Whilst Eluid Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele’s assault on the world record was being billed as a battle for the ages, it was potentially leading us away from the greater race.

A World Record holder, Brigid Kosgei, versus a World Champion, Ruth Chepngetich. 2:14:04 against 2:17:08, both times from last year. Both with a point to prove to Kenyan Athletics that they should be on the Tokyo Olympic team and the looped course and fast pacemakers mean it could be electric from the start.

Add in 22 year old Alemu Megertu, who has a 66:43 half marathon and isn’t afraid to go with the front runners.

At the other end of the spectrum you have Edith Chelimo debuting at the marathon at 34, with a 65:58 PB, and Vivian Cheruiyot, 37 years old and with a 2:18:31 PB and not someone you can count out.

Only a little bit of training

Kosgei has downplayed the prospects of a world record a little though. “Due to this pandemic, I cannot say I’ll run this way or that way, because coronavirus means we did not do enough training, like last year. So I want to try my best only on Sunday.”

But the Kenyan star has previously said she feels her record could be lowered to around 2:10, so maybe “just 180, 190km a week” at 3000m of altitude will be enough?

Despite disqualification in the Hour race with Siffan Hassan, Kosgei still showed some of the raw speed that makes her so exciting as a marathoner.

Will Sinead Diver lead from the front again? Photo: Ian Walton for Virgin Money London Marathon

Will the laps play a part?

Aside from the front runners there is also a wonderful mix of PB hunting women to watch. We’re hoping a good bunch work together with the high quality pacers, like Aly Dixon and Eilish McColgan (called in last minute to replace an injured Arter), to really put themselves in contention in the second half.

The lapped course and potentially tough weather conditions could also make for interesting racing. The psychological aspect of lapped races means that one has to ignore the faster athletes lapping you, even though it will affect your perception of your own effort levels and pace.

It can work both way though, so if there are struggling athletes you can lap, then it will make your own effort seem that much easier. Perception of effort may be a key element if the wind and rain pick up on Sunday.

The sub 2:30 race

With Steph Twell starting 2020 with a half marathon PB in Houston, Texas, there was high hopes the year would bring an improvement to her already excellent mark of 2:26:40 set in Frankfurt last year. With a third place 33:38 in a 10k in Switzerland just last weekend, we might see a tactical race from the Brit with the fastest PB in the event.

“It’s my first female-only race, and a British championships too, which is really important to me. This is an opportunity for me to grow again. The time will count too.” was what Twell said at the press conference, which might be an insight into race tactics.

Lily Partridge, Tracy Barlow, Natasha Cockram, Tish Jones, Helen Davies and Naomi Mitchell will all be looking for new personal bests and pushing for that Olympic qualifying time of 2:29:30.

Which shoes will be best for race day? Ben Connor is clearly winning the cool 80’s jacket war. Photo: Dan Vernon for London Marathon Events

There are other men in the race too

Even though Bekele has withdrawn it doesn’t mean it’s just a jog in the park for Kipchoge to win. 2:02:55 man Mosinet Geremew is still looking for his first major marathon win and the 28 year old won’t be afraid of going with the early pace.

That still leaves another five, yes FIVE, men who has PBed under 2:05. Seven runners in total have the pace to run a marathon in 125 minutes.

Marius Kipserum is the only other Kenyan, with the four other athletes all heralding from Ethiopia. Maybe they feel the need to pick up the baton for their fallen compatriot Bekele and we will see something special? Shura Kitata brings a sub 60 min half PB from January 2020, but who knows how the COVID summer training has gone for any of these stars?

Sisay Lemma is one of the only front runners to have notched a podium marathon finish in 2020, with a third placed 2:04:51 at Tokyo Marathon earlier in the year. Will that experience help or hinder the 29 year old?

Frank Futselaar (NED) (skinny blue jeans), Ross Millington (Snazzy jacket), Charlie Hulson (favourite colour blue?), and Jonny Mellor (far right) prepare for some shared miles on Sunday.  Photo: Dan Vernon for London Marathon Events

All aboard the 2:10 train

For the men’s race it looks like there could be a decent amount gunning for the 2:10 mark, with British stars like Chris Thompson, Jonny Mellor and Ben Connor all featuring.

“I’ve always thought I was capable of running two zero-something,” said the NB Manchester athlete before the event. “If I can come away with another qualifying time, that’s goal number one. But if I can get under 2:10 then I’d be delighted.”

In a group paced by Sir Mo Farah, Matt Clowes and Jake Smith, could we see some more British or Irish runners make a big leap in 2020.

One to watch for us, after an excellent performance just behind Sir Mo at the Larne Coastal Half, is Stephen Scullion. The prodigious talent never ceases to amaze with his performances and we certainly wouldn’t bet against something special from the Northern Irishman this weekend.

Exciting debutants to the distance include Fast10’s Jack Gray, who is known for aggressive front running at the shorter distances. With such an opportunity to be within a big group, paced by experienced marathoners, don’t be surprised to see Gray, and others, rolling the dice for the big times.

Another Fast10 athlete, Ollie Lockley, is a man who has flown under the radar a little in the pre race coverage but his half marathon PB is one many of the other men on the start line would love to have achieved and we know he will get amongst it.

For a detailed preview of the course before the Sunday action, check out Dan Biagi’s analysis.

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 The best battle is still on appeared first on Fast Running.

With so much uncertainty facing us all at the moment, the racing scene is nonexistent. Races and events across the world are being cancelled for the foreseeable future and we are left wondering what to work towards.

It is at this time when we all need to remain positive. There will be races for us to return to at some point, it is just unknown as to when this will be, but the whole world is in the same situation.

However, just because the races ahead of us are being cancelled, doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the races that have happened in the past and look forward to when they do return. Racing might have stopped, but as much as is safely possible, training continues.

With that in mind, this post will reflect on some of the great results from this weekend in the years before now. It may even provide that much needed motivation you are searching for at this time, by allowing you to see the progression of some of the nation’s best.

Photo: Allison Curbishley

Weightman runs a storming PB

This time last year, Laura Weightman proved she had no intention of slowing down as she explored the longer distances. The Morpeth athlete stormed to fifth position on the UK all-time rankings after a stellar run at the Parelloop 10k.

Weightman crossed the line in a rapid 31:40 to sit only behind Paula Ratcliffe, Liz McColgan, Gemma Steel, and Wendy Sly on the all-time list. This is still her PB to date. Paulos Surafel 29:46 for 25th place.

A strong England team also raced with the quickest finisher, Jack Gray, clocking 29:21. The Cambridge athlete now boasts an impressive 28:57 10k personal best. You can read more about Jack’s current battle back from injury in his latest Fast10 post.

The remainder of the England team were Dejene Gezimu (30:05), William Mycroft (30:08) and Lucian Allison (30:26). For the women Danielle Hodgkinson ran a PB at the time of 34:13, Lucy Crookes clcoked 34:35 and Dani Nimmock ran 35:13.

Credit: Fotos Brunssum

World Half marathon champs

2018 saw GB athletes take to the roads in Valencia for the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.

Sadly, this year’s event has been cancelled due to the current circumstances, but the athletes selected can revel knowing that their training is heading in the right direction. The right time will come to show their fitness!

In 2018, British Athletics took a full team of 10, consisting of 5 women and 5 men to the Spanish city. This included, Charlotte Purdue, Gemma Steel, Charlotte Arter, Tracy Barlow and Faye Fullerton for the women and Ben Connor, Luke Traynor, Tsegai Tewelde, Mohamud Aadan and Dan Studley.

The first two women home were Purdue in 21st (71:21) and Arter in 31st (71:52). Purdue’s lifetime best now stands at a phenomenal 68:08, which she set at last year’s Great North Run and Arter’s is 69:40 which she set in Barcelona. For the men it was Mohamud Aadan with a time of 62:34 and in 62:38 was Luke Traynor who were the first two athletes’ home for GB.

Photo: The Vitality Big Half

Hawkins showing signs of the future

Despite the uncertainty surrounding whether the Olympics will or should be on this year, there is no denying it, Callum Hawkins is in the form of his life and competing among the best in the world.

However, his streak of impressive performances has been developing for years. Back in 2017, in the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon, Hawkins finished second in a rapid 60:08, just 4 seconds behind the winner and 8 seconds off the Scottish half record at that time (which he ran in Japan a month prior).

Hawkins PB now stands at 60:01, oh so close to that sub 60-minute barrier. He also holds a 2:08.14 marathon best to his name which he set at London last year.

Weekend of world indoors.

Whilst currently proving her strength over the 26.2 mile distance, Steph Twell has never been short of some speed. Back in 2016, at the World Indoors in Portland, Twell competed over the 3,000m distance for Great Britain.

The now self-coached athlete was at the time under the watchful eye of Aldershot’s Mick Woods. Twell stormed home in sixth place with a rapid time of 9:00.38. Her PB is however now, 8:40.98! For the men, Charlie De’Vall Grice also ran himself through to the final of the 1500m, where he finished 8th in 3:46.50.

Masters Success

This weekend in 2019 stood out as a monumental one for some of GB’s masters athletes competing at the World Masters Indoor Championships. The fantastic five proved their strength by securing 5 gold medals in the 3,000m across the age groups on the first day. This included Guy Bracken who was the first Brit to take home gold in the M55 category.

An astonishing performance came from W70 athlete, Angela Copson, who took home the gold medal in a rapid 12:52. 36. Ros Tabor, in her last year as a W65 that year, also secured a gold medal with a 6 second lead in 13:20.96.

The fourth gold medal of the event went to W55 world record holder, Clare Elms. The Dulwich Runner at the time secured the win in 10:31.69 and only half an hour later took home gold in another event! The final GB gold, also in the 3000m was achieved by Zoe Doyle in a tactical race. Doyle played the waiting game and in doing so out ran her competitors to take home the victory in 10:26.40.

Step back in time

2015 saw Mo Farah make history as the first British male to run under the hour for the half marathon distance at the Lisbon Half Marathon with a time of 59:32. He lowered this to 59:07 at last year’s Great North Run.

At this current time of writing, the Olympics are still planning on going ahead in Tokyo later this year. However, there is a lot of uncertainty as to if this will or should be the case. It was exactly 105 years ago on the 19th of March 1915, the president of the Olympic committee revealed that the Olympics the following year would be cancelled because of WW1.

In crazy times such as these, it will be the temporary escape running offers that we will be so thankful for. We must remember, racing will return, but for now, the sport stands for so much more than just an opportunity to race.

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The post This weekend in history – roundup appeared first on Fast Running.

There’s a really exciting race coming up in April, a race within a race, but it’s got nothing to do with Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele. Gill Bland, and all of us at Fast Running, are getting really excited. 

A race gantry stands in the mist, the sun rising behind it. Figures can be seen dimly in the distance, getting closer, running. Fast.

Speeding towards us, silhouetted against the glow of a new dawn until out of the shadows a herd of women runners emerge, striding forward shoulder to shoulder arms pumping and heads held high, charging forward into the new decade.

That. That is what the women’s marathon scene feels like in the Great Britain as 2020 begins.

Role models for the masses

Gone are the days when there was one female marathoner we could look up to. Gone are the days when there were a couple, maybe three whose names we would recognise on the elite start list at London Marathon.

To those of us who love running 26.2, last year left us with score of fast ladies to look up to.

It was Charlotte Purdue, an established name, who first grabbed our attention in 2019 and gave a hint of what was to come when she threw down the gauntlet at London Marathon in April. Her 2:25:38 put her 3rd on the all-time list and bumped the profile of women’s marathoning up beyond that of superfans like me.

In the same race Tish Jones ran a 2:31:00 (3 min PB), Hayley Carruthers rinsed herself to get a 2:33:59 (near 3 min PB), getting global coverage in the process for THAT finish and Steph Davis of Clapham Chasers burst onto the scene running a 2:32:38 off the mass start. Not only were there some fun stories to cover, but the times were looking great too.

2019 continued apace with various European marathons bringing new runners to the fore. By the end of the year the top 50 was littered with names of women who seemed like they had popped up out of nowhere fully formed and running a storm.

However, a little bit of cyber stalking revealed that these were all women who had worked hard, put the hours in alongside jobs and families and injury rehab and all sorts of challenges to run breakthrough times that the rest of us dream of.

Photo: Leigh Quinnel

A controlled 2:30 from Twell

As well as the newbies, names that had been threatening to rise up for some time finally had their year. Steph Twell had said that her debut at Valenica 2018 (2:30) was ‘controlled’ – she backed up that claim by smashing the Olympic Qualifying time in Frankfurt in Sept.

It had looked like Purdue had her Olympic spot sewn up, with Twell being the main other contender until Jess Piasecki finally put those injury demons behind her and showed us what she had at Florence, bettering Charlotte’s time by 10s and throwing everything up in the air.

Right up until the last days of December the ladies were duking it out. In the end only a time north of 2:47:39 was enough to make the 2019 Top 50.

There was Rebecca Gentry, who kept us on the edge of our seats during her gutsy 2:37 New York performance, Jenny Spink who ran a 5min PB (2:31:14) with the most amazing grin on her face in Frankfurt, Ali Lavender (2:41:18 in Berlin) and duathlete Georgina Schwiening (2:35:22, Valencia) all piqued our interest as seeming new comers.

Elsey Davies had been waiting to show us her form for a while and finally knocked it out of the park with a 2:33:24 (Valencia) and Natasha Cockram shrugged off a nasty kick from a horse in race-week to smash out a 2:30:49 in Dublin. Oh, and then Steph Davis came back for another bash and only went and ran the Olympic standard. I could go on.

THAT finish from Hayley Carruthers Photo: Ian Walton for Virgin Money London Marathon

Not just fancy shoes

The post Is British women’s marathoning at it’s most competitive ever? appeared first on Fast Running.

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

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

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

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

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

Back to back wins for McColgan

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

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

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

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

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

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

Course records tumble in Chepstow

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

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

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

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

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

— Robert Gale (@awv) January 19, 2020

Rounding up the roads

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, what a weekend. Abroad and on home turf British and Irish athletes turned out amazing performances. These are the kind of weekends we love, the weekends when we see all the hard work come to fruition, the weekends that keep us glued to race trackers and twitter feeds as we shout and will our fellow athletes on. So, settle in and bask in the glow of an amazing few days of racing.

Twell secures Olympic QT at Frankfurt

Where else could we start but with the Frankfurt Marathon? The GB lineup of Twell, Carruthers and Spink was always going to keep us entertained and it didn’t disappoint. After making her marathon debut last year in Valencia where she ran a controlled 2:30 it was clear that Steph Twell would be after an Olympic Qualifying Time.

She went out with intent and paced the race perfectly to finish 8th in an awe-inspiring 2:26:40. That time means that she tops the Scottish all-time list and according to Scottish Athletics she is the eighth Scot to set an outdoor National record this year. In addition she moves to the 5th on the UK all time marathon list ahead of Priscilla Welch and Liz McColgan.

Hayley Carruthers looked to be going out with a similar intent of getting an Olympic qualification time but faded a little from 15km and pulled out after 30km having been passed by Jenny Spink. From frustration to elation, you only have to look at this video to know what the 2:31:14 (13th) run by Spink means to her;

 

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Still don’t have the words… but so happy to have run well today. Still can’t believe it 2:31! . . . #frankfurtmarathon2019 #runningintothefinish #PB #facesaysitall

A post shared by Jenny Spink (@spink.jenny) on Oct 27, 2019 at 6:03am PDT

Her recent Cardiff Half boded well for this race and she certainly delivered with her four minute PB. The top 25 had two more british ladies in the form of Naomi Mitchell who ran a 10 minute PB to finish 20th in 2:37:51 and Claire Lynch (21st in 2:38:22). Also inside 2:45 was Paulina Golec in 2:43:55 with Claire Grima running 2:45:22. The overall winner was Kenya’s Valary Aiyabei in 2:19:10.

Hawkins PBs with strong performances from Scott and Navesey

It wasn’t just Twell who was giving Scotland something to pay attention to over in Germany – Derek Hawkins showed that he is coming back strong from injury, running a 2:12:49 PB to finish in 10th place.

The England team of Aaron Scott, Paul Navesey and Peter Le Grice were also in action. Aaron Scott finished just outside his PB with a strong performance of 2:17:05 with a lot of solo running in the second half after his training partner Josh Lunn stopped after 25km. Navesey clocked a new PB with a negative split crossing the line in a super 2:17:16. Le Grice went out very hard and was not far off his half marathon PB pace through 10km on 2:09 pace but paid later in the race before but toughed it out to finish.

In  highly impressive marathon debut Dominic Shaw finished in 2:18:36 followed by Alex Bampton in a big new PB of 2:21:54. Also sub 2:25 were James Connor (2:22:07), Kenny Wilson (2:22:39), Jo Turner (2:23:56) and Ben Cole (2:24:46).

Irish athletes Eoin and Tommy Hughes broke the father and son world record with Eoin clocking 2:31:30 but beaten by a stunning 2:27:52 from his father. The overall winner was Fikre Bekele in 2:07:08

Lockley, Partridge, Gray and Mitchell impress in Valencia

Before the Valencia Half Marathon organisers were talking up an attempt on the women’s world record. Alas, a fall early on left favourite Sifan Hassan to finish in a surprising second place finish behind Teferi Sora who won it in 65:32.

After battling SI issues for a while it was great to see Lily Partridge show a return to the kind of times we know she can run. Her 71:58 will give her confidence for the final stages of her buildup before she returns to run the full marathon in December. Emma Mitchell of Ireland had a good day, running a sizeable PB to finish in 72:28.

It was a successful day for the gents too – Isle of Man’s Ollie Lockley returns home with a storming one minute and 44 second PB thanks to his 63:01 and 31st place finish. Jack Gray was the next Brit in 63:15 in a big PB in what was only his second run out over the 13.1 distance. Owen Hind ran 66:53 and other men to break 70 minutes were Paul Piper (68:28), Jim Allchin (68:48) and Matt Sharp (68:54).

 

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Valencia HM 2019! Relieved to be back running something respectable and my body felt strong throughout. 5 weeks to go.. time to turn respectable into good #halfmarathon #marathontraining #valencia #adidas

A post shared by L I L Y | P A R T R I D G E (@lilypartridge) on Oct 27, 2019 at 5:57am PDT

Cockram and Scullion break national records at Dublin Marathon

It wasn’t just those racing abroad that had their speedy shoes on this weekend. The Dublin Marathon has always worked well for Natasha Cockram and this year was no different as she knocked yet another chunk of time off her marathon, finishing in 5th place in 2:30:49 despite being kicked by a horse on Wednesday and running with a huge bruise on her leg. Hardcore.

Surely this makes her one to watch for the future (the time, not the bruise). For a big chunk of the race she was well inside the Olympic qualification standard and should not be considered a contender near year. Her time saw her break Susan Tooby’s Welsh National marathon record.

In a wonderful debut performance Charlotte Taylor-Green finished in 12th in a time of 2:36:54. Pretty impressive for an athlete who until recently was very much focused on middle distance running. Katie Wood was 18th in 2:43:12.

Steve Scullion had the run of his life to finish 2nd in a time of stunning time of 2:12:01 in what is a new Northern Irish record. His performance along with that of Mick Clohisey (2:13:19), Hugh Armstrong (2:14:21), Sean Hehir (2:16:01), Eoghan Totten (2:16:08), Aoife Cooke (2:32:34), Ann-Marie McGlynn (2:32:54) and all the other fabulous performances from Irish athletes this weekend will be picked up in detail in our Irish roundup.

Overall, it was Ethiopia who dominated the podium. Motu Gedefa won the women’s race in 2:27:48 followed by Mesera Dubiso (2:28:29) and Denbeli Shuke (2:29:51). The men’s race was a more mixed affair as Clonliffe Harriers Stephen Scullion ran a two minute best to place second (2:12:01), behind Morocco’s Othmane El Goumri (2:08:06) and ahead of Ethiopia’s Mengistu Zelalem (2:12:05).

Credit: Dublin Marathon

Super quick times in Leeds

The headline from the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k has to be the stunning piece of racing produced by Charlotte Arter (Cardiff AC). She ran 31:34 to not only win the race but also put herself in between Wendy Sly (31:19 in 1983) and Laura Weightman (31:39 earlier this year) to place 5th on the all-time GB rankings for the 10k.

Loughborough Student Abbie Donnelly clearly benefited from the extra hour in bed too as she appears to have knocked a mind bending two minutes and 30 seconds off her PB when she stormed home in 32 minutes flat for second place.

To put that even further into context, she beat Beth Potter who wasn’t exactly off-pace given that she ran only two seconds off her best and finished in 32:05 for third. Indeed Jess Judd, who has been on fine form this year and ran a solid PB herself, was outside the medals with her 32:11.

Charlotte Arter and the rest of the Welsh team at Leeds Abbey Dash. Credit: Welsh Athletics

Not to be outdone by the ladies, Omar Ahmed was also looking to give an update to his Power of 10 column. The Birchfield Harriers’ athlete broke the tape in 28:38 which was a nice comfortable 15 second upgrade on his previous best, though a not so comfortable lead over the line.

It was Stockport’s Ross Millington who was chasing Ahmed down all the way to the end to shave one second off his own PB, finish one second behind the winner and finish in 28:39! Ducking out of Cross Country duties, Adam Craig of Inverclyde AC was third in 28:45.

In total 26 women broke 35 minutes and 28 men went sub 30. Notably nine men ran inside 29 minutes – in addition to the top three – Cris Jones (28:47), Adam Clarke (28:51), John Sanderson (28:51), Alex Teuten (28:54), Josh Grace (28:56) and Carl Avery (28:58).

13 women cracked the 34 minute barrier. In addition to the four athletes already mentioned these were Samantha Harrison (32:34), Danielle Hodgkinson (32:55), Clara Evans (33:17), Jip Vastenburg (33:19), Annabel Simpson (33:30), Steph Pennycook (33:38), Kirsty Longley (33:40), Rachael Franklin (33:51) and Hannah Viner (33:58).

Hawkins on show in the Scottish National XC Relays

On Saturday Cumbernauld House Park was host to countless Scottish athletes who lined up to put best spiked-foot forward for their teams at the Lindsays Scottish Athletics National Cross Country Relays. Both genders were running 4 x 4000m and as always, it was a very competitive race.

Topping the team podium in the women’s competition was Edinburgh University’s Hare and Hounds thanks to Johnson, Nankivell, Jaffray and Page running a 58:40. Nearby rivals Edinburgh AC were next in 59:59 and Bronze went to Giffnock North A.C (1:00:07).

It was Central AC whose 49:16 showed their continued dominance as they took the gold for the men, in part thanks to a great run from Jamie Crowe who was the only athlete to run under 12 minutes for one leg of the race. Callum Hawkins was back from Doha to compete for Kilbarchan and he and his team mates took Kilbarchan AAC to silver in 50:00. Inverclyde AC finished in the 50:16 to claim bronze.

Masters medals went to Corstorphine AAC, Cambuslang Harriers and Edinburgh AC for the men and Bellahouston Road Runners, Kilbarchan AAC and Edinburgh AC for the women.

Callum Rowlinson takes a big win at Snowdonia Marathon

A strong starting field at the Snowdonia Marathon suggested that John Gilberts’ 2:33:38 from 2015 might be in trouble. However very tough conditions was always going to make that hard but Callum Rowlinson got very close with an exceptional 2:34:14 which was some way ahead of his closest rival.

Daniel Connolly (2:38:26) was next home after conquering the punchy final climb to 1,200ft at Bwlch y Groes and the quad destroying downhill finish. Martin Green took was third in 2:41:18. James Thie is normally used to indoor tracks and shorter distances but he was out in the Welsh mountains to take on his first ever marathon. He finished in 2:59:19, commenting that it was a ‘humbling’ experience after he went through 20 miles in the top 10 and then struggled towards the end finishing in 22nd place after a heavy fall on the final descent.

The women’s course record (2:57:55 by Hayley Munn) was also untroubled and looks pretty invincible. This year’s winner was Andrea Rowlands who finished in 3:09:18. Anna Bracegirdle was second in 3:09:54 and Danielle Higham thir in 3:13:23. A full report on the race will be published tomorrow.

The World 24hr Championships in Albi, France sees awe-inspiring performances

Camille Herron, of the USA, ran a world record of 167 miles (tbc) to secure the win in the women’s competition, with her trademark fast starting style paying dividends once again.

In the men’s race it was a slightly more controlled start than usual for Aleksandr Sorokin of the USA. The Lithuanian has dug deep to medal in the past but never won a gold. The British men’s and women’s teams both eventually finished fifth, after looking like they were comfortably chasing third place they lost rankings in the latter stages.

As is the nature of 24hr running, it is often how you deal with the inevitable adversity that shows the character of the performance and the fact that all 11 GB Athletes were still out on the 1491m loop at the end was a great sign.

Jessica Baker ran a total of 227.558km, Cat Simpson 220.301, Wendy Whearity 217.174, Alison Young 211.113 and Sarah Morwood 186.169km For the men Paul Maskell ran 251.261km, James Stewart 250.696, Dan Lawson 244.732, Steven Holyoak 234.590, Grant MacDonald 227.734km and Mike Stocks 209.145km.

Credit: Robbie Britton

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The post Twell and Arter top 5 AT and national records tumble – weekend roundup appeared first on Fast Running.

Understandably the spotlight for this race and indeed the headlines for the weekend will be on the fact that Kenenisa Bekele came within a whisker of breaking the world record at Berlin Marathon, running a tantalising 2:01:49 so be two seconds of Eliud Kipchoge’s mark set last year.

Shortly after 30km Bekele dropped off the pace and a few kilometres later Legese broke away from Lemma. But then Bekele recovered although he was around 100 metres adrift. First he overtook Lemma then between 37 and 38 kilometres he went past the leader Legese. Kenenisa Bekele ran so fast in this part of the race that breaking the world record came within reach. Ultimately he missed it for the second time in his career by mere seconds.

“I knew that I was in top form although my preparation was shorter than I would have hoped. I know I can run faster,” said Kenenisa Bekele.

Personal bests in good running weather in Berlin

However, it’s not just nearly-world-record-breakers that can run personal bests in the German rain. This year’s Berlin marathon gave some fantastic results for GB and IRL athletes.

Jonny Mellor of Liverpool Harriers came 16th overall with 2:12:29 and takes home with him both the honour of being first GB finisher and a 28 second PB . For Ireland, Kevin Seaward also ran a chunky PB for a 2:13:39 and the word on the street is that he didn’t even wear those swanky shoes with the big tick on them. Respect.

Cardiff AC’s Matthew Clowes was next for GB with a 2:13:57 and 25th place to show for it. Before the race he had a 2:43:16 PB, so I guess we can assume that he hadn’t really tested himself on the marathon until now. [Oh we think London Marathon was a test for Matt last year – Ed.]

Third for GB was taken by Scott Overall (Bromley Harriers AC) in 2:14:40. Behind him were Jonathan Thewlis (Notts AC), another one to run a PB in 2:15:52 and Adam Hickey (Southend Athletic) who made an impressive debut 2:16:59.

Ladies in Berlin

In the women’s race, Tracy Barlow sadly had to pull out before the 35k mark. That left it to Alison Lavender of Oswestry Olympians to bring it home for GB in a whopping 13 minute PB of 2:41:18. PB’s continued with both Fiona Brian (Metro Aberdeen, 2:42:51) and Tracy Millmore of Birtley AC (2:47:10) running comfortable bests.

Behind them were Charlotte Firth (Windsor Slough, 2:47:13), Rose Penfold (Fulham RC, 2:48:21) and Rebecca Bunting (London Heathside, 2:48:42) who all ducked under the 2:50 mark. For the Irish, the top ladies both ran PB’s too – Siobhan O’Doherty (Borrisokane) went under the Brandenburg and over the line in 2:44:54 and Fionnuala Ross (Armagh AC) was behind her in 2:47:19

Not much to report back from Doha

We’d love to be able to report on the British results from the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Doha but was can’t. Tish Jones had to pull out before the race due to injury and Charlotte Purdue made the decision not to finish the race in conditions which were not working for her. So, we’ll let you make up your own mind about the merits of a race which resulted in a 41% DNF rate.

Elsewhere in the championships there was even more to discuss as Lynsey Sharp made a shock early exit from the women’s 800m competition and Andy Butchart had a roller-coster ride of a night, being told he’d got a spot in the 5,000m final before having it taken away again after Jakob Ingebrisen was DQ’d and then reinstated.

Steph Twell ran a gutsy but lonely race in the women’s 10,000m which was somewhat owned by Nike Oregan project’s Sifan Hassan, who astonishingly broke four minutes for the final 1500m of the race. Twell finished in 15th in 31:44.79 starting strongly, but ended up falling between packs and had to fight to the finish on her own.

Afterwards Twell commented “It picked up after 5k and I knew it was going to be a fast second half. I didn’t quite have the sharper legs that I used to have for the 1500m and 5k to be able to hold onto a pace and in four weeks’ time I have a marathon so I am in a very different champs prep.”

Great Scottish Running

At the Great Scottish Run Gemma Steel was in action over 10k and won a solid victory in 35:29 ahead of Inverclyde’s Nynke Mullholland who ran 36:46 for second place and Edinburgh triathlete Alison Rowatt who was third in 36:58.

In the men’s race it was a local win for Victoria Park AAC Glasgow’s thanks to Max Milarvie who finished in 30:50 with Richard Mair some way behind in 31:17 and Thomas Cornthwaite sneaking in with a 31:59 for third.

Rapid half marathon times in the women’s race.

The Half Marathon was a more global affair. Edith Chelimo of Kenya won in a new course record of 1:07:38 which is also a season’s best for her after she ran a 1:07:56 in Houston in January this year. Compatriot Nancy Kiprop was second in 1:09:24, but only just, because Askale Merachi of Ethiopia was hot on her tail and finished with a big 2 min PB and a time of 1:09:34.

It was Uganda that took the top spot for the men. Timothy Torotich broke the tape in 1:01:29 almost a minute ahead of his closest rival, Micha Kogo of Kenya (1:02:28).

Again, the third place wasn’t far behind and this time it was in the form of up and coming talent Stephen Kiprop (Kenya). The 19 year old won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon earlier in the year in 58:42 and claimed bronze in this race with a 1:02:32. Alas, England’s Chris Thompson couldn’t manage a third title and finished 7th in 1:05:33.

Ealing Half Marathon

Despite forboding forecasts, runners were treated to pretty fair conditions at the ever popular Ealing Half Marathon. Over 7,000 took to the start line and it was Serpentine’s Jonathan Poole who was first over the finish line to retain his title in 1:10:14.

Last year he was chased all the way to the finish line by Paul Martelleti, so this one was a little more comfortable for him with a slower time and a bigger margin. Just over 30 seconds behind Poole was Alex Bampton of Highgate Harriers (1:10:49), but he had to race it all the way to the end to keep Nick Besson from making it a Serpentine 1-2. In the end Bampton won out leaving Besson to take third in 1:10:52

For the ladies, the title couldn’t be retained and a new champion was crowned – Lucie Custance of Clapham Chasers, who won in 1:19:03. Last year’s winner, VP & TH AC’s Rachel Thomas comments on her Strava that she wanted to stop after 3 miles. So, perhaps coming second and in a time that was faster than her winning one last year isn’t really a bad result when 10 of the 13 miles were being run under duress! She finished in 1:19:36. Third place went to Jenni Ball (WSEH AC) in 1:21:03.

A little further east, Winsdor Half Marathon was won by Daniel Studley in 1:07:47. Rob Corney was second in 1:08:32 and Tom Higgs third in 1:09:29. Charlotte Green topped the women’s podium in 1:16:5. Rachel Fenton took silver in 1:20:11 and Lesley Locks got the bronze in 1:21:08.

Team mates until the gun goes off

It was a rather successful weekend for the AB training group down in Sussex . The team’s Instagram shows that they took all three podium spots at the Barns Green Half Marathon.

Photo: Provided by Paul Navesey. Nice to see the boys had synchronised outfits.

Paul Navesey took the win in 68:25 as he continues his preparation for the Frankfurt Marathon and we look forward to hearing about the race in his next blog on that journey. “I had a good race with Ben [Savill] in the first half” said the Crawley AC man.

Training partner Savill was second in 69:53, followed by James Turner in 73:17. First lady was Rachel Hillman in 1:23:50 with Dani Tarton (1:25:46) and V50 Elspeth Turner (1:26:34) completing the podium.

Halves around the UK

Half Marathon’s were clearly the popular distance this weekend as runners in Salisbury and Nottingham also had 13.1 on their minds.

Avon Valley’s Holly Rush was in action at this Wiltshire race and bagged herself a win in 1:23:41. Local lady Sian Thomas (City of Salisbury AC) finished next in 1:24:07 and Chippenham Harriers’ Emma Haines took third in 1:26:33.

Peter Baksh was speediest in the men’s race and represented Beckenham RC well with his 1:09:57 victory. He nudged out Stephen Blake of Woking AC who was a mere seven seconds behind him in 1:10:04. Aaron Wilson was third gent back in 1:13:18.

Bangor 10k provides great racing

Gideon Kipsang of 1Zero1 added a 10k win to his Belfast Half vitictory from earlier this year as he ran a 30:15  to be crowned champion at the  Bangor 10K (Inc NI & Ulster Championship). Declan Reed of Derry AC Spartans was second in 30:57 and Conan McCaughey of North Belfast Harriers kept the top three sub-31 with a third place time of 30:58.

Photo: Steven Donegan

Emma Mitchell of Clonliffe Harriers was first lady in 34:44. Gladys Ganiel of North Belfast Harriers was next in 36:33 with Lauren Wilson making the journey from Edinburgh AC to take the third podium spot in 37:11.

For a full review check out the North Down AC race report here.

At the Stoneybeck 10k, a 33:23 was enough for the win for  Eden Runners Jonathan Cox to beat his clubmate Robin Regan by four seconds (33:27).While Eden Runners dominated the race, Keswick AC managed to hold them off the third place thanks to Sam Stead and his 34:33.

It was a similar story in the women’s race as Eden runners Emma Neilsen and Karen Bridge took first and second in 41:59 and 42:45 respectively. Unattached athlete Tudy Beetham was third in 44:10.

In Taunton at their 10k,  Alice Murray-Gourlay kept her home crowd happy with a 37:17 win ahead of Julie Dixon (Bideford AC 38:44) and Louise Gentry (Teignbridge Trotters 40:33).

Teignbridge were the winners for the men thanks to Jamie Barnett and his 34:42 but Taunton AC came to take the rest of the podium space – Phil Burden and Ben Tull ran 33:33 and 33:56.

Spartathlon

In the world of ultra running plenty took on the classic race that runs 153 miles from Athens to Sparta. It was fine day for running long without the wild storms of recent years and super high temperatures of other years. That’s not to say it was cold but low 30’s seemed to be the peak.

Scottish runner Alastair Higgins had an excellent run in 25:48 for fourth overall, closely followed by Ian Hammet in 26:15 for sixth. Peter Jackson was third Brit in 28:59 for 16th and friend of Fast Running Paul Radford (pictured below) had a storming run of 29:46 for 21st place.

Paul Radford, supported by friend Ben Cox, running the final steps to kiss the foot of King Leonidas, the famous finish of the 153 mile race.

UK’s Sarah Sawyer was fourth lady in 30:39 and showed excellent pace judgement after a conservative start saw her fly through the field in the second half.

parkrun rankings

Lucie Custance and Jack Gray are your fastest athletes at UK parkruns this weekend (September 28th). Custance was also busy on Sunday racing over half marathon and winning, as mentioned above.

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 Bekele just misses WR in Berlin, with plenty of PBs for Brits – Weekend round-up appeared first on Fast Running.

PB’s were plentiful in a weekend rammed full of 10ks and the Gold Coast and Leamington Spa half. The weekend was kickstarted with the spectacular and buzzing Highgate Harriers Night of 10,000m PB’s, a night of PB’s it was no less!

British fireworks at Night of the 10,000m PBs

As thousands of spectators took to the track in Parliament hill, the race which has been dubbed the Glastonbury of Athletics, did not disappoint. The Night of 10,000 PB’s, which incorporated the European 10,000m cup, saw some extraordinary performances from both men and women.

The standout performance of the night from a British perspective came from Aldershot and Farnham’s Steph Twell. Twell again proved her impressively strong form, delivering what is believed to be the race of her life, to cross the line in a cracking 31:08 (a 1 minute 8 second track 10,000 PB!) and claim gold at the European cup.

Not only did she top the podium, but she achieved an Olympic and World qualifying standard. Steph Twell stormed round the last lap to complete a 2:58 final kilometre and comfortably give her the win by 7 seconds. Twell said, ‘I can’t believe how easy I felt and I’m delighted’.

British European Cup Victory

Only 8 seconds behind her was the second Brit, but first GB vest, Eilish McColgan. McColgan ran a strong race, finishing as always with a gutsy final lap to put her one second behind Chemtai Salpeter of Israel. Whilst it was not the win McColgan was aiming for, McColgan said she was ‘pleased with that and the time’.

It didn’t stop there, other highly placed Brits included, Alice Wright 9th in 32:27.57, Verity Ockenden 12th in 32:34.47, Charlotte Arter in 32:40.63 and Sarah Inglis in 32:52.51. The impressive performances from the GB team, led them to team victory at the European cup!

The Night of the 10,000 PB’s truly lived up to its buzzing reputation. To give an atmosphere like no other. In the words of Twell, ‘The crowd were amazing. I’ve never heard a roar like that and it really lifted me’.

Connor delivers

The men’s A race saw more outstanding PB performances delivered. The win went to Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa, but in a solid third was Great Britain’s, Ben Connor in a cracking time of 27:56.60, with a 22 second personal best!

The next Brit across the line, in his 10,000m track debut, was Belgrave’s Nick Goolab in 28:10.49 (8th). Slightly further down the field in 21st and 23rd, were Matthew Leach in 28:47.24, and Jack Gray in 28:49.53.

A night to celebrate the best in club racing

The success of the event could be said to come as much from the depth of the racing as the stand out performances in the A races. The senior races kicked off with a close fought race won by South London Harriers’ Ollie Garrod (31:36.92) with Daniel Kashi (31:42.39) and Patrick Roddy (31:44.48) second and third place respectively.

Will Green was a popular winner of the Men’s E race as the temperatures warmed up. The V40 athlete sliced a healthy chunk of his PB to win in 30:50.38. Sam Johnson of Birchfield Harriers was second in 31:00.19 and Jack Bancroft of Bristol & West third in 31:07.00.

Glasgow City athlete Sean Fontana was narrowly missed out on sub 30 on his way to victory in the D race in 30:02.81. Gaert Jorritsma (30:09.97) and Thames Valley’s Daniel Mulryan (30:11.49) rounded off the top three positions.

Top quality women’s field

The women’s C race saw international athletes go head to head demonstrating the ever increasing depth of the meeting. Hanne Verbruggen was the winner in 33:30.67 ahead of Julia Mayer (33:53.69) and Abbie Donnelly (33:56.13). England 10km international Dani Nimmock was fourth in 34:38.56 (editors note – Fast Running’s own Hannah Irwin had a strong run finishing just outside her PB in 34:46.50).

The women’s B race was an all international affair won by Belgian athlete Nina Lauwaert in 32:52.29.

Photo: Gill Bland

Mohamed Mohamed storms to a new PB

Hillingdon’s Mohamed Mohamed dominated the Men’s C race to in in 29:00.24, a full 35 seconds off his road best. Romanian athlete Stefan Gavril was second 29:33.44. Birchfield Harrier Omar Ahmed came home in third in 29:34.89.

Speaking after the race Mohamed said “I’m very happy with my performance and I want to thank all the officials and volunteers and the organisers of the Night of the 10,00m PB.”

As with the women the men’s B race was all international and saw a fine run from Isreal’s Yitayew Abuhay to win in 28:44.74.

Photo: Robbie Britton

Adkin is European Champion

Miles away from the track, the European Mountain Running Championships took place in Zermatt,  Switzerland.

Keswick’s Jacob Adkin took the win in the men’s senior race in what looked like a fine day for mountain running. Adkin’s win comes after a fine run of recent success with a win in last week’s Mont Blanc Marathon Vertical KM and the European trial at the start of June.

The young star started patiently and overtook his coach Robbie Simpson around the four kilometre, before storming past everyone for the win. The course did a fast loop of Zermatt and then was all uphill, at a very steep gradient, to Riffelberg at 2582m.

Adkin, helped by Robbie Simpson (seventh) and Andy Douglas (ninth) took gold for the senior men’s team.

In a highly competitive race Sarah Tunstall took fourth in the senior women’s event. The Kendal AC athlete looked strong throughout, showing her international class with such an excellent performance. It is worth noting that two of the podium athletes ahead of Tunstall, Maude Mathys and Cristel Dewalle, have had anti-doping rules violations in recent years.

Joe Dugdale won the U20 men’s race, leading the young team to their own victory.

Top class performances in Australia and the States

Further across the field in Australia, was the Gold Coast Half Marathon. There were some cracking female performances, with the top 2 athletes crossing the line in under 70 minutes. The Irish-born Australian long-distance runner, Sinead Diver, took gold in a beaming time of 69:45. Diver was closely followed by Ellie Pashley, only 5 seconds behind in 69:50. Just above the 70-minute mark was Lisa Weightman in 70:30.

Also across the world, in another of many 10k races, the 50th AJC Peachtree Road Race took place. Belgrave’s Tish Jones crossed the line in a very respectable 33:30, competing against some of the best.

Slightly closer to home, was the Leamington Spa half marathon. Rugby and Northampton AC’s Alistair Mcdonnell ran all the way to the men’s victory in a respectable 01:13:10. Mcdonnell was shortly followed by Andrew Savery and Sean Jones in 01:13:26 and 01:15:09 respectively.

Leamington AC’s Natalie Bhangal was first woman to cross the line, claiming gold with 01:28:49. Separated by only 22 seconds was Natasha White of Northbrook AC (01:31:33) and Bonita Robinson of Hermitage Harriers (01:31:55).

Inaugural Porthcawl 10km a success

The Porthcawl 10k really did shine under the sun with some cracking times across both the men’s and women’s races. Griffiths, the resounding favourite, crossed the line in a time of 29:55, confirming his place as one of the current top Welsh road runners.

Having begun the 2018 Healthspan Wales 10k Series with a third-place finish, Griffiths was happy to have reaffirmed his place within the series. He said, ‘I wanted to win, and it is always nice to get under 30 minutes, but he really made the race. That is my first 10k win this year and it is always nice to cross the line first.’

James Hunt had a breakthrough race, cracking the 30-minute barrier for the first time! Hunt of Cardiff AC crossed the line in 29:58 to secure second place. James Hunt dug deep, but it wasn’t quite enough to take the win from Griffiths. Hunt said, ‘Josh just came on strong in the last kilometer and I couldn’t hold onto him’. Coming across the line in 3rd place was Phil Wylie of Cheltenham & County Harrier in a time of 30:41.

Excellent return for Cockram

Natasha Cockram, part of this year’s Fast 10 class of 2019, took the victory in the women’s race in a time of 34:51. Cockram continues to show improvements since her return from Tulsa University and having struggled with injury since London Marathon.

Cockram reported, ‘I’ve been back running for the past three weeks and I’m just happy to be back racing again. It wasn’t about the time […] it was just about getting back into a race’. Second across the line in a time of 35:20 was Manchester Marathon winner Jenny Spink. Ruby Orchard of Cornwall AC claimed bronze in a time of 37:31, completing the women’s podium.

Photo credit: Porthcawl 10km

A busy weekend of domestic 10ks

Sunday continued to add to the 10k buzz that filled the warm weekend with races across the country including the Great North 10k and others in Brentwood, Newmarket, Porthcawl, Manchester, Gloucestershire, and Leeds.

At the Asda Foundation Leeds 10km the men’s victory was taken by Scott Hinchcliffe in a time of 31:29, followed by Marcos angwl Valero Palacios in 31:54. Only 3 seconds behind the Roundhay Runner was Gareth Joste in 31:57.

The women’s race saw the top 3 women easily dip under the 39-minute marker. The win went to Nik Tarrega of Knavesmire in 38:06, followed by Aisling Wall in 38:18. Third over the line was Ackworth Road Runners’ Sarah Hunter, in 38:28.

Further up north, in the Great North 10k in Gateshead, Tombridge’s Ashley Gibson took the win in a noteworthy 35:40, running her fastest time of the year so far. The silver medal was claimed by Hannah Wood in 38:06, and the silver by Laura Havis in 42:30.

In the men’s race there was less than a minute between the top 3. James McKenzie of Heaton Harriers won gold in 33:1, a massive 59 second PB! Second place went to Sparrow Morley in 33:44, followed by Dean Williamson, 20 seconds behind in 34:04.

Aburezeq wins again

For yet another year, Mohammed Aburezeq of Altrincham & District AC defended his title at the City of Manchester 10k. Aburezeq crossed the line in a cracking 31:14, claiming the win by over 40 seconds. Second place went to Tom Charles, who achieved a time of 31:55, ahead of Salford Harriers & AC’s Gamar Adam in 32:20.

The UKFast City of Manchester 10k women’s race was won by Kirsty Longley of Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton in 35:29. Longley was followed by Carol Parsons with a time of 36:55, and in 39:59, just dipping under the 40-minute barrier, was Rachael Rozhdestvenskaya of Sale Harriers Manchester.

At the Brentwood Running Club 10k in Essex, Springfield Striders dominated the men’s podium. The men’s race saw Pete Robinson claim gold in a rapid time of 32:09, a solid 1 minute 23 second PB. Robinson was only 10 seconds ahead of Crispian Bloomfield of Billericay Striders who was followed by James Sullivan of Springfield Striders in 34:25.

The Striders however didn’t feature in the women’s podium where Ruth Wallace of Fleet & Crookham AC cemented the win in 39:15. Crookham was followed by Jennifer Lovelock in 41:10 and Hayley Lamkin in 41:24.

A great weekend for Cambridge & Coleridge AC

To add to the long list of 10k’s happening over the sunny weekend was The Marcus Gynn Newmarket 10k. Ben Jones of Cambridge and Coleridge AC claimed the men’s title in 33:24, whilst the women’s gold went to Odette Robson of Saint Edmund Pacers in 40:31.

Cambridge and Coleridge AC have had a fine weekend overall with fantastic performances from the Night of the 10,000m PBs through to the Lord Mayors 5km.

After a slightly dramatic start to the day with an unexpected route change due to road works, the Gloucestershire 10k took place. The win was taken by Richard Dare in 33:36, with Alastair Campbell taking second in 33:53. The women’s race was won by Kelly Lyons in 40:30 with Alice Doggrell crossing the line second in 41:25.

Sesemann and Archer win Lord Mayor’s 5k City Centre Classic

Leeds City’s Phil Sesemann stormed home to victory on the challenging course at the Lord Mayor’s 5k in Norwich. Sesemann’s time of 14:35.3 was enough to edge out Jonathan Escalante-Phillips (14:40.3) and Brighton’s Stephen Ferroni (14:44.8).

Holly Archer was a dominate victor in the women’s race finishing in 16:50.6. The Cambridge and Coleridge athlete has had a fantastic 2019 setting a new 5km best of 16:04 at Ipswich Twilight. Joining Archer on the podium were Isabel Rodriguez (17:44.6) and Faith Viney (17:58.3).

parkrun UK

Kevin Skinner and Naomi Taschimowitz are your fastest athletes at UK parkruns this weekend (July 6th). Full rankings here.

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 Steph shines and Adkin is European Champion – the weekend roundup appeared first on Fast Running.

The weekend also saw speedy 10k’s at the Speedway 10k, Richmond, Pilling, and Nottingham and a handful of British runners getting World Champs qualifying times in just one 1500m race in the US.

Fast10’s Hannah Irwin was not only racing over 5000m this weekend but brings you the weekend round up for UK athletes at home and abroad.

Friday night out

Friday’s Podium 5k road race saw some cracking performances, with 33 people running 16:35 and under, despite being faced with truly wet British weather conditions.

Ben Connor took gold in a time of 13:54, 48 seconds ahead of second place. The St. Helens & Sutton athlete, Matthew Crehan, ran the exact same time of 14:42 as he did at the Fast Friday 5,000, even with the conditions not being favourable. One second behind in third place, was Morpeth’s Nick McCormick in 14:43.

Photo: David Belshaw

In Scotland the race was run over 5 miles at the Black Rock 5. Both the men and women pulled out brilliant performances. Lamar university student, Jamie Crowe, ran his first 5-mile race since 2013, running a four minute, 21 second PB of 22:05. Behind Crowe, in 22:44, was James Donald followed by Neil Renault in 23:23.

The former European Junior 1500m Champion, Morag Millar, ran to the top of the podium. Millar ran a strong race to cross the line in 25:25, 36 seconds ahead of second place, Stephanie Pennycook. Third across the line was Central AC’s Natalie Stewart in a time of 27:32.

Saturday night at the races

Saturday was filled with races on the track and road, including the BMC Grand Prix in Loughborough, the Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon, the Dartford midnight half marathon and the Pilling 10k.

Saturday’s BMC Grand Prix saw plenty of outstanding performances.

The U20 Halifax athlete, Max Burgin showed his strength over the 800m distance. Burgin set a new PB of 1:46.80 in a race he front ran from the gun, placing himself seventh in the all-time U20 rankings.

The Judd sisters dominated the Women’s A 5000m race. Jess ran her first PB in 2 years, to set a cracking time of 15:31 to take first place. Jodie, the younger Judd, was the first U23 to cross the line in a time of 16:04, one second inside of the U23 European qualifying time! The Swansea athlete, Verity Ockenden continued to prove her form, running 15:47 to place herself second to the elder Judd. [Weekend roundup author Hannah also ran an excellent PB of 16:36 at the event – Editor]

The Men’s 5000m race also had an impressive field. The St. Mary’s athlete, Emile Cairess, took the win in 13:50 to get himself a four second PB. Cairess was closely followed by Ellis Cross in 13:52 with another PB. Jake Shelley took bronze, crossing the finish line with a time of 13:56.

Also on the track an outstanding performance was given by Edinburgh AC’s Josh Kerr at the Brave Like Gabe men’s 1500m. Kerr crossed the line in 3:33:60 to get the win and break Steve Cram’s British U23 best! There was also a 3:35.95 PB for fellow Scot Neil Gourley and 3:35.74 for James West [who “bitch-kicked Gourley in the home straight”, whatever that means – Editor]

All three ran inside the qualifying time for the 1500m for the World Championships, which is a great sign for British middle distance running.

Over four times the distance, Steph Twell took to the road in the Czech Republic at the Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon. Twell finished in fifth, crossing the line in 75:57. The 2:30 marathoner and recent winner of the Vitality London 10,000 led until halfway through the race, but faded in the second half.

Photo: Leigh Quinnel

Closer to home

The Dartford Midnight Half also took place on Saturday. Annaka Charters of Victoria Park Harriers dominated the race, finishing with a massive PB of 1:25:00, in an outright win.

The Pilling 10k, part of the Lancashire Race Series, saw Simon Croft of the Red Rose RR claim first prize in a time of 34:01, just under two-minutes ahead of Border Harriers’ Steven Berry. First woman across the line in a time of 43:59, was Blackburn Harriers’ Rachel Gavin, followed by Heather Travis in 45:05.

The fast and flat Speedway 10k did not disappoint. The rain managed to hold off to allow a very classy field of athletes to perform. At the top of the men’s podium, in an impressive 29:55 was Cardiff’s Matt Clowes. Behind him in second place was the Swansea athlete, Josh Griffiths. Griffiths clocked 30:12 whilst James Hunt ran 30:44 to come in third.

The first lady across the line was Lauren Cooper in a huge PB time. Cooper ran a 1 minute 34 second personal best to achieve a time of 34:54. The second lady home in 36:14 was Alaw Beynon-Thomas.

Also over the 10k distance, as part of the Surrey Road League was the Ranelagh Richmond 10k. Epsom’s Ollie Garrod claimed first place in 32:22, followed by Simon Baines of Thames Hare & Hounds in a time of 32:45 and Nick Marriage in third in 33:31.

The women’s race was won by Liz Davies with a significant lead. Davies just popped under 35-minutes, running 34:58 for the 10k distance. In second was Emily Wicks in 36:20 and third place went to Alice McGushin in 37:26.

In Nottingham, the Run For All- Nottingham 10k took place. Patrick Townsend of Notts AC took gold in the men’s race in 34:40, whilst Nicole Swaffield was first female across the line in 38:30.

On the trails

The long running Seven Hills of Edinburgh is described as “a combination of road-running, cross-country, hill-running, and urban orienteering [with] 14.3 miles in length and with 2200 feet of ascent/descent”. The men’s winner was New Zealand international runner Sam McCutcheon in 1:37:21, running for Corstorphine AAC and the women’s winner was Irish international Nicola Duncan running for Carnethy in a time of 2:05:46.

Photo: Peter MacDonald

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For Farah it was his seventh win in seven races on the famous central London course, while Twell took two seconds from her personal best to win the women’s crown for a second time just 24 hours after setting a world mile record for running hand-in-hand.

In the end Farah’s win was easy enough but the four-times Olympic champion was pushed hard by Rio Olympian Andy Butchart and former British Mile champion Nick Goolab before prevailing in 28:15.

“I really enjoyed it today,” said Farah, who was racing for the first time since finishing fifth in the Virgin Money London Marathon last month. “I love coming to London and particularly running on this course. It’s fantastic to win for a seventh time.

“The London Marathon is behind me now. I was a bit disappointed not to run quicker there but I have recovered well and was confident today.”

Photo: Vitality London 10,000

Goolab led the trio through halfway in 14:08 before he dropped back, but Butchart hung on until the last two kilometres, when Farah finally kicked away and put more than 100m between the pair.

“I knew Andy and Nick are both running well and I would have to keep my eyes on them,” said Farah. “We got rid of Nick, but Andy kept pushing and pushing and pushing.

“I thought, ‘When am I going to get rid of you?’ He did very well, but I was confident I could do it in the end. This is my race.”

Butchart may have failed to add to his victories here in 2016 and 2017, but the Scot was pleased enough to finish runner-up just 13 seconds behind, matching his personal best from 2016.

“I knew I would have to do the hard work,” said Butchart, who led for most of the first 5K. “But Mo was just chilling really. It’s really hard to lead a 10K and get away from someone like him.

“I wanted a good run and got that. It was only in the last 2K that he pulled away and I’m pleased to equal my PB. It shows I’m ready to run fast on the track.”

Personal best for Twell

As for Twell, she set off at a pelt in the women’s race, running with a small group of male club runners as she established an unassailable lead that grew with every step.

On Sunday she and husband Joe Morwood had smashed the Guinness World Record for the fastest road mile holding hands, but that effort did little to dent her 10K title defence.

Twell passed halfway in 15:33 and eventually won by nearly 40 seconds from Stockport’s Jess Piasecki with Verity Ockenden of Swansea taking third.

“This is a great course and a great event,” said the two-time Olympian who stopped the clock at 31:55. “A personal best and a world record in one weekend can’t be bad.

“My legs were fine after yesterday, but I think I felt it in my arms a bit. The bigger races always bring out the best in me, and this is one of the biggest and the best.

“Today was London in its full glory and the crowds were fantastic. I’m just delighted.”

The unheralded Piasecki was also pleased as she clinched the runner-up spot in her best time of 32:33, while Ockenden also took some well-known scalps from a race loaded with internationals as she pinched the last podium place in 32:39, a PB for her by nearly two minutes.

“I saw Steph go off and I knew that was too fast for me,” said Piasecki. “But I ran quite within myself until the last kilometre. That was tough but it was worth it to finish second.”

Photo: Vitality London 10,000

Mile & 10,000 double for Woods & Sidbury

In the wheelchair races, Shelly Woods made it two wins in two days since her return to elite racing as she took the women’s title just 24 hours after winning the Vitality Westminster Mile on Sunday.

Woods, who took two years out of the sport following the birth of her first child, led from start to finish and won by 43 seconds in 27:25 from Mel Nicholls, regaining the title she last won three years ago. Eden Rainbow-Cooper was third in 29:02.

“I feel refreshed so it’s great to be back and to be part of this event,” said Woods. “This is such a great race for wheelchair athletes, plus it’s a really competitive field. It’s been a really positive weekend; I’ve really enjoyed it.

Danny Sidbury also added the Vitality London 10,000 crown to his unexpected Mile victory, winning the men’s race for the first time by an even bigger margin in 22:32.

“I decided to go hard from the gun, like I did yesterday in the Vitality Westminster Mile, and then to settle into a comfortable pace, so I was surprised that I built up such a lead,” said Sidbury. “To do the double feels great.”

JohnBoy Smith was second in 23:21 with Simon Lawson third in 23:27.

The post Farah and Twell retain British 10k road titles in London appeared first on Fast Running.

Hellen Obiri makes her debut over the 10km. The world 5,000m and world indoor 3,000m champion is expected to perform well over the longer distance after her World Cross Country Championship victory this year. Ruti Aga could be threat having won this year’s Tokyo Marathon and Edna Kiplagat will undoubtedly challenge with a best of 31:06.

In the men’s race Ugandan Kiplimo has run the fastest road 10km of all time with 26:41 but the downhill nature of the Madrid course means he is not the world record holder. Kiplimo comes into the race having finished second in the World Cross. A leading challenger could be former New York Marathon winner Stanley Biwott who is a bit of an unknown quantity with little high level racing over the last year.

Goolab in Flying Form

The race includes some excellent depth when it comes to British runners. Nick Goolab arrives in Manchester riding high after his 13:34 5km at Ipswich Twilight last weekend. The Belgrave man has a best of 28:22 also set this year when winning Brighton Marathon 10km.

European 10,000m silver medallist Andy Vernon is on the start list but suffered an injury in the build up to the Virgin London Marathon. Vernon, who has a track best of 27:42, posted a tweet on the 7th May saying he had been undergoing shockwave therapy and “hopefully I can be running completely pain free in the next couple of weeks.”

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Jack Gray is another Brit arriving at the race in top form. The England 10km international ran 13:47 to finish 4th at the Ipswich Twilight 5km and recently ran a 10km PB in Brighton of 28:57. Under 23 Emile Cairess will be expecting to take a good chunk off his road PB having run 28:48 on the track in April.

The start list also features GB and England athletes such as Dan Studley, Dejene Gezimu and Alex Teuton. Sub four minute miler Ieuan Thomas will be looking to better his PB of 29:13 set at last years Telford 10km.

Twell to Challenge

Steph Twell is likely to be the leading British challenger and is coming into the race in great form having set a 10km PB of 31:57 to win Brighton Marathon 10km. Having recently been selected for the World 50km Championships Alyson Dixon races a month after finishing 16th at Boston Marathon.

Mhairi MacLennan will be a strong challenger having finished second to Twell in Brighton with a new PB of 32:59. The Helen Clitheroe coached athlete finished 32nd at the World Cross in March and arrives in fine form. Third on the UK all time list Gemma Steel races as does Inter -Counties XC Champion Jenny Nesbitt. Having spent time away training in the US Nesbitt recently ran a strong 32:46 at the Payton Jordan Invitational.

Strong Club Times Expected

This is a mass participation race on 10km course but also half marathon and quick times are expected over both with conditions looking ideal. Over 30,000 runners are expected to start on Sunday in what is one of the most popular running events in the UK.

RELATED: Loughborough International Preview

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The post A strong British challenge at the Great Manchester Run 10km appeared first on Fast Running.