Olympic qualifiers for Charlie Da’Vall Grice, Jake Heyward and Alex Bell. Walcott-Nolan and Mortimer show great form in Europe, Jess Judd continues her buildup and, well there’s a LOT of racing to catchup up on from this week. Settle in.

The European Team Championships in Poland continue as I type but as things stand Revee Walcott-Nolan has to take the headline. She’s flying at the moment and after setting a new best over 800m recently she just upgraded her 3000m time too, taking the win in 9:13.36.

Tom Mortimer will also come home with a new best after he placed fourth over 5000m in a time of 13:28.12. Tom Anderson ran 7:55.99 for sixth place in his 3000m race. Beth Kidger placed fifth over 5000m in 15:59.93

Quality racing in Wales

The Inaugural fixture in the Welsh 5k series took place in Pembrey Country Park this week. Over five laps Alaw Beynon-Thomas (Les Croupiers) dominated, pulling well clear of the rest of the field to win in 17:14. Donna Morris (Built & District RC) was second in 14:44 and Jasmine Cooper (Cardiff Met) third in 17:58.

In a separate race for the men Josh Griffths was back out there putting his marathon legs through more speed work. Just a week after equalling his 5k PB of 14:19 in Bristol, he grabbed victory in Pembrey with a 14:23 finish. Dan Nash (Cardiff) was hot in his his heels for second place in 14:29 and Morgan Davies (Swansea Harriers) was third in 14:35.

Earlier in the week the Welsh Endurance Meeting in Carmathen tested the same distance but on the track. Split over two races Shaun Pinch (Pontypridd) won the A-race in 16:43.06 but it was Cardiff U20 Lloyd Sheppard who rather outran his B-race, finishing over two minutes ahead of the rest of the field in 15:42.46 and therefore also the fastest time of the night.

It was his first official track race over the distance but he’s been logging some great times on the road lately – last week he was third at the Bristol Track Club elite 5k in 14:58 and this week he went on to race the above-mentioned road 5k where he placed seventh in 15:12.

In the women’s competition it was Gemma Seaman ran the fastest time on the night placing fourth in the mixed B-race with a time of 18:56.7 (PB) ahead of Cadie Hibbed (19:00.10) and Gaba Blake (19:02.04). There was also a 1500m race at the same meet – David John Williams won that in 4:15.01 and Bethan Hardman in 4:48.89.

BMC delivers a stackof PBs and Euro U/23 QTs

The BMC Grand Prix in Stretford was the second in the series and saw a great set of results. Jess Judd continued to show great form, running a confident 4:07.92 to win the 1500m.

 

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Lucy Robinson ran a PB for silver with a time of 4:17.52 and Gemma Kersey nabbe bronze with 4:17.67.

In the men’s 1500 it was a PB-fest with the top five all getting their best ever results. Max Wharton took the win in 3:39.68 ahead of Remi Adebiyi in 3:40.36 and Kane Elliott in 3:40.65.

Over 5000m Hugh Milner set a new best with his 13:52.63 victory, beating Eoin Everard (13:58.47) and Nigel Martin (14:05.33) in the process. Stephie Pennycook also bettered her best with a 16:11.10 win placing her ahead of Lauren McNeil’s 16:29.15 and Sally Ratcliffe in 16:33.78.

On the same day the BMC PB Classic took place. The event lived up to its name, as all but three of the men’s 1500m A race set new bests. Top of that list were Justin Davies of Team Bath (3:54.00), Aaron Enser from Bracknell AC (3:54.84) and Carmathen’s Dafydd Jones (3:55.13).

The women ran in mixed races and it was Lily Hawkins (Southampton) who logged the fastest time of 4:22.49 to beat Aimi Weightman (Shaftesbury Barnet, 4:30.53) and Phoebe Gill (St Albans AC, 4:33.37).

Over 3000m Ellie Wallace (North Somerset) took the women’s win in 9:46.62 followed by Ruby Vinton (Shaftesbury Barnet, 9:49.77) and Kate Drew (Taunton, 9:57.14). Alex Teuten won the men’s race in 8:23.15 beating clubmate Jonathan Roberts (Southampton) who clocked 8:24.36 and Oliver Smart (Tavistock RC) 8:24.84.

Running fast under the lights

The Manchester Invitational 2021 organised by Bryggen Sports saw spectators, lights and a DJ inspiring athletes to some fantastic performances. Izzy Fry clocked a Euro u/23 standard to win the 5000m running 15:49.85 to outsprint Jenny Nesbitt who clocked 15:50.60. Fry recently joined Team NB Manchester and it already seems to be showing signs of being a great move. Mhairi MacLennan was 3rd in 16:12.12.

The men’s 5000m was won by Cameron Allan in 14:05.12 from Conor Bradley (14:06.10) and Mahamed Mahamed (14:08.15).

Alex Botterill (1:46.57) and Ellie Baker (2:01.73) claimed victory in the 800m. The 1500m saw Georgie Hartigan run 4:12.00 to beat Solange Pereira (4:14.23) and Amy Griffiths (4:16.88) into 2ndand 3rd respectively. Adam Clarke was the men’s winner in 3:40.82 on the line from training partner Henry Henry McLuckie (same time) with Ossama Meslek thrid in 3:41.35.

At the Battersea Friday Night 5k Under the Lights despite an epic day of work and travel, Nicole Taylor smashed out a PB to win in 15:53.4. A swift race, it saw Niamh Brown place second in 16:54.7 and Ruby Woolfe third in 16:55.

The men’s race was a tight won – Charlie Eastuagh fought off Charlie Brisley and Freddie Hessian in a podium with only four seconds separating the athletes who ran times of 14:17.6, 14:20.5 and 14:21.5.

In Northern Ireland, Alex Bell grabbed herself an Olympic qualifying time over 800m at the Belfast the Milers Meet. She took 1.30 seconds off her previous best to dip just under a second inside the required qualifying mark.

 

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The Whitespace NIURA 50k & 100k Championship is an outlier in a week of shorter racing, but a welcome one. Lee O’Boyle ran 7:46:3 to win the 100k men’s category and Mary Keenan was 100k champion for the women in 10:00:11. In the 50k Sorcha Loughnan finished first in 3:34.31.

For the men, Ciaran McGonagle won in 3:34:31 ahead of Gareth King (3:01:48) but a huge hat-tip must go to V60 runner Tommy Hughes who finished third in a time of 3:06:28 for a V60 World Record.

It is great to see Ealing Eagle’s Melissah Gibson topping the podium at the Kempton Park Marathon – it’s two and a half years since her last marathon due to a variety of setbacks, but her 2:53:20 finish here suggests that she’s well and truly on her way back. James Dazeley won the men’s race in 2:40:57.

The Runthrough-roundup

As always, Run Through have had a slew of events on to keep us busy. Their Chase the Sun series Brixton event certainly isn’t their flattest option, but that didn’t stop  Steve Skinner from taking the win in 34:13 . Nicky Hayes was first woman in 49:07. The 5k was won by Jessie Law (20:37) and Joe Cochrane (18:34).

The Battersea Chase the Sun which took place a day later is a better setting for fast times and the results this week support that. Hazel Jackson won the women’s 10k in 37:40, the men’s winner was Alix Ramsier in 32:11. In the 5k Luke Triccas will be grateful for the chip-time as he finished in 15:59 with Polly Warrak working her way forward quickly to win on chip time in 17:51.

At the Run Media City 5k / 10k Yasmin Suleman was first woman home in 40:22 for 10k and Ian McBride topped the men’s results in 33:49. The 5k saw Jed Bartlett (alas, not running for West Wing AC) win in 16:05, obliterating the competition. Staggered starts are still the order of the day at the moment Ellen Mcloed (19:25), Alice Alcock (19:29) and Lucie Goddard (19:31) made the women’s podium a tightly fought affair, but again this wouldn’t have been quite so apparent until after the event. We can’t wait until it’s time for the old-school battle to break the tape again.

If you like going round in circles then the Lee Valley Velo Park races are the ones for you! Ryan Mitchell won the men’s half marathon in 1:13:56 and Megan MCDonalnd in 1:22:45. The 10mile event was won by Stephen Fabes in 57:23 – the only runner to go under an hour. Natasha Michael took the women’s win in 1:20:07.

Annabel Gummow (who was due to run the GB Marathon trials earlier this year but had to pull out) outclassed everyone else in the 10k, finishing first overall in a time of 34:52 and beating Alex Hardy who was first male in 35:32. Over 5k it was Rhys Rowlands and Emma Clements who were first in 16:57 and 22:07 respectively.

The Richmond Park Half Marathon was the scene of a near ten-minute victory for Ollie Garrod thanks to his 1:12:03 time and Ania Gabb also had a good margin when she finished in 1:25:35 to win for the women.

The Gateshead Half Marathon was a much closer fought affair – Gillian Manford was first lady in 1:26:31, just one second ahead of Molly Carthorn and only a few more before Kathryn Stevenson (1:26:38). Liam Aldridge was first man in 1:08:04 to beat David Green (1:12:48) and Ryan Holt (1:13:24).

Club competitions

The Leamington Open & Club Championships on Tuesday saw PBs for the top three men in the 10000m race as Chris Sharp (Kowle & Dorridge) won in 33:01.2, followed by a second and third place for the host club thanks to Charley Stavely (34:41.2) and Ben Tawney (34:46.7). Laura Kyte (Bromsgrove & Redditch) placed sixth overall in the mixed race to take the women’s win her own PB of 36:01.2. Catherine Charlton was next home for the ladies in 38:35.9 (Notts).

At the BMC Regional Races, Exeter Eimear Griffith (Herne Hill) and William Aitken (Barnsley AC) both set new bests of 4:43.25 and 3:58.77 respectively to win their 1500m races. Meanwhile, at the West Yorkshire League meet in Cleckheaton the Senior 1500m was won by Rothwell AC duo William Randall in 4:15.83 (PB) and Joanna Bingham in 5:02.14. The U17 honours went to Adimalid Darood (Skrac) in 4:35.02 and Molly Firth (Halifax) in 4:59.46 (PB).

At the other end of the age-spectrum the Midlands Veterans League in Telford saw the following grab winning finishes over 1500m: Matt Eardley (Stoke) M35 – 4:35.0, Orlando Corea (BIrchfield H) M40 – 4:33.1, Graham Lamb (Burton) M60 – 5:52.3m Joanne Donnelly (Stoke) W35 – 5:17.1, Donna Sherwin (Stoke) W40 – 5:12.5, Mandy Vernon (Stoke) W50 – 5:26.9.

Victoria Kaye ran 1:53.21 to win her 1500m race at the Meeting de Reprise 2021 du FC Mulhouse in France on Monday

Meanwhile, in the States…

The NCAA East Prelminaries were held in Jacksonville, FL. In the 1500m Tom Dodd (Birchfield H) placed second in his heat in 3:43.85, Matthew Wigelsworth (Preston) ran 3:50.23, Ellie Leather (Yate/Westbury) logged 4:26.11 and Tom Dodd (Brichfield H) ran a PB of 3:39.6.

The 5000m saw Euan Makepeace (Charnwood) and Jamie Dee (Shaftsbury Barnet) in action – they finished their heats in 13:41.21 and 14:19.63 respectively. Lachlan Wellington (Portsmouth) was the only Brit to log a 10000m time and he came home in 30:09.95.

At the NAIA Championships in Gulf Shores, AL, Emily Kearney (Wirral) and Nathan Baker ( Middlesbrough) both won their 5000m heats, with Emily going on to take gold in the final in 16:09.11. Nathan finished eight in 14:55.13 after a 14:50.15 in his heat. Not content with one win, Kearney went on to smash out a victory over 10000m as well, finishing 17 seconds clear of her nearest rival in 34:07.91. Kate Clarke (West Cheshire) was also racing and clocked a PB of 36:23.14 for fourth place.

Finally (and slightly randomly) there was a marathon competition going on too, at which Liam Barnsby (Inverness U23) decided to make his marathon debut and finished 15th in 3:03:30.

 Da’Vall Grice cracks his QT

Charlie Da’Vall Grice ran a season’s best, but more crucially an Olympic qualifier, over 1500m at the Portland Track Festival to take silver in 3:33:81. Jake Heyward will also be delighted with his PB and Olympic Qualifying performance of 3:33.99 which gained him bronze.

In the B-race over the same distance, Garret O’Toole ran 3:40.05 and Christopher Olley clocked a PB of 3:42.32. Holly Archer also ran brilliantly, setting a new best of 4:07.20. Over 5000m Gilbert Grundy raced in the B-race and ran 14:08.97.

Still to come…

The Tracksmith Platinum PT Qualifier takes place later today in Boston – (live stream and results here) – Hannah Seagrave is taking part.

The Boston Marathon and Half Marathon takes place in Lincolnshire on Bank Holiday Monday. It’s one of the flatest courses available in the UK and bound to attract some fast times, so watch this space for updates after the event.

Next Saturday is the GB 10000m Olympic Trials in Birmingham. It won’t have the crowds or the spectacle of the Night of 10000m PB’s but it’s certainly going to be a great race to watch. We’ll be covering it in full here.