Race tracks are being well utilised for events at the moment and it was Wigan’s turn to host a stellar lineup for the Fast 5k at Three Sisters Circuit on Monday. Running 1.1k loops, Eric Jenkins of the USA (who ran a 13:10 5,000m indoor at the Boston University Last Chance Invitational back in Feb) was clearly there to do business and went out hard from the off.

He had a huge lead in the early stages but paid a little towards the end. Still, his guts or glory approach was still enough for him to finish first in a blistering 13:52.

 

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K E E P G O I N G

A post shared by Eric Jenkins (@_ericjenkins) on Oct 7, 2020 at 12:04am PDT

Second place went to AFD’s Adam Clarke who closed in 13:57 and Inverclyde’s Adam Craig took third in 14:02. Jamie Crowe came home in 14.04 ahead of Callum Hawkins (14:05), Thijs Nijhuies (DEN) and Richard Allend both in 14:08 and Finn McNally (14:10). All of the top 20 in the men’s race finished in under 15:25. For the women, Laura Weightman (Morpeth) didn’t let the rain stop her.

She wrapped up her amazing season with an 11s PB to take the win in a dominant 15:10. Jessica Hull (AUS) was second in 15:50 and Amelia Quirk (Bracknell AC) ran her first road 5k to take third in 15:54. It’s also worth noting that Weightman went on to pace Sifan Hassan to her Euro 10,000m record – see below).

NN Valencia WR day

Only 22 years old and despite looking nervous at the start, Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey gave a lesson in the poetry of running as she broke a 12 year old 5,000m World Record. Gidey looked completely in control the whole way round and convincingly bested Tirunesh Dibaba’s previous by over four seconds, finishing in 14:06.62.

With the help of pacers and wave-light technology the event was flawlessly organised and very tightly monitored to make it as safe as possible for all those in the arena. Joshua Cheptegei’s mission was to claim his fourth World Record in 10 months and beat the time set by Kenenisa Bekele 15 years ago. As with the women’s challenge, this one never looked in any doubt and the results proved it, as he stormed home in 26:11.00 to re-write the record more than six seconds.

Perhaps inspired by Gidey, Sifan Hassan who is 5 years her senior, took advantage of a home crowd for her 10,000m at the FBK After Summer Competition in Hengelo. Setting out at world record pace despite tough conditions, she was certainly all-in and the result was another European Record of 29:36.67, bettering Paula Radcliffe’s previous mark of 30:01:09 (2002).

 

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Capped of the 2020 season pacing @sifanhassan for 9 laps in a wet cold Hengelo! Sifan went onto run the 4th fastest of all time and a European record of 29:36.6 Time to rest and reset for 2021! @jeemsportsphotography

A post shared by Laura Weightman (@lauraweightman1) on Oct 11, 2020 at 2:17am PDT

Hassan will be back in action next weekend at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia. In the women’s 1,000m Faith Kipyegon (KEN) had also stated her intention to try for a WR but ended up taking the win in 2:32.82, a few seconds off her PB.

The men’s 5000m was won by Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) in 13:12.84 and Brian Fay (IRL) placed fifth in a PB of 13:51.59. Elsewhere in the Netherlands the Blijdorp 10,000m in Rotterdam saw Matthew Sharp (Hercules Wimbledon) win his race in 32:10.75 and Peter Crisp (Newbury) run 36:19.75.

In the mountains

At the Biella Orpa race the British Mountain Running champion Emmie Collinge showed that she was in fine form. Fellow favourite Sara Dossena pulled out at the last minute and Collinge was on her own after the first climb at one and a half kilometers into the 12.2k race. But Collinge didn’t let that stop her pushing all the way.

She charged to victory in a massive course record of 50:59 beating Valeria Straneo’s 2011 mark by over two minutes. In the men’s race Moroccan athlete Omar Bouamer also set a new record, taking his title in 47:46.

Back on track

Back to more local competition, Corby AC’s championships saw races from 100-3000m. It was Corby’s own U20 Peer Braybrook who came home first for the men over 3000m, finishing in a PB of 10:21.7. Sarah Ward, also of Corby, placed fourth overall to top the women’s times in her own PB of 10:35.04.

The Finsbury Park Athletics Covid-19 Series wasn’t EA licensed so unfortunately those who ran PB’s will have to go again to get them on Power of 10 but nonetheless it was a great event with a good range of races on offer. Over 5,000m Yasmin Goater was fastest female, bringing it home for Highgate Harriers in what would have been a serious 30s PB of 16:44.9. Hannah Viner helped ensure a clean sweep for ‘the Gate’ with her 16.45.4 and in a later race, Holly Dixon completed the podium in 16:56.3. Seyfu Jamaal (Heathside) topped the men’s racing in 14:41.0 to beat U20 Tyler Bilyard (City of Norwich) and Harrow AC’s Kevin Fini (16:27.3).

Over 1500m there was only once race, which was won by Aaron Roberts (U17 Great Yarmouth) in 4:27.9 to beat Roni Kizilkaya (U17 Heathside) in 4:32.9 and Janak Subberwal (U17 Heathside) 4:47.7. Nicole Edmunds of Hastings AC ran the fastest women’s time, finishing in 4:53.2 ahead of U13 Lyra MacDonald of VPH&TH (4:59.8) and Sophie Peach from City of Norwich AC (5:13.5)

Hitting the roads

At the Run Through Olympic Park 5k Orion Harriers’ Nick Harris-Fry nabbed himself a PB of 15:52 for the gold-spot and schooled David Searle into a second place finish in 16:06. James Ellis took third in 16:20.

In the women’s race it was Naomi Taschimowitz who was utterly unmatched, finishing in 16:32 way ahead of a nonetheless excellent runs from Evangelista Divetain (18:15) and Becky Morrish (18:18). In the 10k Jen Baird led the ladies home in 36:47. Georgina Wiley kept her close to finish in 37:01 and Harriet Freemen followed up in 37:58. VP&TH took the top honours in the men’s race thanks to Ewan Cameron and his 31:55 finish. He was comfortably ahead of nearest rival Benjamin How (32:24) and Andrew McCaskill (33:08).

Going long

The Ultra crew were out in force this weekend, with the inaugural Run to the Sea being the shorter of the races. After being rescheduled from March, runners finally got to cover the 50k from Ringwood to Hengistbury Head. Natasha Lewis of Team Bath AC took the honour of being first ever female winner in her first ever race over the half marathon distance, setting up a punchy course record of 3:49:20.

Samatha Amend was shortly behind her was Belgrave Harriers’ Sam Amend in 3:54:19 and Tracy Cook of Dorset Dollers in 3:58:49. Harry Smith was overall winner, making it back to his club’s home turf in 3:25:48. Kent Ac’s Peter Lighting was second in 3:30:34 and Neil Martin of Overton harriers was third in 3:42:06. A hat-tip also goes to FastRunning-friend Paul Radford who just missed out on a podium spot with his 3:42:06 finish.

The Centurion Running Autumn 100 is still ongoing at the time of writing and using a staggered start but the podiums of the hundo are locked in as Mark Innocenti finished first in (14:44:21), Edward Catmur second (15:38:29) and Gwilym Satchell in third (16:09:28). Ninth overall and first woman was Zoe Murphy (18:23:59), a good few hours ahead of Claire Kanja taking her second-place buckle in 20:06:43 and just edging out Dominique James who came home in 20:21.24.

It was sad to read that Callum Hawkins, Steph Davis and Charlotte Purdue will not be able to run at the World Half Marathon Championships next weekend due to injury. We wish them speedy recoveries and all the best to Adam Craig and Becky Briggs who have recently been announced as part of the squad going to compete.

It’s a shame not to see a full women’s team there, but with Elsy Davis and Hayley Carruthers and Aly Dixon also on the injury bench (or returning from), it does feel like our athletes are having a bumpy ride at the moment.

 

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Got the call up for World Half Marathon Champs – Senior GB debut I am absolutely over the moon, I’ll give it everything I’ve got, so very grateful for the opportunity, maybe 2020 ain’t that bad after all @britishathletics @sayskycph @stmarysepc @stmarysac #britishathletics #teamgb #2020 #runnersofinstagram #runnerscommunity #runningmotivation #nevergiveup #dreambigworkhard #saysky #sayskycph #sayskyathlete #projectwoods

A post shared by BeckyBriggs, SAYSKY Athlete (@becky_athleat) on Oct 5, 2020 at 9:41am PDT

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.

If you would like more information on joining the project, click here. 

The post Fast 5km brings top results and world records tumble appeared first on Fast Running.

Like the furlough pro Zak Hanna, many have found new strength training through the UK and Irish versions of a lockdown. The virtual race season, at first held at arms length by many including myself, has been embraced. Virtual PBs are a thing. Well, kind of.

Now those who have been training hard and seeing improvements all though 2020 are looking to get themselves some real PBs and we’re worried there could be some carnage.

It’s important to remember that there is a slight possibility your watch has been lying to you. It was probably done with good intentions. The latest smart watch and Bill Gates micro chip in your brain registered some low self-confidence and decided to perk you up with a 5k PB.

So what if mile two was a 3:43 and it looked like you ran over a row of houses. Maybe the training is just really working. Ross Barkley could run a 16 minute 5k if he really tried anyway.

Photo: Lindie Naughton

The next start line

Now this isn’t just a sarcastic piece about people who posted “virtual PBs” (although it is a little bit). It’s a warning.

When race day comes, be careful. If your new virtual PB is over a minute quicker than your old PB then it’s certainly possible you’ve come along leaps and bounds in the lockdown.

The fact you’ve removed hours from your work week or commute, or just not been overcooking it at the track every Tuesday, could have unlocked big gains. It’s likely we’ve all improved. Just not that much.

So in the first mile of your next real race you have two options. Go for it and solidify that new PB in the real world or hold back a notch, finish like a train and set a solid season opener.

Both are valid options, because in the 5 and 10k worlds you can dust yourself off, recover and come back another week. Just don’t keep trying to run 14:30 pace if your real PB is 15:45. Set yourself a target somewhere in the middle and work from there.

Stronger together

Some will rightly be thinking they’ll be going even faster when it comes to group racing again, because it’s a whole lot easier than a time trial on a park loop. Yes, that could be true too.

Running in a group our perception of effort is altered. It feels easier for the same effort level because others around you are doing the same. You’re where you belong. Although it works both ways and if someone overtakes you who you think should be behind, the perception of effort can increase too.

So use the fact that some might not read this article. Some might even read this and still set off like a dickhead as the gun goes off. You can reel them in during the second half as you lan somewhere between your real and virtual PB over 5k.

It’ll likely still be a big improvement and if you’re feeling strong at the end, go wild next time.

Photo: Charlie Wheeler

Run from feel

We’ve said it before though, it shouldn’t be all about the watch. Remember Big Nige at Armagh 5k? He ran at the level that felt right. The training had been working and it paid off. In that situation if you run off your watch then you’re potentially selling yourself short. Running by feel is a skill though.

It’s a skill that developed mainly through racing, but can be tapped into during training as well. By working through a range of paces, either in progression runs or varied pace intervals, an athlete can grasp a better feel for their own capabilities.

Take something like a session of eight x three minutes off a three min float. You might be running the efforts around 10k pace, but only dropping 10-20 seconds per kilometre for the steady float in-between. With a session like this you need to be in touch with how hard you are working.

Get either a little too fast and the session becomes your worst nightmare. But ease back a tiny bit for either and it’s still a bloody brilliant training effort to bank. Think about what might be the best approach with consistency of training in mind. This could be the right mindset for your first race back too.

But remember, if it’s cross country then don’t worry. When the gun goes, all bets are off. Go turn those virtual PBs into real ones.

If you’re not ready to come back to real racing just yet then the 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.

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.

If you would like more information on joining the project, click here. 

The post Don’t get carried away with your virtual PBs appeared first on Fast Running.

This article is a sponsored post from SOAR Running. 

In the UK if you’re a fast runner you’re likely part of the club running scene. It’s the backbone of British endurance and representing your club, sweating for your teammates, is part of being a distance athlete.

Whether it’s on the cross country or the road relays, SOAR want club runners to have the best kit for the task at hand. Which is why they’ve developed the Elite race vest club edition.

It’s one of the lightest, most comfortable and, let’s be honest, fast looking, race vests on the market and now it’s possible to get them in your club’s colours.

The humble club vest

We’ve all been there. Speaking to SOAR you know you’re talking with club runners, people who are part of our sport, and they want to build partnerships with clubs.

Gone are the days when the only option for cross country was a heavy, nipple eating, non-technical singlet. If you’re putting in the time and effort to beat your PBs and give everything for the club then you deserve the right kit to match your work ethic.

You can wear your favourite shorts, pick the best shoes, and now you can wear the racing singlet you’d likely choose in your own racing.

How it works

SOAR have developed the elite race vest with dedicated club runners and it’s made in the same advanced factory as the Tour de France “Maillot Jaune” so you know you’re in good hands.

Small runs of individual club colours means you don’t need convince the whole club to get involved, just enough athlete who want to be running in the best vest.

Then let SOAR take care of the rest. Fitting in seamlessly alongside your current club kit, the techicnal specifications for competition are covered. Your PB run will count for the club.

We are club runners

The race elite vest has already graced some fine performances for clubs such as Highgate Harriers, Tonbridge AC, Kent AC  and many more.

SOAR has proved that the concept works and club runners want to be able to perform in the best possible kit, so talk to your club mates today.

The 44g ultra lightweight vest might not knock ten minutes off your marathon best, but it could make all the difference for the club. Where one position could make or break a team charge for the medals, overtaking a rival at the finish line can be all the difference.

From first to last counter, you want to give yourselves the best opportunity to maximise on the hard work that goes on behind the scenes into every club performance.

Talk to us

SOAR are part of the UK club running scene. They want to partner with as many clubs as possible to raise the game in terms of club vests.

Let your kit match your ambition. Do your club proud.

To find out more, or to get the ball rolling, 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 SOAR are club runners appeared first on Fast Running.