Callum Hawkins, Ben Connor and Katrina Wooton travel to Houilles, France, while Andy Vernon, Emelia Gorecka and Steph Twell head to Bolzano, Italy for New Year’s Eve.
Elsewhere, Lily Partridge is also in Italy taking on the We Run Rome 10k race, Chris Thompson leads the British contingent in Madrid and back on British soil Marc Scott looks to defend his Ribble Valley 10k title.
Corrida de Houilles 10km, Paris, Sunday, December 31
A strong British contingent will travel to Houilles on the outskirts of Paris for the 46th edition of the Corrida Houilles 10km. The prestigious race often witnesses quick times and has impressive course records of 26:47 for the men and 31:14 women respectively.
Callum Hawkins is the leading British entrant and has had a fantastic 2017, with a time of 29:12 over 10km and a superb fourth in the marathon at the World Championships in London. The Scottish athlete will want to sign off 2017 on high and faces Cornelius Kangogo of Kenya who has won Corrida de Houilles in 2013, 2015 and 2016.
Last year’s second and fourth place finishers will also start; Jemal Yimer Mekonnen of Ethiopia and Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Burundi.
Team New Balance Manchester will also be in attendance in the shape of Ben Connor and Jonny Mellor. Both have shown great form over recent months, Mellor ran 2:12:57 at Berlin marathon and Connor finished a brilliant sixth at the European Cross Country Championships in early December. Paris should provide an ideal opportunity for both athletes to run fast over 10km.
The 2017 Swiss Champion for 1500m and 3000m, Julien Wanders has been in great shape this season, winning the Geneva Escalades race in his hometown only a few weeks ago.
Frenchmen Yohann Kowal, former European Champion over the 3000m steeplechase and Florian Carvalho, four-time French Champion over 1500m will both try and please the home crowds with French presence at the front.
Robbie Simpson, best known for the mountains, and recently named in the Scottish Commonwealth team for the marathon, will again turn to the roads hoping to improve on his 29.22 set at the same race last year. Dan Studley (Bristol and West) will also return to Paris. He has suffered a less than perfect year but is returning to form in recent weeks, finishing ninth overall at the Geneva Escalades race earlier in December.
Second in the women’s race in 2016 and leading British entrant is Katrina Wooton makes a return this year.
The Coventry Godiva Harrier ran 31:46 last year and was unlucky not to be selected for the Commonwealth Games on the back of that performance in Paris.
Wooton will have Kenyan athletes Stacey Chepkemboi Ndiwa and Dorcas Jepchirchir Tuitoek joining her on the start line, as well as Agrie Belachew from Ethiopia.
A second notable British entry is Rosie Clarke who has previously clocked 33:30 over 10km and competed in the steeplechase at the World Championships this summer.
BOclassic, Bolzano, Italy, Sunday, December 31
Britain’s Andy Vernon is in for a battle on Sunday in the 43rd edition of the BOclassic. Vernon, a two-time European medalist, will face world 5,000m champion Muktar Edris, European marathon record holder Sondre Nordstad Moen and Euro Cross Country champion Kaan Kigen Ozbilen over the men’s 10km course.
Moen, who became the first European to break 2:06 for the marathon in Fukuoka, Japan on December 3, has a 10k PB of 27:55 set this year, while Ozbilen has a seven-year best of 27:25.
Also making the trip over from Britain to the small city in northern Italy are Emelia Gorecka and Steph Twell. Both athletes were part of the GB gold medal-winning team in Samorin on December 11. Twell, who was recently announced in the Scottish team for the Commonwealth Games finished fourth over the four lap women’s 5k course in 2016.
Gorecka, who recently chatted to Fast Running about her season, makes her first appearance on the streets of Bolzano and will want to end her 2017 with a strong performance on the road after impressing in recent months in cross country.
We Run Rome, Rome, Sunday, December 31
Lily Partridge is the third member of GB’s gold-winning Euro XC team who has headed to Europe for a New Year’s Eve race. Partridge, who has a 10k PB of 33:03 takes to streets of Rome for the seventh edition of the road race.
The Aldershot athlete faces Italian Sara Dossena who most recently finished sixth in New York City Marathon.
San Silvestre Vallecana, Madrid, Sunday, December 31
A strong British contingent of Chris Thompson, Aly Dixon, Sonia Samuels and Nick Samuels, as well as Irish athlete Paul Pollock head to Madrid for New Year’s Eve. The 10km road race starts at the famous home of Real Madrid and finishes on the pitch of local rival’s Rayo Vallecano.
Thompson and Pollock will face the defending champion, Eritrean Nguse Amlosom and the formidable Kenyan duo of Amos Kirui and Eric Kiptanui. The home Spanish athletes include 39-year-old Jesús España, Ayad Lamdassem, Toni Abadía and Javier Guerra.
Marathon specialists Dixon and Samuels will face Ethiopia’s Gelete Burka and Portugal’s Catarina Ribeiro in the women’s race. Chicago marathon champion Tirunesh Dibaba was expected to line-up on Sunday, but due to visa issues, the Ethiopian star will unfortunately not be in Madrid.
Ribble Valley 10k, Clitheroe, Sunday, December 31
The last fast 10k of the year takes place on Sunday in Clitheroe. Depending on how much people have indulged over the Christmas period, the course is renowned for fast times. Ten men broke the 31-minute barrier in 2016 with Marc Scott of Richmond and Zetland taking the win in 29:33, followed by Chris Farrell (Horwich) and Richard Allen of Bracknell AC.
This weekend will see another great line up and features Olympic and World Triathlon medallist Jonny Brownlee, last year’s winner Marc Scott, Ben Fish (Blackburn Harriers), Dominic Shaw (New Marske), Patrick Dever (Preston Harriers) and Lachlan Oates (Shettleston).
Olympic athletes head the field in the women’s race and the leading entries include Beth Potter (Shaftesbury Barnet) and Laura Weightman (Morpeth Harriers).
Also in contention on Sunday will be Hannah Nuttall (Charnwood), Laura Hesketh (Clayton Le Moors) and Amelia Petit (Vale Royal AC).