The Cardiff 5k hosted the championships at their popular and well-supported road race that starts and finishes in Whitchurch, taking runners around a loop of the leafy suburb in the North of Cardiff.

The event is famed for the great atmosphere and festival like feel created by the live music, street entertainment, a supercar parade and a flat and fast race with a stellar field.

At the pre-race press conference, the race’s three lead men that represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast had pondered on who was likely to emerge as the 2018 champion.

Tom Marshall of Cardiff AAC was defending the title but was aware that he would need to stick with club mate Ieuan Thomas and Swansea Harrier Jonathan Hopkins if the sub four-minute miler was to take advantage of his track speed.

Thomas remained quietly confident as did Hopkins who finished just ahead of him in seventh place at the 3000m steeplechase race at the Commonwealth Games.

When the action started to unfold, it was the three men that got away from the chasing field that included another Team Wales man, Iestyn Harrett who had competed in the triathlon mixed relay.

With around 800m left to run, it was Swansea Harrier Hopkins who had stamped his authority on the race, having around a 40m lead over last year’s champion Marshall and Thomas who ran together. He stopped the clock in 14:18 just seven seconds outside of Kristian Jones’ all-comers record.

Thomas finished a clear second in 14:37 with Abed Teweldebrhan claiming third for his Newport Harriers club, a week on from taking the third spot at the ABP Newport Wales 10k behind race winner Ieuan Thomas.

Marshall was next home in fourth, with the 2018 Welsh Cross Country Champion James Hunt completing the top five in the championship but with Harrett splitting the pair in the open race.

“I felt like it would be a tough race but I broke the guys a little bit earlier than I expected,” said Hopkins following the race. “After looking at the course I wanted to make my move at 3k on the hill and it just fell into place. The final kilometre was tough but the crowd really brought me home.”

When Charlotte Arter appeared on the finish straight, the crowds roared her on to the all-comers record which shaved 20 seconds of the previous mark that she had posted at the Nos Galan Road Races last December.

She also came agonisingly close to the Welsh record of 15:39 set by Stevie Stockton at the Mid Cheshire 5k last weekend.

“I’m delighted to win gold at my first Welsh champs,” said Arter. “It was a great event and I’m really pleased to run a Welsh all-comers record and PB, always love to race on the streets of Cardiff! A good test of the legs & lungs ahead of Highgate in two weeks.”

ABP Newport Wales 10k champion Rachel Felton claimed second place and commented on the race saying: “that was amazing. I don’t know another race like it.”

Sian Edwards was third overall but second in the championship with last year’s winner and previous course record holder Alaw Beynon-Thomas taking bronze.

This was just one of the top road races taking place across the UK this weekend and you read all about the action elsewhere here.

The post Jonathan Hopkins and Charlotte Arter win Welsh 5k crowns appeared first on Fast Running.

The hottest early May Bank Holiday weekend on record put paid to super fast times in the top road races in England and Denmark, but there were still some eye-catching results for masters athletes in Birmingham and great success for English and Scottish runners in Lillebaelt, while Wales hosted it’s  5k championships on Sunday evening in Cardiff.

On Friday night Lachlan Oates and Annabel Simpson won the Scotland 5k Road Championships and you can read all about it here.

Great Birmingham 10k

While Kenya’s Moses Kipsiro and Poland’s Aleksandra Lisowska took the top prizes in the Midlands capital, British and Irish athletes were still impressive to claim significant positions in the heat.

Kipsiro’s 29:08 was good enough to take the win, but Aldershot, Farnham & District’s Andy Vernon was a convincing runner-up in 29:35, well ahead of fellow British athlete, Giffnock North’s Luke Traynor, who posted a 30:01 result.

Cambridge & Coleridge’s Jack Gray was fifth overall behind France’s Hassan Chahdi in 30:35, and made up the top three Brits on the streets of Birmingham.

Poland’s Aleksandra Lisowska took 21 seconds off her PB with a 34:14 to take the win, with Ireland and An Riocht’s Shona Heaslip very close behind in 34:19. Italy’s Fatna Maraoui made up the podium positions in 34:26.

Photo: The Great Run Company

Leeds City’s Lucy Crookes was the first British athlete in 34:50, just three seconds ahead of Coventry’s Katrina Wootton. Liverpool, Pembroke & Sefton’s Kirsty Longley took the third Brit position in 36:14 when she crossed the line 7th overall.

V40 Longley was the first veteran to finish in the event which also served as the Masters International, with athletes from the V35 ranks upwards from England competing against a composite Celtic team made up of veterans from the home nations (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and Ireland) for individual and team honours.

Longley was just 16 seconds ahead of her nearest rival both in the rankings results and in the top ten standings, Wakefield’s Julie Briscoe, who ran 36:32. Tonbridge’s V50 Maria Heslop was a superb 9th overall in a PB 36:28, a time that pushes her up to 6th on the all-time age group rankings.

Clayton le Moor’s Laura Hesketh, who was featured on Fast Running this week, was first V35 in 36:40, although she wasn’t in the Masters International mix, with Telford’s seasoned international Claire Martin third V40 on the day in 36:57.

20 British women broke the 40-minute barrier in sweltering conditions, while 8 men broke 32 minutes. The top V45 Brit was Telford’s Michell Clarke in 38:33, while Darlington Harriers’ Sue Phillips took the top V55 prize.

Carnegie Harriers’ Isobel Burnett was first V60, Haywards Heath’s Marion Hemsworth’s 52:35 earned her the V65 medal, while Lingfield Harriers’ Sue Garner was 22 seconds ahead when she claimed the top V70 honours.

Horwich Harriers’ Michael Cayton was a superb 8th overall in 31:25 to take the top veteran prize as a V35, while V40 Martin Williams from Tipton Harriers also impressed with 32:38 to cross the line first in his age category, as did Haywards Heath’s V45 James Skinner with a 33:12 clocking.

The first V50 title went to North Herts’ Andrew Leach with 33:34, Warrington’s Stephen Watmough ran 35:29 to take the top V55 accolade, Tiptree’s Paul Mingay’s 37:36 won him the top V60 prize, Phoenix AC’s Paul Whelpton ran well to post a 39:17 clocking as the best V65 on the day, V70 Ryde Harriers’ star Peter Young was on form with a 42:13 result, as was V75 Victor Shirley from Northern Vets, running an excellent 43:32.

Welsh 5k Championships / Cardiff 5k

Charlotte Arter and Jonathan Hopkins were crowned the new Welsh 5k champions at the Cardiff 5K on Sunday evening.

Swansea Harriers’ Hopkins was first across the line in 14:18 ahead of fellow Commonwealth Games steeplechaser Ieuan Thomas of Cardiff AAC.

Cardiff AAC’s Arter set a new Welsh all-comers record to take the women’s win in 15:40, over a minute ahead of Rachel Felton.

A full report from the Cardiff 5k can be found here.

Lillebaelt Half Marathon

British athletes stole the show in the Danish city of Lillebaelt’s half marathon, with Barrow & Furness’s Peter Huck running for England and Metro Aberdeen’s Fiona Brian representing Scotland both clinching victory in the respective men’s and women’s competitions.

Huck claimed the win in 67:27, some way off his 65:01 best from last year but proving just how much the heat took its toll.

Brian won the ladies’ race in 76:47, having already posted a 75:34 PB at this year’s World Half Marathon Championships (where she was running in the mass race).

Moray Road Runners and Scotland’s Kenny Wilson was third place overall in 69:11, following up from his 67:06 life time best in the Big Half Marathon in March.

Guernsey’s Ryan Burling, who had clocked 66:28 at the Big Half, crossed the line in 70:24 to finish fourth overall.

One last thing on the weekend: I acheived a dream, I represented my country, I became an international athlete for a weekend. That is a feeling no one will ever take away from me @GsyAthletics @FastRunning_

— (@ryanburling) May 6, 2018

England and Norwich’s Dani Nimmock and Rugby & Northampton’s Emily Waugh took second and third place to complete an all British women’s podium with times of 77:20 and 80:59 respectively.

Great East Anglian 10k

Bure Valley Harriers’ Faith Viney took the women’s win in King’s Lynn with a time of 39:34, in a race that traditionally attracts faster times but perhaps was also affected by the hot conditions.

Colchester’s Lucy Mapp and local athlete Bethan Everson from Fenland Runners took second and third spots on the podium in 40:15 and 40:35 respectively.

Lincoln Wellington’s Will Strangeway was first across the line by some margin in 31:44, well ahead of Felixstowe’s Danny Rock and Ryston Runners’ James O’Neill, whose times of 33:19 and 33:34 were good enough for the runner-up positions.

Hot today at the #Gear10K. So were these times! 1st male, William Strangeway at 31.44 followed by Danny Rock, 33.19 and James O'Neil at 33.34. Well done chaps! pic.twitter.com/7FEcJNU6yW

— Run For All (@runforall) May 6, 2018

North Lincolnshire Half Marathon

The Scunthorpe pan flat course played host to some fast times considering the unseasonably hot weather, with Rotherham’s Dan Kestrel and Milton Keynes’ Rachel Robinson taking the top honours.

Kestrel’s 70:42 result saw off competition from Lincoln Wellington’s Ryan Page and Barton & District’s Ben Sadowyj, who ran 71:37 and 72:10 a piece. Robinson – formerly of Aldershot, Farnham & District and currently working her way back into top form, beat Rotherham’s Steph Burns (80:46) and Harrogate Harriers’ Sharon Barlow (82:16) to win the top prize.

The post Heat was on in Birmingham, Cardiff, Lillebaelt, Scunthorpe and King’s Lynn appeared first on Fast Running.

Tom Marshall, Ieuan Thomas and Jonathan Hopkins will go head-to-head at the Welsh 5k Road Championships in Whitchurch, Cardiff this Sunday (May 6).

Marshall, who competed in the 1500m at Gold Coast 2018 and also features on Fast Running as part of the Fast 10: class of 2018, is the defending champion and course record holder and will go up against Thomas and Hopkins, who both competed over the barriers in the 3000m steeplechase.

Among the leading women joining them is local athlete, Charlotte Arter of Cardiff AAC, who’ll be looking for a fast time ahead of racing on the track over 10,000m in a couple of weeks.

Marshall won last year’s race in 14:35 – and said: “I can’t wait to be back to defend my title at the Whitchurch 5k. It’s an event that is done right, with great entertainment, a quick course, and friendly people. I have a feeling this year will be a lot tougher with Hoops, and Ieuan, but I’m not there to make their lives easy.”

“Ieuan might be sub 4 (for the mile), but I’m pretty sure NIAC is short.” he joked.

“Tom’s the two-time defending champ and beat me to the title the last time I ran in Whitchurch,” responded Thomas, who won the Newport Wales 10k last weekend. “Johnny took me down on the Gold Coast. Does that make me the underdog? Absolutely not.

“I’m the only one of the favourites who knows what it feels like to dip the 14-minute mark. I may not be able to outkick the milers, but I sure can outrun them.”

Jonathan Hopkins has the fastest time this year, running a personal best of 14:05 in Armagh back in February, and is looking forward to making his debut at the event: “I’ve always wanted to compete at the Welsh 5km Road Championships but it hasn’t quite worked with my racing plans over the past few years.

“Looking at my racing schedule post-Commonwealth Games, it was the ideal place to get myself back going for the 2018 track season. The field is strong at the front which makes the race exciting. Competition motivates me more than anything and I’m looking forward to battling it out with Tom and Ieuan on Sunday.”

Others with the potential to mix it with the Gold Coast boys, include Carwyn Jones, Cardiff AAC, who was third last year, and Abed Teweldebrhan of Newport Harriers, who was third in last week’s ABP Newport 10k.

RELATED: 5 lessons that have helped me improve as an athlete

In the women’s race defending champion Alaw Beynon Thomas is back but will face tough competition from fellow Cardiff AAC runners, Arter and Clara Evans.

Arter recently represented Great Britain at the World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia, and won the Brighton 10k in a PB of 32:17.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to racing again at Whitchurch, it’s been 3 weeks since I raced at the Brighton 10k and it’s a good chance for me to turn my legs over a little bit quicker ahead of the Highgate 10k in a few weeks’ time,” she Arter. “This will be the first time I’ve run the Whitchurch 5k, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Charlotte will look to use the 5k as preparation for the Highgate 10k on 19th May where she’ll be looking to qualify for the Great Britain European Championships team.” Commented Chris Jones, National Endurance Manager. “For the boys it’s a rebuilding phase after an intense period during the Games.

“This is an exciting opportunity for them to race each other on the road, before their thoughts turn back to the track, and hopefully pushing for European selection, especially Jon and Ieuan in the Steeplechase.”

Over 2000 local runners will race alongside the elite runners around the closed roads of Whitchurch with a great atmosphere expected again, supplemented by live music, street food stalls, and a supercar parade.

The post Top Welsh runners set to battle for 5k road crown appeared first on Fast Running.