardman and Matthew Shaw were convincing winners on an unseasonably cool and wet April day at Birmingham’s Sutton Park.

Salford’s Hardman was easily the fastest on the day with a superb 15:19 ahead of Tipton’s Stuart Hawkes’ 15:43 – who won the Brighton marathon just two weeks earlier – and Birmingham’s Dan Robinson, who posted a 15:53 result.

Women’s V35 – Rotherham Harriers’ women have been making impressive strides forwards on both the senior and veteran level in the past 12 months, and the women’s V35 team took that another step up by taking the gold medal at Sutton Park, winning by more than two minutes from Derby AC, with South London Harriers clinching bronze 70 seconds behind.

Rotherham’s Sarah Lowery, Natalie Harris, Fiona Davies and Jenny Blizard include a former GB international in Blizard and a veteran England marathoner in Lowery. Derby’s ever impressive Lisa Palmer-Blount was the fastest on the day with an 18:00 clocking.

Men’s V45 – Cambuslang Harriers’ foursome were narrow winners in a total time of 69:32 ahead of Salford Harriers’ 69:41, with Thames Hare & Hounds never far behind in 69:55 overall. Cambuslang’s Chris Upson, Justin Carter, Kerry-Liam Wilson and Stevie Wylie made up the victorious gold medal winning team, while Leicester’s Mark Johnson ran the fastest leg on the day in 16:30.

Women’s V45 – It was a much closer affair in the V45 races, with Winchester & District’s trio just taking the win from Tonbridge by a mere seven seconds. Dulwich were less than 90 seconds behind in third.

Winchester’s Kathryn Bailey, Samantha Parkinson and Karen Rushton made up the winning team, while Tonbridge’s ever consistent V50, Maria Heslop, posted the fastest leg with a 18:36 result.

Men’s V55 – South London Harriers won a tightly fought battle from Herne Hill Harriers, their third runner Andy Tindall completing the trio’s total winning time of 55:10 with the fastest leg of the day in 17:28.

David Ogden and Gordon Hennessy made up the remaining winning team, while Cambuslang Harriers took the bronze on a successful day for their men’s teams overall.

Women’s V55 – City of Norwich’s women pipped Burnden Road Runners to the gold ahead of Holmfirth Harriers with just over a minute separating each of the podium teams. Jane Clarke, Tracey Curl and Louise Wilkinson won gold for Norwich, with Clarke also enjoying the fastest leg of the day by more than half a minute in 20:48.

Men’s V65 – Oxford City AC were convincing winners in 64:02, clinching gold from Blackheath & Bromley and Salford Harriers respectively. Oxford’s victorious team was led by Stewart Thorp, with Roy Treadwell and John Exley providing excellent second and third legs.

Salford’s veteran star Stanley Owen ran an excellent 19:47 to post the fastest leg of the day.

Women’s V65 – Only four teams made up the V65 competition, with Westbury Harriers taking the win by more than four minutes in 79:17 from Worcester AC and Hastings Runners. Worcester’s Liz Bowers was fastest in 23:47.

Men’s V75 – All three competing teams unsurprisingly made the podium in the V75 competition, with Bingley Harriers taking the top spoils in 76:04 ahead of Exmouth Harriers and Sevenoaks AC. Bingley’s Haynes was fastest by more than two minutes in a very impressive 22:54.

Chester Half Marathon

Chester hosted another competitive half marathon in the North West city, with Swansea’s Phil Matthews taking the win in a top class 67:59, ahead of Kent’s Russell Bentley, who ran an incredible 69:44 just one week after posting a 2:29:41 result in the London marathon.

Congratulations to today’s winner of the Chester Half Marathon. 1 hour 7 mins ….. amazing! #chestermarathon pic.twitter.com/EeXJEkkohv

— Mitchell Group (@MitchellGroupUK) April 29, 2018

Derby’s Alex Pilcher was just seconds behind in third in 69:49.

Northampton’s impressively consistent Hayley Munn was first lady in the women’s race in 78:06, taking victory from Southport Waterloo’s Amanda Crook and Lawley RC’s V40 Kim Fawke, who posted times of 78:14 and 81:54 respectively.

Fawke just held off fierce competition for third place by two seconds from Higham Harriers’ Rachel Doherty.

Stirling Scottish Marathon

Stirling’s central position in Scotland ensured a healthy turn out to the annual Scottish marathon, traditionally held a week after London and, to much relief for those taking on the 26.2 miles, in much cooler conditions than the previous week’s English capital’s event.

Central’s Michael Wright took the win in 2:29:19 ahead of Hunters Bog Trotters and Poland’s Patryk Gierjatowicz’s 2:33:10 and Insch Trail RC’s Tom Roche’s 2:33:38. Roche’s time represented a fine debut over the distance.

The moment our #StirlingMarathon winner crossed the finish line! pic.twitter.com/O8TuHeblMi

— Great Run (@Great_Run) April 29, 2018

Fife’s Alison McGill was first across the line in the women’s race in 3:02:35, which represented more than a ten minute PB.

McGill was a clear winner from Dundee Road Runners AC’s Michelle Mackay, who posted a 3:05:01 result, also a significant lifetime best. Dunbar’s Rhona Anderson’s 3:09:56 made up the podium places, with a time that puts her 7th on the V50 2018 British rankings.

Corstorphine AAC’s Michael Crawley won the men’s half marathon title in 69:33, while Edinburgh AC’s Sarah Brown won the women’s race in 1:26:58.

Newport Wales Marathon and 10k

James Carpenter and Natasha Cockram won the marathon titles at inaugural Newport Wales Marathon on Sunday in times of 2:33:32 and 2:44:58.

In the 10k race Ieuan Thomas in 29:43 and Rachel Felton in 35:04 celebrated victories.

A full report can be found here.

Flitwick 10k

Kenneth Nugent of Donore Harriers (Ireland) won the men’s race in 33:12, while Shaftesbury Barnet’s Victoria Pritchard was the first woman home in 36:06.

Leicester’s Big 10k

Tamworth AC’s Sylvain Letendart took the men’s honours in Leicester crossing the line in 34:16, while Leila Armoush of Leeds City won the women’s race in 38:06.

Hamburg Marathon

Jonathan Abel of West 4 Harriers was the highest placed British runner at the Hamburg Marathon on Sunday, clocking a PB 2:45:34, while London Heathside’s Leigh James from Wales was the quickest British woman in 3:06:17.

Ethiopia Solomon Deksisa won the elite men’s race in 2:06:34, while Shitaye Eshete of Bahrain won the women’s race in 2:24:51.

parkrun

Adam Hickey ran 14:37 to record the quickest time across the UK at parkrun once again, while Jenny Nesbitt ran the fastest women’s time in 16:47. This weekend’s top 10 men’s and women’s times can be found here.

The post Masters star in road relays as Stirling & Newport host marathon success appeared first on Fast Running.

Neath Harriers’ Carpenter stripped a massive 15 minutes off his previous best to win the men’s crown at the inaugural ABP Newport Wales Marathon on Sunday (April 29).

Carpenter’s 2:33:32 win was the first competitive victory of his career as he put in a vital burst 7K from the finish to finally break the resistance of brave Jonathan Barnes. Slowly, but surely, he created a gap and eventually came home 41 seconds ahead of the Cheltenham & County Harrier.

In the women’s race, local hero Cockram of the Mickey Morris Racing Team, beat her previous best by more than four and a half minutes.

“I am really chuffed with that – it is the first win of my career,” said Carpenter, who is a regular on the parkrun circuit in south Wales. “I will definitely come back in the future, although I will enjoy this first.”

Carpenter averaged 5.52 minute mile pace across the 26.2 miles and reached half-way with the Cheltenham & County Harrier Jonathan Barnes in 77:11.

Marathon debutant Luke Williams was back in third some 44 seconds off the pace, with Time Iveson a further minute behind.

Second-placed Barnes also ran the race of his life as he stripped more than 15 minutes off his previous best, coming home in 2:34:13. San Domenico Running Club member, Williams, was third in 2:37:22.

There was also a massive step forward for Cockram as she took the women’s title in 2:44:58 to win by more than 14 minutes. It was a major triumph for last year’s Welsh Trail Half-Marathon champion given here recent run of injury problems.

Eryri Harriers runner Andrea Rowlands finished second in 2:59:00 with Carla Swithen just outside the three-hour mark in 3:02:06 for third.

“I only got one 20 mile race in my training since my last marathon in October and that was last week. I haven’t done much running since January,” said Cockram, who spent four years at Tulsa University.

“I’ve been doing three-hour stints on the cross-training machine and three hours on the bike to keep fit and I just came into the race hoping for the best. I’ve had Achilles tendonitis and a knee niggle.

“I got injured at the Commonwealth Games training camp and I wasn’t expecting a PB. The crowds were fantastic and carried me through.

“This is the best win of my career and I’ll be back next year looking to break the 2:40:00 barrier.”

Thomas and Felton win 10K

The ABP Newport Wales 10K attracted a high-class field and gave Commonwealth Games and World Championship steeplechaser Ieuan Thomas the chance to blow away the cobwebs following his return from the Gold Coast 10 days earlier.

The Cardiff AAC athlete dominated the race and came home to win in 29:43 – 13 seconds outside his target of 29:30.

That gave him a 72-second winning margin over Morgan Davies, of Swansea Harriers, who was second in 30:55.

There was a local athlete on the podium in Abed Teweldebrhan, of Newport Harriers. He finished third in 31:32.

“The time bonus was in the back of my mind up to 5K. I had a plan to go out and try to run around 15 minutes for 5K and I came through in 14:48 feeling pretty good,” said Thomas.

“At that stage, I felt the 29:30 time bonus target was achievable, but in the end, it was just a little bit too windy.

“I was out on my own and I couldn’t maintain my rhythm, but I had great fun and the support was amazing. It was awesome seeing the streets lined with so many supporters and hearing all the drummers.

“The atmosphere really was fantastic and it really urged me on. The Gold Coast is definitely now out of my system after that.

“I can’t remember shivering so much on a warm-up before a race. Everyone was making fun of me for saying how cold it was, but I’ve been a little bit spoilt after six weeks in Australia.”

Rachel Felton, of Shaftesbury Barnet, was the first woman home in 35:04 to improve her recent third place at the Brecon Carreg Cardiff Bay 10K.

“I had a less than ideal build-up to this race and I even e-mailed the organisers on Thursday to say I probably wouldn’t be able to run,” explained Felton.

“I hadn’t run for two weeks, but I wanted to see what sort of shape I was in and so I changed my mind in the end. I felt good and I was happy with the time.

“There was a bit of a breeze, so I tucked in behind the men, but the atmosphere was really nice and I will definitely be back. It was well organised and I really enjoyed it.”

Emma Stepto of East Cornwall AC, was second behind Felton in a time of 36:09, while Cardiff AAC’s Lucy Marland was third in 36:17.

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