This weekend saw Brits fly across the pond to America, in order to bank some solid race times, whilst on home ground PB’s were plentiful on the road and track over the 10k distance and in the Soar Summer mile. 

Across the seas

Whilst the Kenyans swept the titles in the Beach to Beacon 10k, the strong British performances meant we didn’t fade into the background. On what can only be described as a beautiful day, 6,413 runners took to the roads in Cape Elizabeth.

The race was started by Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984, to realize her vision of creating a major international road race in her home state and her legacy is a fantastic 10km race that draws global talent.

Purdue and Piasecki amongst a lead pack containing fellow Brits Tish Jones and Lily Partridge. Photo: Kevin Morris

There was a hint of a breeze, but the sun shone, as did Charlotte Purdue, Callum Hawkins, and Jess Piasecki. Purdue, a recent 2:25 marathon runner, proved she has some impressive speed in her too. The British international claimed bronze in an incredibly high-quality field in a time of 32:16. Not far behind her in sixth place was the Stockport athlete, Jess Piasecki, in 32:51.

Fellow Brits Tish Jones and Lily Partridge were also in the lead group battling it out with the world class field. Jones hung on for a superb 33:09 for eighth, whilst Partridge slowed to post a 34:47.

Scotland’s Hawkins continued to add the success across seas with a fifth place finish that saw him just dip under the 29-minute mark in 28:55. Older brother Derek ran 30:50 for 18th place. 

On home turf

Back in the UK there were some shining stand-out performances in London over 10k. Lauren Deadman of Havering Athletics was the first female finisher at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10k.This was more than just a ‘jog round the park’ as Deadman crossed the line in 35:55 to claim gold for the women. Andrew McCaskill gave a similarly impressive performance, giving his all to bag himself a strong lead. McCaskill finished in a time of 32:53, over 3 minutes ahead of the second male. 

Just a stone’s throw away was the RunThrough Victoria Park 10k. GB International Tracy Barlow, was not only first woman across the line, but also the first overall winner. Barlow ran a rapid time of 34:26, claiming the win by over 3 minutes! 

Over 25 laps…

Once again Paul Navesey proves his excellent 2019 form in the final few months leading up to Frankfurt with a 33 second PB on the track. Athletes took on the challenge of 25 laps of the track in the Brighton birthday Boy’s 10,000. The Crawley AC athlete claimed gold by over two minutes in a speedy time of 30:24 to continue his recent run of PB’s. We caught up with Paul last week and heard all about his journey to Frankfurt.

The clear silver medalist was Craig Halsey of Brighton & Hove AC in his track 10,000m debut. Halsey crossed the line in 32:34 whilst the last place on the podium was claimed by Chichester Runners & AC’s Chris Bird. 

Going long 

In the rocky Scandinavian mountains, British international Jon Albon secured another convincing victory at the highly technical Tromso Skyrace in Northern Norway. 

It was great to see Adidas Terrex’s Holly Page back racing over a longer course and the fell runner finished in an excellent second place. We’re looking forward to hearing about this in her next Fast10 blog!

At the Centurion Running North Downs Way 100 there was a new course record of 15:18:41, taking over 20 minutes off the long-standing record of Ed Catmur. 

Photo: James P. Elson – Centurion Running

In the women’s race Karen Hacker finished in 20:40:38, almost an hour ahead of second place after a strong finish.

Down the distances

The Soar Summer Mile in the prestigious Olympic Stadium was another night to remember with an abundance of PB’s. 

The final Soar mile race of the night was won in a cracking time of 4:01.97 by Tonbridge AC’s Dom Brown. Brown showed his strong form in his first ever 5,000 last weekend, running 14:06, and continued to prove this strength on Friday night. Thames Harrier Josh Carr ended the night on a high with a PB of 4:04.08. Just over a second behind him, claiming bronze in 4:05.54 was Kieran Clements. 

The fastest woman of the night, claiming an easy win, was Revee Walcott-Nolan. The Luton athlete claimed a 7 second PB of 4:37.27 and was the first across the line in her race. 

Clare Elms deserves a mention for setting a new world record for the W55 mile in her 53rd race of the year!! The Kent AC athlete ran a very impressive 5:10 to add to her repertoire which includes 18 other world or British records set in 2019 alone! Elms’ records span everything from 800m to 5k on the road. 

A weekend where 10k’s were plentiful

Adding to the success on the road were some rapid male times in the EDF Energy Lydd 10k. Ross Skelton of Hastings AC stormed across the line in an incredible 30:04, getting himself ever closer to that sub 30 goal. Skelton earned a convincing win as Marshal Smith in second place was 2 minutes 54 seconds behind him in a very respectable 32:58. Achieving third place in 33:29 was Aaron Wilson with a three second PB. 

The Barry Island 10k saw some names to watch take on the road. Josh Griffiths won the scenic 10k, adding to his collection of 10k wins this year. Griffiths came home in an impressive 30:22 with Aaron Richmond behind in 31:49. Fast Running’s Fast 10 Class of 2019 athlete, Natasha Cockram, took the title in the women’s race in 34:42, only 8 seconds off her personal best. See a full report here.

The 14th Rye Summer Classic series 10k had another stand out performance to add to the list. The U23 Tunbridge Wells Harrier, Billy Hobbs, ran 31:55 taking a substantial 30 second chunk off his previous 10k PB set at the Leeds Abbey Dash back in 2017. Billy also beat the 30 year-long course record held by Tony Baldock by a whole second. 

RELATED: Dash to a 10k best in Leeds this Autumn

What has been described as one of the UK’s most beautiful city runs, the Asda Foundation York 10k, took place on the streets of this northern city. The runners clearly weren’t distracted by the city’s beauty as plenty of fast times were ran.

Leeds City AC took gold in both the women’s and the men’s race with Graham Rush running 31:20 and Lorna Young a cracking 36:17. Just over half a minute behind Rush was Cameron Strachan in third with 31:51 and Kristian Watson of Heanor Running Club was next across the line in 32:55. Completing the women’s top three was Sarah Hunter of Ackworth Road Runners in 38:56 followed by Georgina Weston in 39:23. 

Once again, the Self-transcendence 10k, part of the London Sri Chimnoy race series in Battersea Park, saw the gathering of many fast club runners. The men’s race was dominated by Serpentine AC claiming both first and third place. Nicolas Besson won by a 42 second margin in 32:08 with Victoria Park and Tower Hamlet’s William Woodcock taking second in 32:50, a new PB! Adding to the Serpentine’s success and the number of PB’s on the night, Benjamin Tolputt claimed third place in 33:04.

The women’s podium was PB’s galore with all three top women claiming a new lifetime best. Mary James of South London welcomed a nine second 10k best to get her first-place prize, whilst Catrin Tyler in second place took an impressive 72 second off her personal best. Completing the trio of PB’s was Susan McDonald in 37:54.

To conclude a busy weekend of 10k races was the Ray Harrison Memorial 10k. Yohannes Eyob was the first male athlete to cross the line in 32:53, whilst Tracy Milmore of Birtley AC took gold in the women’s race in 37:20. 

parkrun

Jonny Hay and Hayley Carruthers are your fastest athletes at UK parkruns this weekend (August 3rd). Full top ten rankings here.

If you would like to run faster at parkrun, top tips to help runners of all abilities can be found here.

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

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