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.