The British duo clock personal bests over 10k, while a strong English cross country contingent is also in Spain for the Cross Internacional Juan Muguerza.

Callum Hawkins clocked 28:55 to finish second European runner and 19th overall at the 10k Valencia Ibercaja on Sunday (January 12).

The 26 year-old now boasts an official 10k road personal best under 29 minutes, improving on his time of 29:03 set in the Dutch village of Schoorl last year.

Hawkins has previously run quicker for 10k on the roads and posted splits of 28.28 and 28.27 en route to winning the 2017 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon in 60:00.

After ending 2018 with a hamstring niggle ahead of the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan, his performance should instil a lot of confidence before racing over 13.1 miles and 26.2 miles later this year.

Jenny Nesbitt ran a PB of 33:10 to finish 11th and third European in the women’s race. The Welsh Commonwealth Games athlete, who won the renowned Nos Galen road race on New Year’s Eve, took 14 seconds from her previous best mark set at the Bourton 10k last year.

Tsehay Gemechu took 15 seconds off Tirunesh Dibaba’s Ethiopian record to win the women’s race in 30:15, while compatriot Chala Ketema won the men’s race in 27:23 with 10 men running 28 minutes or quicker.

Staying in Spain, there was a strong English cross country representation at the IAAF permitted Cross Internacional Juan Muguerza in Elgoibar. City of Stoke’s Kate Holt clocked 26:51 over the 6.6km course to finish a strong fifth and first European in the senior women’s race.

World 5000m champion Hellen Obiri won the race in 24:39, while Lily Partridge finished sixth in 27:05 ahead of Ireland’s Sara Treacy and Marshall Milton Keynes’s Rachel Robinson.

Outside of the top 10, three seconds separated Tonbridge’s Nicole Taylor and Shaftesbury Barnet’s Naomi Taschimowitz, with the pair finishing 13th and 14th respectively.

In the senior men’s 10.7km race, Southampton’s Mahamed Mahamed clocked 33:58 to finished 12th, while Ipswich’s Jack Millar was also in the top 15 finishing in 14th place.

World under-20 10,000m champion Rhonex Kipruto of Kenya won the men’s race in 32:05, finishing 22 seconds ahead of defending champion and under-20 5000m record-holder Selemon Barega of Ethiopia.

Further down the field, Southend’s Adam Hickey and Tonbridge’s Corey De’Ath finished 24th and 31st respectively.

England dominated the under-20 races, with Zakariya Mahamed and Euan Brennan first and second, while Amelia Samuels and Holly Page also took the top two spots in the women’s race.

Rory Leonard finished fifth in the under-20 men’s race with Joshua Cowperthwaite 14th. In the women’s event, Shannon Flockhart finished fourth and Olivia Mason was 10th across the finish line.

RELATED: It’s a family affair for Morpeth’s Inter-Counties champion Rory Leonard

Various cross country league fixtures took place over the weekend, and among the individual winners were Blackburn Harriers’ Jess Judd and Border Harriers’ James Douglas at the Mid Lancs League Cross Country in Burnley on Saturday (January 12).

In the Metropolitan League at Wormwood Scrubs, Luton’s 800m specialist Revee Walcott-Nolan had a 29 second victory over Serpentine’s Isabel Clark in the senior women’s 6k race, while Highgate Harriers’ Roger Poolman was first across the line in senior men’s 8k event.

Also on Saturday, there were individual wins for Trafford AC’s Vicki Cronin and East Cheshire Harriers’ Joe Steward at the Manchester Area Cross Country League fixture.

Newark AC Chloe Hubbard and Peterborough’s Ben Heron won the senior races at the North Midlands Cross Country League at Wollaton Hall Nottingham, while Bedford and County’s Matt Bergin and MK Distance Project’s Dani Chattenton won at the Chiltern League in Keysoe.

At the Leeds Varsity Cross Country – an inter-university sports competition between the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University – Alex Yee won the men’s race ahead of Emile Cairess to secure the first point of the year for Leeds Beckett.

On the roads, Winchester & District’s George King and Southampton’s Jen Elkins claimed the victories at the Stubbington Green 10k. King won the men’s race by seven seconds clocking 31:40, while Elkins won the women’s race by over 30 seconds in a time of 35:29.

Birtley AC’s Adrian Bailes and City of Hull’s Becky Briggs won the titles at the Brass Monkey Half Marathon in York on Sunday.

Bailes clocked 69:44 for the win ahead of Bury AC’s Benjamin Coop, while junior athlete Briggs posted a time of 74:57 to win the women’s race on her half marathon debut.

Going indoors, Jemma Reekie ran an indoor 800m PB at the FPSG Athletics Scottish National Open in Glasgow on Saturday. Reekie clocked 2:03.06 at the event and is now fifth on the Scottish indoor all-time rankings.

At the same event, Sol Sweeney recorded 3:45.04 over 1500m, and Eilidh Doyle clocked 53.38 in her first 400m of the year.

There were 1500m wins for Wallsend Harriers’ Danielle Hodgkinson and Hallamshire Harriers’ James McCrae at the North of England Indoor Championships over the weekend.

Hodgkinson won the senior women’s title in 4:27.83 and also clinched the 3000m crown after a 9:32.41 run. McCrae claimed the men’s 1500m title in 3:59.79 ahead of  Sheffield & Dearne’s James Gormley.

Amber Valley & Erewash’s Tamsin McGraw won the senior women’s 800m title in 2:10.46, with the men’s honours going to Crook’s Markhim Lonsdale after a 1:54.74 performance.

The men’s 3000m race saw Tonbridge AC’s Dominic Brown first across the line in 8:19.49 ahead of  Sheffield & Dearne’s Lewis Jagger in 8:20.56 and Bolton United Harriers’ Jonothan Kay in 8:20.93. Full results can be found here.

Meanwhile, on Friday (January 11), Eilish McColgan clocked a PB of 31:51 to win the Ooredoo Doha 10k. For the last three years, the 28 year-old has clocked a new best at the Doha road race, posting times of 31:56 and 31:53 in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The Dundee Hawkill athlete moves two second’s closer to her mum Liz’s national record of 30:39. More about the GB international’s performance can be found here.

At the Great Stirling XCountry on Saturday, Laura Muir anchored GB’s mixed relay team to victory over Europe and the USA after first-class early legs by Alex Bell, Phillip Sesemann and Jamie Williamson.

In the women’s race, Charlotte Arter delivered a gutsy performance to set the pace before losing out to Europe’s Elena Burkard in the closing stages. A full report from Stirling can be found here.

At parkrun events across the UK on Saturday, the quickest times were run by Elsey Wyman-Davis and Jonathan Hopkins.

Wyman-Davis recorded a time of 16:55 at the Preston parkrun, while Hopkins clocked 14:44 at the Cardiff event. The top 10 times from UK parkruns can be found here.

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