While the elite mile times were down on previous years’ records, the Westminster Mile broke a global tape when more than 8000 finishers crossed the line throughout the day’s proceedings, making it the biggest ever timed mile event in the world.

8048 finishers completed the Vitality Westminster Mile on the streets of London, meaning it is now officially bigger than the previous world leader, the New York Mile.

Edinburgh’s Chris O’Hare won the British Mile Championships in 4:04 ahead of Brighton Phoenix’s Charlie Da’Vall Grice, who was given exactly the same time, while Birchfield’s Elliott Giles took third just ahead of Bracknell’s Zak Seddon in 4:05, with Edinburgh’s Jake Wightman fifth after making an earlier bid for victory.

Poole’s Melissa Courtney won the senior women’s race in 4:35 from Birchfield’s Sarah McDonald’s 4:36, and Epsom & Ewell’s Rosie Clarke was third in 4:38. The consistently excellent Hannah England of Oxford City was fourth in 4:42.

Photo: Vitality Westminster Mile

The U20 women’s race was won by West Suffolk’s Emily Moyes in 5:03, while Middlesborough’s Josh Allen took victory in the men’s U20 event in 4:26.

Cambridge & Coleridge’s Thomas Keen was a clear winner in the U17 race, taking a very impressive victory in 4:15 to follow up a top class season on the country and now the track and road. Dorking & Mole Valley’s Elsa Palmer took U17 women’s glory in 5:09.

In the first ever masters races, V35 Joe Ashley was first across the line in 4:33, while Charlene Jacobs-Conradie, also a V35, took the women’s race in 5:19.

Edinburgh Marathon

Kenya’s Joel Kipkemboi Kiptoo won the Scottish capital’s biggest endurance event in an event record time of 2:13:33, with his winning result breaking the previous record by more than two minutes.

Jeffrey Stein’s 2:21:21 was good enough for second place, some 8 minutes adrift of Kiptoo, while Michael Crawley took third prize with 2:24:43.

WINNER of the 2018 Edinburgh Marathon is Joel Kipkemboi Kiptoo from Kenya with a provisional winning time of 02:13:33! He just smashed the previous record set in 2005 by 2 minutes, incredible!#edinburghmarathon #emf2018 pic.twitter.com/9rYBP33io9

— Edinburgh Marathon (@MrHairyHaggis) May 27, 2018

Kiptoo’s compatriot Caroline Jepchirchir clinched the women’s title in 2:47:35, beating off competition from Hunters Bog Trotter’s V35 Shona McIntosh, who ran 2:49:07 for second, and third placed V35 Tracy Millmore from Birtley AC, who ran 2:52:14.

Edinburgh Half Marathon

City of Derry and Ireland’s Breege Connolly won a hard fought battle with Annabel Simpson, with V40 Connolly’s 76:09 eventually beating her rival by just 22 seconds. Connolly posted a superb 2:37:24 result at last year’s Valencia marathon, just two seconds shy of her 2015 PB.

Glasgow’s Simpson’s 76:31 was a highly impressive debut over the distance following her 56:30 10M PB last year. Central’s Fanni Gyurko’s 78:32 clocking represented another strong performance for the Hungarian star.

Spain’s Severino Felipe Gomez took the win in 70:37 ahead of Mexico’s Arturo Gonzalez and Gateshead’s Conrad Franks, who posted times of 70:53 and 70:55 respectively.

Edinburgh 5k and 10k

Hyde Park Harriers’ Amy Young won the women’s 5k in 19:36 with Rotherham’s Arron Larkin taking the men’s race in 16:25. Enfield & Haringey’s Michael Christoforou took the win in 31:37 while Hana Randakova’s 38:49 was good enough to take the first women’s prize.

Stornoway 10k

Andrew Woodroffe clinched victory in 33:43, ahead of Stornoway’s U20 Kyle Munro’s 36:53 and Inverness’s V40 Jonny Macleod’s 37:29. Katherine Neilly’s 44:21 clocking won the women’s race, with London City AC’s Jane Maciver and Stornoway’s U20 Joanna Giles coming in second and third in 46:00 and 48:02 respectively.

Stornoway Half Marathon

Bedford’s Will Mackay took the top spoils in 73:23, with Hunters Bog Trotters’ Ewan Crawford and Will Bowers from Ochil Hill Runners taking second and third in 77:24 and 80:11 respectively.

Giffnock North’s Nicole Scott scored a PB when taking the women’s race in 92:12, ahead of Mairi Gougeon’s 93:35 and Stornoway’s Marina Murray’s 96:38.

Kirkcudbright Half Marathon

Grangemouth Tri Club’s Eliot Sedman’s 77:39 was enough for victory ahead of Otley AC’s Mark Hall and Pudsey & Bramley AC’s Gary Bailey, who posted times of 80:29 and 80:57 respectively.

Dumfries RC’s Lisa Finlay took the women’s race in 86:46, with Hardrock Hoodlums’ Donna Burnett’s 93:49 earning her the second prize ahead of Barnsley’s Beth Massey’s 97:02. The top three women were notably all V40s.

Dorchester Marathon

While the full results were unavailable at the time of this report (with the unofficial results currently showing rather incredulously a woman called Hilary Yuille winning overall in 2:20, and another woman (a V50) called Alaine Harman running 2:29 in 4th overall!), the official winner overall was the indomitable Steve Way, who posted a new course record of 2:28:28.

The course record was also broken in the women’s race with Hayley Merifield clocking 3:24:27.

The post Runners impress from Westminster Mile to Edinburgh Marathon appeared first on Fast Running.

Chris O’Hare, Jake Wightman and Charlie Grice lead the men’s entries, while the women’s race boasts five Commonwealth Games finalists including Sarah McDonald and Melissa Courtney.

The cream of Britain’s male middle-distance runners will attempt to break the historic four-minute barrier at the Vitality Westminster Mile to pay their respects to the legendary Sir Roger Bannister – the first man to run under the magical mark.

Bannister – who famously broke the four-minute mile barrier in 1954 – died in March, aged 88, and the latest generation of British middle-distance stars want to commemorate his passing by emulating his landmark achievement at the Vitality Westminster Mile on Sunday (May 27).

Commonwealth Games 1500m bronze medallist Jake Wightman (Edinburgh AC) and his fellow finalists Charlie Grice (Brighton Phoenix) and Chris O’Hare (Edinburgh AC) are the leading contenders to run sub-four in a star-studded field.

The women’s race promises to be equally as entertaining with five Commonwealth Games finalists in the field including Melissa Courtney who won a bronze medal in the 1500m on the Gold Coast. Up against her will be fellow 1500m finalists Sarah McDonald and Jess Judd plus 3000m steeplechase fourth placer Rosie Clarke.

No athlete has run under four minutes over the course since the event was first held in 2013, with two-time winner Nick Goolab going closest when he clocked 4:01 to win in 2016. Goolab is set to return fresh from clocking a personal best 13:50 to win Ipswich 5k on Saturday night (May 12).

Wightman, who is currently training at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, said: “After a month at altitude I hope to be in the sort of shape to run under four minutes at the Vitality Westminster Mile and I think, with the passing of Sir Roger Bannister, this year it would be nice for that to happen. It will be added motivation.

“You always want to test yourself against the best and I think the quality of the field as a whole will mean a sub-four clocking is definitely possible so we need to get after it.”

Wightman, Grice and O’Hare have all run well inside four minutes on the road with Wightman’s personal best (PB) of 3:52.9, set at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile last year, the quickest. O’Hare has a road best of 3:53 and Grice a PB of 3:57. But both Grice and O’Hare have pedigree on the Westminster Mile course with Grice winning in 2013 and O’Hare in 2014.

Grice, who was fourth, one place behind Wightman, in the Commonwealth Games 1500m final, said: “I’m really excited to race the Westminster Mile this year. I got the win there in 2013 and I remember it was a really big deal for me because it was one of the first senior races I won.

“I am sure this year will be a great race, domestically we are very strong right now, so hopefully we can get a sub-four clocking.”

As well as the trio of the country’s leading milers, the Vitality Westminster Mile field will also include the reigning indoor and outdoor British 800m champion Elliot Giles.

The race starts on The Mall and does a lap of St James’s Park, turning right down Horse Guard’s Road and then Birdcage Walk before finishing in front of Buckingham Palace.

Wightman, who described his bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games as a ‘huge milestone in my career’, added: “It’s important for me to start the (summer) season well and the Vitality Westminster Mile seems like a great place to do it. It’s always nice opening up in the UK and I’m looking forward to soaking up what looks like a great atmosphere.”

As well as the senior races, there will be British Athletics One Mile Road Race championships in the under-13 to under-20 age groups. There will also be, for the first time this year, a Vitality Masters Mile open to runners aged 35 and over.

Sir Mo Farah will also be at the event to run with families in the Family Waves, with people getting the chance to #RunWithMo

The programme also includes family races, school races and The Olympians Mile which brings together athletes who have competed for Great Britain in any sport in an Olympic Games.

Elite men’s field

Jake Wightman (Edinburgh AC)
Charlie Grice (Brighton Phoenix)
Chris O’Hare (Edinburgh AC)
Tom Marshall (Cardiff AC)
Ieuan Thomas (Cardiff AC)
Steve Mitchell (Bristol West)
Nick Goolab (Belgrave Harriers)
Michael Wilsmore (Bristol)
Rowan Axe (Cardiff AC)
Tom Hook (City of Norwich AC)
Shaun Wyllie (Bracknell AC)
Robbie Fitzgibbon (Brighton Phoenix)
Zak Seddon (Bracknell AC)
Phil Sesemann (Blackheath & Bromley AC)
John Ashcroft (Liverpool Harriers)
Sean Molloy (Tonbridge AC)
Jack Hallas (Birchfield Harriers)
Rob Umeokafor (Birchfield Harriers)
Jonathan Davies (Reading AC)
Jake Heyward (Cardiff AC)
Elliot Giles (Birchfield Harriers)
Will Fuller (Blackheath & Bromley AC)
Jamie Webb (Liverpool Harriers)
Dale Clutterbuck (Newham & Essex Beagles)
Harvey Dixon (Aldershot Farnham & District AC)
Anthony Wightman (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers)
Tom Horton (Hallamshire Harriers)

Elite women’s field

Jade Williams (Amman Valley)
Charlotte Taylor Green (Bristol & West)
Jenna Hill (Sale Harriers)
Sarah McDonald (Birchfield Harriers)
Rosie Clarke (Epsom & Ewell)
Amy Griffiths (Aldershot & Farnham District AC)
Harrier Knowles-Jones (Warrington AC)
Jess Judd (Chelmsford AC)
Hannah England (Oxford City)
Lily Coward (Invicta)
Sophie Connor (Shaftesbury Barnet)
Tamara Armoush (Birchfield Harriers)
Revee Walcott-Nolan (Luton)
Hannah Viner (Highgate)
Sarah Astin (City of Norwich)
Melissa Courtney (Poole AC)
Georgie Hartigan (Birchfield Harriers)
Holly Archer (Cambridge & Coleridge)
Claire Tarplee (Solihull)
Beth Kidger (Brighton Phoenix)

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