British and course records tumble at Podium 5km

Renowned for its low-key setting and flat course conducive for fast times, the Podium 5k saw some of Britain’s best male and female runners test themselves post-lockdown.

The event was the first race back for most of the competitors, which made it all the more exciting to see how everyone would perform. The race’s simple mission is to provide a great opportunity for fast running, no fuss, no frills just high quality racing from a high quality field.

With the British Champs around the corner, many were using this event as an opportunity to assess their current fitness. Despite the possibility of some rusty performances due to this being many athletes’ first race, this didn’t happen!

Flying Scott breaks British Record

Marc Scott, who spent the entirety of lockdown in Oregon training with the Bowerman Track Club and clocked a huge 1500m personal best just a few weeks ago, had an absolutely storming run.

The athlete went into the race with the British record (13:27) in his sights, and quickly made this reality. Scott went out hard from the gun and crossed the line in an incredible time of 13:20, a massive improvement on the previous record held by Nick Goolab, which he broke back in February this year.

Scott led through the first kilometre in around 2:39 before Omar Ahmed took the lead through 2k in 5:22, followed by Scott and Alex Yee. Once again, at the 3km mark, Marc Scott came both front, passing through in around 8:03 with Yee and Ahmed on his tail.

It was at the fourth kilometre that Scott began to consolidate his lead and went through in 10:43, a couple of seconds behind Yee who was behind him. Scott crossed the line at 5k in 13:20, a British record and just 2 seconds outside of the European record held by France’s Jimmy Gressier.

Strong early pack at Podium 5km Credit: Pete Brown Photography

12 men run sub 14

Alex Yee crossed the line in second place in an impressive time of 13:26, also within the previous British record time. This time is not only a massive 5k road PB for Yee, but he also knocked 3 seconds off his best time for the 5,000m on the track.

Phil Seseman was in third place with yet another PB on the night. The Leeds City athlete knocked four seconds off his time and clocked 13:39 for the distance. It was ultra-runner, Tom Evans who was fourth in an incredible 13:41, which is his first ever race over the 5k distance on the road. His 5,000m was set back in 2017 where he clocked 15:01.

In fifth place was Omar Ahmed in 13:42 and Dewi Griffiths was sixth in 13:43. Ben Dijkstra, Jonathan Brownlee, Grant Sheldon, Frank Baddick, Chris Perry and Nathan Jones all dipped underneath the 14-minute barrier!!!

Potter breaks course record ahead of quality field

The women’s race was also packed with quality and saw many athletes go out hard, with the leading pack clocking a sub 3-minute first kilometre. For many, this appeared to make for a painful race, but it didn’t take away from some fast times being clocked.

By 2km the group had broken up and Beth Potter had pushed ahead, passing through in 6:02, just a few seconds ahead of Adidas athlete, Jess Judd. Potter then continued to lead through the 3k (in 9:09) and 4k mark (in 12:17) with a 10 second gap ahead of Judd.

Beth Potter extended her lead to 12 seconds and was first across the line, taking the course record away from previous holder, Laura Weightman in an impressive 15:24. This time also place Potter 5th on the UK road 5k all-time list.

The podium at Podium. Credit: Dave Norman / RunningLive

Potter’s last road 5k PB was clocked back in 2014 when she ran 16:59. She has officially obliterated that previous best by over 90s!! Potter also holds a track 5,000 PB of 15:28, so her road PB suggests she could be in for a big track PB too at some point.

Finishing second was Blackburn Harriers’ Jess Judd in a strong time of 15:36. It has also been a while since Judd too ran a 5k on the road. Until last night, Judd’s best remained at 18:44, which she set back in 2008. She does however hold an impressive track 5,000m time of 15:16. Judd went out hard with Potter, but it was clear from early on that Potter had that extra edge.

The third-place finisher was Verity Ockenden of Swansea AC in an impressive 15:37, just 3 seconds off her track best. Her previous 5k time of 16:02 from last year, shows just how much consistent hard work can pay off as she has knocked 25 seconds off in one year.

Owen in fine form

A standout performance was given by Leeds City’s Bronwen Owen who came in fourth. Owen made her intentions clear from the start and went out at a quick pace, stopping the clock at 15:45, 34 seconds faster than her 5,000m track best from last year.

After an absolutely storming cross country season, where she finished 1st U23 at the European trials and secured her spot on the GB team in Lisbon, Owen had the base for a solid year. She knew what she was capable of and went out to prove it.

Cambridge & Coleridge’s Holly Archer also had a sensational run, pulling away from the group she had settled in with and chasing down those in front. She crossed the line with a time of 15:52, her first official sub-16 5k time. Archer took a solid 12 seconds off her previous best from last year.

Lizzie Bird and Eleanor Bolton both also crossed the line in sub-16 times of 15:53 and 15:56 respectively.

There were four other races on the night with some stunning times throughout. Check out the full results at this link.

Preston 5

Also on the road this weekend, was the Preston 5 and 10 mile. This event is renowned for attracting some speedy athletes, particularly in the 5-mile race.

In slightly different fashion to previous years, the race was run as a time trial event, with athletes setting off at different times one at a time. This meant it was inevitable that times would be slightly slower, especially given that the wind decided to make an appearance, but there were still some impressive performances.

The overall win in the 5-mile was secured by Southport Waterloo AC’s Ben Johnson. Johnson had a clear lead and crossed the line in a strong 24:40, just 18 seconds off his previous best which I clocked last year.

Following behind in second place was Joe Monk of Preston Harriers. Monk took a solid 9 seconds off his personal best by running 25:00 flat. Monk had a strong lead ahead of third place finisher Joshua Hale (Wirral AC) who crossed the line in 26:25

The women’s event was a similar story to the men’s as Kirsty Longley (Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton H AC) took the win in 28:28 just 32 seconds ahead of second place. It was AFD’s Laura Gent who ran a solid time for her 5-mile debut of 29:00. In third place, with a time of 31:50, was Finty Royle (Chorley ATC).

Preston 10

Over double the distance, it was Michael Young of West Cheshire AC who came to the fore, crossing the finish line in 55:32. Blain Rooney was second in 55:46 and David Birtwistle in 57:26.

The winning woman had a stormer of a race, not only winning her event but also coming third overall! It was Emily Kearney of Wirral AC who took home gold in 56:33 in her 10-mile debut.

Behind Kearney in second place was GB marathoner, Tracy Barlow. Barlow clocked a solid time of 58:25, also in her first 10-mile race. Rachel Brown (Border Harriers) secured herself a podium position in 1:00:50.

PB for Hartigan at BMC

The BMC Stretford once again came to the rescue for the 800m runners. Athletes were still required to stay in their lanes; however, it is possible that at next week’s BMC event, this rule may be dropped. Despite athletes having to stay in lanes, there were some impressive times.

For the men, it was Tom Dodd (Birchfield Harriers) who narrowly took the win in the A race, running a solid 1:51.06 to improve on his time and position from last week’s event. In second place, in a PB time of 1:51.19, was Henry Johnson. The U20, Houghton Harriers athlete took exactly a second off his previous time from last year. The 3rd fastest time was set by the winner of the B race, Thomas Niner, in a strong 1:53.20.

In the women’s event, it was once again Georgie Hartigan (Birchfield Harriers) who set the fastest women’s time of the night. Hartigan didn’t disappoint as she not only secured the win, but also clocked a lifetime best of 2:04.35 improving on her previous PB of 2:04.60 set last week.

The second female to cross the line was Mick Judd coached athlete, Khahisa Mhlanga (Herts Phoenix) in a speedy 2:05.53. Sabrina Sinha, the winner of the women’s B race, had the third fastest time on the night. Sinha, the Cambridge Harrier athlete, ran a season best of 2:08.23.

Happy to open the season with a win and a pb tonight. Thank you to @BritishMilers for putting on a great meet under difficult circumstances https://t.co/GNVUpByZao

— Georgie Hartigan (@georgiehartigan) July 25, 2020

Peacock and Davies win Tatton Park 10km

Reappearing once again in the race calendar, was the RunThrough Tatton Park 10k. Given the lack of 10k events that are occurring at the moment, the event saw some particularly speedy times.

In order to abide by the RunBritain guidelines, the event ensured athletes were set off in waves, based on their estimated finishing times and other rules were implemented.

A cracking performance came from Adam Peacock of Bromsgrave & Reddich who ran himself to an impressive 9 second PB of 31:53. Peacock had a strong 42 second lead ahead Karl Welborn (BRAT) who clocked 32:24, followed by Edd Flynn who is listed as third despite running the same time of 32:24. It is likely this recording of results is due to the socially distant start process as the gun times do vary quite significantly.

For the women, Carla Davies ran herself to a win in a chip time of 36:53. The Preston athlete had a strong lead ahead of second place. It was Katie Lysons who secured herself the silver medal position in 39:22 followed by Isabelle Burke in 42:30.

@RunThroughUK great run after being out for so long!! Ran with @rltopley well organised, excellent marshals ! COVID-19 precautions worked well. Great event #ukrunchat #awesomeaugust #run pic.twitter.com/aFPAitmT2I

— Tom Grant (@tomwgrant) August 9, 2020

Runners praised the measures put in place by organisers

Sarah Webster lights up Manx Marathon

Athletes took to the roads to race over the longer distances at the Isle of Man Half and Full Marathon. With visitors or returnees to the island still needing to quarantine for 14 days it was no surprise Manx homegrown athletes dominated.

Christian Varley had the upper hand in today’s event and ran himself to the win with a solid time of 2:36:51. This was over 7-minutes quicker than Varley’s previous lifetime best over the 26.2 distance!! It was Orran Smith who came in at second place in 2:39:44. Third place was achieved by Mark Burman of Manx Harriers in a strong 2:43:31.

Sarah Webster of Northern AC had an astonishing run to finish fourth overall and win the women’s event. She crossed the line in 2:46:22, less than 2-minutes off of her PB. An impressive place to be for your first race back after lockdown! Vicky Carre (Guernsey) came in second in 3:20:56, a huge 3.5-minute personal best! The third female finisher in 3:37:41 was Helen Taylor of Western AC.

The half marathon event was also not short of some speedy times. Taking the win in 68:18 was Alan Corlett of Manx Harriers with a huge 8-minute lead! Corlett boasts a strong personal best of 66:33. Andrew Nash was second in 76:47 followed by Nigel Quaye in 77:25.

The first female finisher, in 1:31:07 was Eleanor Miklos (Manx Fell Runners) followed by Megan Thomas and Dawn Atherton in 1:31:10 and 1:35:17 respectively.

SOAR are part of the UK club running scene and we are delighted to suppiort the weekend roundup. To find out how we can help you match your club kit to your ambition check out this article or get in touch here.

The SOAR X TOUR is our way of staying true to the pursuit of summer speed. With a three-staged virtual races series, open to runners worldwide.

SOAR X TOUR sees racers test themselves over 1km, 1 mile and 5km consecutively over a 10 day period, with both stage and overall rankings and prizes up for grabs.

The post The SOAR Running Weekend Roundup appeared first on Fast Running.

Tomorrow’s Podium 5km brings with it the kind of buzz and excitement which we have missed for the last five months. Following the release of guidance to facilitate a return to road racing Podium 5km has been as quick out of the blocks as we expect the the athletes to be tomorrow.

The six races sold out in a matter of minutes and the quality of the start lists is testament to the desire for elite athletes to get back racing and the esteem in which the race is held.

Potter & Judd head fabulous women’s field

Fast Running is sponsoring the elite women’s race, and what a line up – packed with internationals throughout!

World Student Games 5000m Champion Jessica Judd has the fastest 5km/5000m PB in the field with 15:16 at the Anniversary Games in 2019. The Blackburn and Loughborough Student athlete was in fine form pre lockdown setting a new 10km PB of 32:16 to win Trafford 10km and with 2nd place finishes at both the BUCS and National XC Championships.

Triathlete, 2017 British 10,000m Champion and current England 5mile Champion Beth Potter has a 5000m PB of 15:28 and we are excited to see her back racing on the roads. The Scottish star competed at 3000m, 5000m, 10000m and triathlon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Jenny Nesbitt had the chance to test her racing legs when winning last weekend’s ChampionChip Ireland Running Series 5km in 16:13. The Cardiff athlete also set a 10km PB early in 2020 clocking 32:42 at 10K Valencia Ibercaja and with a 5000m best of 15:30 the 2019 Inter Counties XC Champion is a strong contender.

 

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**All smiles because it’s an actual RACE WEEK** . First in 6 months . @coopsrun

A post shared by B E T H • P O T T E R (@bethpotter91) on Aug 3, 2020 at 1:20pm PDT

Great depth

Leeds City’s Claire Duck is always a consistent performer over distances from 3000m – 10km and was a 10th place finisher at the Armagh International Road Race in February running 9:24. Verity Ockenden will be looking to pick up where she left off in 2019 after a year where she set PBs at 1500m (4:12.26), 5000m (15:34) and 10000m (32:34) as well as a 4th placed finish at the British 5000m Championships.

Scottish National XC Champion Mhairi MacLennan is also a name to watch. 2019 saw the Preston athlete run PBs of 15:51 for 5000m, 32:58 for 10000m and finish 32nd at the World Cross.

The race features six athletes ranked in the top 15 for road 5km from 2019 with the likes of Holly Archer (PB – 16:04) and Clara Evans (PB – 16:02) providing strong competition. Olympian Alyson Dixon (PB – 15:52) features alongside Bronwen Owen (PB – 16:17) and experienced middle distance athlete Gemma Kersey (PB – 16:16) to ensure yet further depth in one of the best road 5km fields of recent years.

In total 32 athletes are set to start with every athlete having a PB inside 17:15.

Yee and Scott exciting head to head

The elite men’s race sponsored by Loughborough Finance for Sport is just as stacked. With a 5000m best of 13:08.87 Marc Scott sits 4th on the UK all time list for the distance ahead of names such as Rob Denmark, Brendan Foster, Chris Thompson and Jack Buckner.

Scott is one of the few athletes in the field who has had the chance to race in recent weeks and set a new 1500m PB of 3:35.93 at the end of July as well as clocking 7:47.87 for 3000m earlier in the month. Scott is a man who probably doesn’t get the limelight he deserves but his record already shows him to be one of the finest distance runners the UK has ever seen.

He will go head to head with young triathlon star Alex Yee. Yee set a PB 13:29 at the Anniversary Games last year and a memorable 27:51 PB over 10000m in 2018 to beat Andy Vernon and Chris Thompson to the British title. Yee finished 13th at the 2019 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final and finished the year 32nd in the ITU World Rankings.

Scott and Yee are joined on the start line by one of Britain’s best known sporting names – Jonathan Brownlee. A silver medallist at the Rio Olympic Games triathlon he is a two-time World Sprint Triathlon Champion and the former under 23 Triathlon World Champion.

 

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WHAT A NIGHT! Firstly, hats off to @moh_speed23 and @lopez_lomong9! That one was for you boys. 12:47 & 12:58 “Race 3k and see what you have left” – not much was the answer. Coming through in 7:47 (few seconds off the PB). Jogged it home to have an official race for the guys. What a squad this is @bowermantc : @runnerspace

A post shared by Marc Scott (@marcscott21) on Jul 10, 2020 at 11:36pm PDT

Best of UK club talent

The race features some of the very best UK distance running talent. 2:09 marathon man Dewi Griffiths has a 5000m best of 13:33 and alongside 13:39 man Adam Clarke will be looking to mount a strong challenge and kick off a new competitive season post lockdown. Clarke is another athlete who had made a great start to 2020 with a big win at Armagh International Road Race clocking 13:42.

Leeds’ Philip Sesemann was a 3rd place finisher at Armagh and with a 3000m best of 7:55.71i and a 28:24 10km PB at Corrida de Houilles 10K at the end of last year is a name to watch. He is joined by the likes of Jack Gray (PB – 13:47), Graham Rush (PB – 13:49), Linton Taylor (PB – 13:57) and Cameron Strachan (13:57).

An incredible list of entries also includes the likes of Frank Baddick and ultra star Tom Evans who both posted very quick times in the England Athletics’ ‘Virtual’ 5km Championships recently.

Athletes throughout the men’s and women’s elite race will be looking to test themselves and sharpen their competitive edge ahead of the British Championships in September.

Following the action

The first of the six races gets going at 6pm with a sub 19:00 minute race, followed by sub 17:30 at 6:30pm, sub 16:00 minutes at 6:55pm, sub 15:15 at 7:20pm and then the women’s elite race at 7:45pm and men’s elite race at 8:15pm.

All times are subject to change and you can catch all the action at RunningLive.

A huge well done to Chris at Podium 5km for pulling together such an exciting series of races so quickly.

Want to run faster? For just £30 per month athletes are provided with a Final Surge plan for each day of the week, coaching advice from Robbie Britton and Tom Craggs, as well as access to the unique Fast Running Performance community.

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The post Stellar field as Podium 5km heralds return to road racing appeared first on Fast Running.

66 years ago on the 6th May 1954 Roger Bannister ran the first sub four minute mile at Iffley Road track in Oxford. In honour of that feat and let’s face it, to give us all something to do, the British Milers’ Club (BMC) held the ‘Bannister Virtual Miles’ from Mon-Weds this week.

The race has been fundraising for Turn2us, a national charity that helps people in financial hardship to gain access to welfare benefits, charitable grants and support services – something that is particularly pertinent in the current climate.

Copeland sees off local challenge

Out of the 1954 entrants that the race was capped to, U/23 athlete Piers Copeland came out top for Wimborne AC/ Cardiff Met Uni. Copeland clocked a 4:02 which was a huge PB on the road (4:17 at the Great North City Games in 2019), though he has a 3:56.05 to his name from the IAAF Diamond League Anniversary Games last summer.

Copeland was already showing fine form earlier in the year when he was rewarded with a bronze at the British Indoor Championships in February after he dropped down to 800m at the last minute. You can find a full report on Piers’ fine run from his first coach, Ian Kennedy, here.

66 years ago Bannister ran sub 4 for the mile. This video is a brilliant watch as he explains who good he felt early on and how that changed his perception of pace and effort;https://t.co/paq1DYjO7y

— Tom Craggs (@thomascraggs) May 6, 2020

Remembering the ‘real thing’ with Bannister’s own thoughts on the achievement

Fellow Cardiff runner Tom Marshall was second with 4:04 (his road PB being a 4:01 at the Westminster mile in 2016). Without perfect chip timing, third place has to be left as a three-way tie with Ben Greenwood (Perth Strathtay), Seb Anthony (West Suffolk) and Cardiff Uni’s James Heneghan (Copeland’s housemate when in Cardiff).

Lily Coward of Invicta East Kent / St. Mary’s Uni ran by far the fastest mile split for the ladies, stopping her watch at 4:38. That was a huge advance on her 5 minute indoor mile time set back in 2017 and on her nearest competitor, Hollie Parker (Enfield and Haringey) who made the split in 4:43. Rachael Franklin (Ribble Valley) was third in 4:45 (she holds a PB of 4:39.4).

World record holder Claire Elms topped the age graded results with a 5:14 for her V55 performance.

Cardiff again to the fore over 5km

Cardiff based athletes were also to the fore in the Welsh Athletics Virtual 5km Challenge. As it stands (the event is ongoing) GB steeplechaser Ieuan Thomas is the man to beat with his impressive 13:53 (without a carbon plate as his social media points out!). Lee Shannon of Pembrokeshire clocked 15:20 which would have been a huge advance on his current PBs. British distance running stalwart James Thie currently sits in third with 15:23.

Under 15 and Welsh Schools XC Champion, Bethan Hardman (Cardiff Archers) is currently the leading woman with 17:43. Amman Valley’s Sioned Howells sits in 2nd with 18:43 with another junior, Rheagan Edwards of Deeside AAC in 3rd with 19:01.

 

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Had a crack at the @welshathletics Virtual 5k today. Just the perfect day for it. Sub 14 and not a carbon plate in sight. As with all virtual racing you take it at face value and hope your GPS watch was accurate. For now, I’ll take it. Time for a beer @sauconyuk Fastwitch . . . #WAVirtual5k #virtual5k #virtual5krun #runforgood #athlete #runner #run #workout #instarun #instarunners #runnersofinstagram #running #wewhorun #steeplechase #saucony #ukrunchat #instapic #tracklife #trackandfield #runchat #steeplepeople #5k #virtualrunning #lockdownrunning #runsolo #runalone #timetrial

A post shared by Ieuan Thomas (@thomasieuan) on May 9, 2020 at 9:11am PDT

Podium Challenge moves to quarter final

The Podium 5k Knockout Challenge continues apace. Topping the rankings for round two Mollie William (16:18), Elsey Davis (16:39) and Lauren Cooper (16:47) alongside Adam Hickey (14:09), Joe Sagar (14:13) and Matthew Crehan (14:15). They progress to the quarter finals, along with the rest of the top 20 from that round. The current race -window finishes on the 16th May and only the top 10 will advance to the semi finals.

The Scottish Athletics Virtual Mile Time Trial is also ‘in progress’. As it stands Edinburgh’s Hannah Cameron is the leading woman with 5:01 from Jenny Bannerman (5:03) and a fine run from under 13 Freya Murdoch (5:05). For the men Kane Elliot of Falkirk leads the way with 4:14 ahead of Joe Ewing (4:16) and Ryan Thomson and Alistair Marshall (4:17).

The Sunderland City Runs have also taken their challenge online and we await full results for the 5k, 10k and half marathon distances when racing closes at the end of Sunday . At the time of writing, Greg Walker (1:16:47) and Aly Dixon (1:28:33) were leading the 13.1mile option, with Stephen Jackson (32:48) and Suzanne Thew (42:12) topping the 10k and Emily Rodgers (26:11) leading the women in the 5k alongside Nick Hardy for the men, who is streets ahead of the rest with 15:08 in the 5k. We suspect those leaderboards will see a fair amount of rearranging before the day is out.

This weekend in history, in the ‘real’ world

As we ponder the future of the 2020(21) Olympics and how qualification for those might work, it is interesting to remember that on the 8th May 1984 Moscow pulled out of the LA Olympics, blaming “the commercialisation of the games and a lack of security measures, which amounted to a violation of the Olympic charter”.

Many considered at the time that the lack of Russian athletes devalued the games, due to the loss of their talent in the competition. In the end Cuba and 14 other Eastern Bloc countries joined the boycott and a record 130 countries did not take part, including China.

Romania was the notable exception and did attend the games. In 1980 the USA and more than 60 other countries had boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (source: BBCSport).

In other news this week, Boston’s Mayor announced that parades and festivals will be cancelled up to at least the 7th September. That’s 7 days before the planned rescheduled date for the Boston Marathon. That announcement comes after Hugh Brasher refused to rule out the possibility of London Marathon being elite-only (though he did say that was one of a number of options.

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The post 66 years on athletes honour Bannister….virtually. appeared first on Fast Running.