Bank Holidays mean a whole extra day to get some racing done. Gill Bland brings you the results from racing that’s happened so far this weekend and flags some tasty ones to look out for.

England titles decided

The Mid Cheshire 5k was a rapid one hosting the England 5km Championships. Jack Gray claimed the national title clocked 13:58, holding off Jordan Skelly and Lewis Jagger who battled for runner-up, coming home in 14:04 and 14:05 respectively.

Ellie Wallace retained the title she won in August, taking eight seconds of her previous best to win in a fine 15:40. Amelia Samuels took second in 15:56 and Laurne McNeil third in 15:59. As ever the race saw some excellent depth with 41 men running 15 minutes or faster and 34 women breaking 17:30.

Photo: Bernie Jones

Fast-Tracking

Belgrave Harriers put on the fantastic Comeback 5000 in Battersea on Friday night, with a strong field lining up to start. The women’s winner, Kate Axford could be one to watch in the future as she set a PB of 15:49.79, followed home by a one second PB from Georgie Grec (15:52.16) and Amy Griffiths in 16:00.23 (PB).

The men’s race was very much the Zakariya Mahamed show, as he stuck like glue to the pacer and took the lead early on, closing in a PB of 13:47.43. Behind him was a much tighter pack in which Ben Macmillan fought all the way to the finish to take second in 14:00.00, just ahead of Andrew Milligan with 14:02.29.

Another track in London offering some weekday 5000m action was the Highgate Harriers Early Season Open, which was won by Phillip Crout in 14:53.3. In Coulsdon, the SLAN Open saw Felix Vaughan cover 3000m in 9:00.35 to take home the win and a new PB. Youngster Kitty Scott was fastest female in 10:24.41

On the Trails

Over on the trails, the Three Peaks Race was the qualifying race for the GB&NI team at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, with winners automatically making the squad. Making their way to Innsbruck in June will be Austria-based Thomas Roach of Lewes AC (not far for him to go) and Cat Taylor of Black Combe Runners.

Both posted incredibly impressive results given that they were first-timers to the race and that the course was now nearly 39k – nearly one km longer than in previous years. Roach ran a new MV40 record of 25:53:28 and was over 6 minutes clear of second place Alexander Chepelin. After an early battle, Taylor took her victory in 3:34:44 with 10 minutes to spare before runner-up Catherine Williamson came through.

On the Roads

A chance to get in early before Bank Holiday high jinx, the Serpentine Last Friday 5K is always a good opportunity for a burn-up in central London. Harry Lawson bagged his win in 15:40, comfortably ahead of Tom Mackay (16:18) and Rich Mallet (16:42). For the women, Nikki Sturzaker’s 18:19 earned her top-spot, with Rosie Vallance (18:53) and Susan Mcdonald (19:14) rounding out the podium.

The Milton Keynes Marathon Weekend, which hosts a range of distances, will mainly take place after these results have been published. Sunday morning did see fine results in the Rocket 5K though as Jack Rose and Kelly Edwards won in 16:08 and 17:49 respectively.

Robert Farley and World Masters 800m champion Charlotte Taylor-Green were first home at the Weston Prom 5 Mile in 26:39 and 30:09. Jack Richardson (27:44), Stuart Brown (28:50), Kelly Dicks (32:080 and Penny Guess (32:54) took the remaining medal positions. At the East Grinsted 10 John Brame took the win in 34:26 and Anneka Redley in 79:16.

Glastonbury Road Races held the Round Tor 10K and 5K today. Adam Gibson absolutely obliterated the 5K field, finishing over a minute clear with his time of 17:05. The women’s runner is known merely as Runner 543, but we hope she is united with her winning time of 22:58 soon! Over 10K Ben Robinson clocked 31:49 and Emma Baxter 39:01 to take the wins.

Brighton Phoenix made the most of the local Worthing RUN-FEST to sandwich the podium of the Half Marathon. Simon Heath was first home in 68:25 and his clubmate Owen Knight was third in 75:17. Karl Spielmann managed drive a wedge between the two, sneaking in just three seconds ahead of Knight in 75:14. In the women’s races, Worth and District owned the day, with a 1,2,3 results from Amelia Brown (84:2), Tracy Thomas (84:09) and Emma Footman (85:47). Over the 10K Mark Burcheett took the win in 35:54, followed by a dead heat of 36:15 for Denis Semenenko and storming run from women’s winner Kate Natkiel.

RunThrough have been working hard this week with plenty of events around the country. Midweek, Chase the Sun Battersea Park 5K was won by Ollie Garrod (15:08) and Maddy Austin (17:53). The 10K went to Nick Hooker in 33:02 and Olivia Desborough in 36:53. On Thursday Media City was the venue and it was Paul Howard (16:30) and Laura Bell (20:15) that won out, while Cameron Hannon (34:30) and Naomi Kingston (37:49) took the 10K crowns.

The podium at Sunday’s Gateshead 10K was topped by Monte Watson in 32:36 and Ruth Cole in 37:32. The Half Marathon victory went to Mathew Alderson in 72:05 and Muriel Macleod in 87:40. Finally, the classic Regent’s Park route earned a freebie place in their next races for 5K winner Zack Mitchell (18:27) and Zoe Illia (19:55), as did the 10K for Joe Walker (33:51) and Holly Pearce (40:44)

Embarrassingly, given that Hitchin is my home town, I have never run the Hitchin 10K. It takes place around the town centre but does not include Windmill Hill (you can imagine what that’s like). The podium was happily filled with runners from local clubs, with Royston Runners’ Oliver Warburton taking the top in 33:14 followed by Andrew Patterson of Fairlands Valley Spartans in 34:27 and Hert Phoenix AC’s Lizzy Janes in third and first woman, clocking 34:45.

Over the Pond

And finally, the Penn Relays took place in Philadelphia USA this weekend. GB talent on the track took the form of Gemma Finch, who ran 2:06.34 over 800m and Callum Elson who took on some tricky conditions to run 3:58.74 over the mile – both were 5th. At the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Chris McLeod clocked 14:06.62 for third in the Senior Men’s Unseeded 5000m.

The results from Cardiff 5km will be added later this evening.