The Welsh duo will go head-to-head in Newport after one second separated them in Telford.
Ieuan Thomas and Charlie Hulson will contest the inaugural ABP Newport Wales 10k, which follows the ABP Newport Wales Marathon on Sunday (April 29). Together the two events will welcome over 6,000 runners to compete in Wales’ third City.
Hulson, who is also hoping to race in the Mid-Chesire 5k on Friday, will chase another victory over 10k on the roads to add to his 2018 race titles from Chester, Telford and most recently at the Brecon Carreg Cardiff Bay Run. The Liverpool Harriers’ lifetime best of 29:12 could also be on his mind.
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Thomas was just one second behind Hulson in Telford and is now keen to see if he can turn the tables on his fellow Welshman in Newport. Steeplechase specialist Thomas competed at his first Commonwealth Games earlier this month, finishing a strong seventh in the heat of the Gold Coast.
The Cardiff AAC athlete will also be looking to revise his previous best time of 29:13.
Other top local athletes in the men’s race include Cardiff AAC’s Carwyn Jones, Swansea Harriers Morgan Davies and Newport man Abed Teweldebrhan. The 22 year-old from Eritrea has been steadily improving in recent years and is edging ever closer to the illusive 30-minute barrier.
Bristol & West AC duo Owain Jones and Luke Evans should also be in the mix.
Both the marathon and the 10k will start and finish in Newport City Centre, taking in picturesque loops of the Gwent levels, a site of special scientific interest.
The women’s contest over 10km will feature Rachel Felton who is a regular feature in South Wales based road races, most notably competing at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in the city two years ago.
Rebecca Robinson of Kendal AC and Bristol & West’s Kate Maltby both have fine pedigree as mountain runners and both are equally as swift on the roads. Robinson has a best mark of 33:09 to her name with Maltby’s best set at 33:29. The trio will be joined by 2014 British Half Marathon Champion Emma Stepto who is the fastest on paper but with her lifetime best of 33:02 set four years ago.
Lucy Marland of Cardiff AAC and Kate Roberts of Swansea Harriers will lead Welsh hopes here. The pair have faced each other many times in the past and most recently when Marland finished just seconds ahead of Roberts at the 2017 Welsh Cross Country Championships.
Matthew Edmonds of MMRT, Andrew Tuckey of Bridgend AC and Stroud AC’s Jordan Frapwell will head the men’s fields for the marathon. Edmonds is a Newport based former professional boxer with a marathon best of 2:33:30. Tuckey is an ultra-distance specialist who was 8th at the 2013 IAU World Trail Running Championships competing for Australia and Frapwell will debut over the distance but will be perhaps the most likely to challenge the more experienced duo of Edmonds and Tuckey.
Natasha Cockram hails from the same East Wales based club as Edmonds and finished 8th in her only previous outing over the distance. That came in 2017 at the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon. Cockram will now look to beat her 2:49:37 clocking from the Irish capital.
Andrea Rowlands of Eryri Harriers won the Snowdonia Marathon in 2014 and is a sub 3 hour competitor who will hope to challenge Cockram.