The British 5000m champion goes top of the UK rankings after breaking the course record at Mid Cheshire 5k.

Marc Scott ran 13:45 to smash the men’s course record at the Mid-Cheshire 5k on Thursday night (August 23), while Lauren Howarth won a close women’s race.

It is the fastest 5k time this year by a British athlete and sees Scott take the number one spot on the UK ranking from Nick Goolab, who posted 13:50 in Ipswich.

Since 2012, the only British athlete to run quicker on the roads is Andy Vernon, while in terms of British athletes on UK soil, it is the fastest time since 1995, when John Mayock and Richard Nerurkar ran 13:43 and 13:44 respectively at the Battersea Park hosted Reebok Festival of Running.

The summer staging of the race around the quiet lanes of the picturesque village of Kingsley was held in blustery conditions which makes his winning time even more impressive.

The British 5000m champion, who finished fifth over the distance at the European Championships, was the clear winner in the men’s race with Darlington Harrier Lewis Moses finishing second in 14:22.

Liverpool Harrier Dejene Gezimu made an impressive return from injury to finish third in a time of 14:24.

The women’s race was a much tighter affair with Lauren Howarth of Leigh Harriers continuing her return with a season’s best of 16:03.

Howarth broke clear of Elsy Davis in the closing stages for victory with the Bristol and West athlete crossing the line in a personal best time of 16:16.

Abi Howarth also of Leigh Harriers joined her sister on the podium running a PB of 16:45.

The popular road race returns in April 2019.

RELATED: Marc Scott takes 5000m gold at British Championships

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