Steph Twell lights up The Night of 10,000 PB’s on her way to European Cup victory and Jacob Adkin wins the European Mountain running Championships.

PB’s were plentiful in a weekend rammed full of 10ks and the Gold Coast and Leamington Spa half. The weekend was kickstarted with the spectacular and buzzing Highgate Harriers Night of 10,000m PB’s, a night of PB’s it was no less!

British fireworks at Night of the 10,000m PBs

As thousands of spectators took to the track in Parliament hill, the race which has been dubbed the Glastonbury of Athletics, did not disappoint. The Night of 10,000 PB’s, which incorporated the European 10,000m cup, saw some extraordinary performances from both men and women.

The standout performance of the night from a British perspective came from Aldershot and Farnham’s Steph Twell. Twell again proved her impressively strong form, delivering what is believed to be the race of her life, to cross the line in a cracking 31:08 (a 1 minute 8 second track 10,000 PB!) and claim gold at the European cup.

Not only did she top the podium, but she achieved an Olympic and World qualifying standard. Steph Twell stormed round the last lap to complete a 2:58 final kilometre and comfortably give her the win by 7 seconds. Twell said, ‘I can’t believe how easy I felt and I’m delighted’.

British European Cup Victory

Only 8 seconds behind her was the second Brit, but first GB vest, Eilish McColgan. McColgan ran a strong race, finishing as always with a gutsy final lap to put her one second behind Chemtai Salpeter of Israel. Whilst it was not the win McColgan was aiming for, McColgan said she was ‘pleased with that and the time’.

It didn’t stop there, other highly placed Brits included, Alice Wright 9th in 32:27.57, Verity Ockenden 12th in 32:34.47, Charlotte Arter in 32:40.63 and Sarah Inglis in 32:52.51. The impressive performances from the GB team, led them to team victory at the European cup!

The Night of the 10,000 PB’s truly lived up to its buzzing reputation. To give an atmosphere like no other. In the words of Twell, ‘The crowd were amazing. I’ve never heard a roar like that and it really lifted me’.

Connor delivers

The men’s A race saw more outstanding PB performances delivered. The win went to Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa, but in a solid third was Great Britain’s, Ben Connor in a cracking time of 27:56.60, with a 22 second personal best!

The next Brit across the line, in his 10,000m track debut, was Belgrave’s Nick Goolab in 28:10.49 (8th). Slightly further down the field in 21st and 23rd, were Matthew Leach in 28:47.24, and Jack Gray in 28:49.53.

A night to celebrate the best in club racing

The success of the event could be said to come as much from the depth of the racing as the stand out performances in the A races. The senior races kicked off with a close fought race won by South London Harriers’ Ollie Garrod (31:36.92) with Daniel Kashi (31:42.39) and Patrick Roddy (31:44.48) second and third place respectively.

Will Green was a popular winner of the Men’s E race as the temperatures warmed up. The V40 athlete sliced a healthy chunk of his PB to win in 30:50.38. Sam Johnson of Birchfield Harriers was second in 31:00.19 and Jack Bancroft of Bristol & West third in 31:07.00.

Glasgow City athlete Sean Fontana was narrowly missed out on sub 30 on his way to victory in the D race in 30:02.81. Gaert Jorritsma (30:09.97) and Thames Valley’s Daniel Mulryan (30:11.49) rounded off the top three positions.

Top quality women’s field

The women’s C race saw international athletes go head to head demonstrating the ever increasing depth of the meeting. Hanne Verbruggen was the winner in 33:30.67 ahead of Julia Mayer (33:53.69) and Abbie Donnelly (33:56.13). England 10km international Dani Nimmock was fourth in 34:38.56 (editors note – Fast Running’s own Hannah Irwin had a strong run finishing just outside her PB in 34:46.50).

The women’s B race was an all international affair won by Belgian athlete Nina Lauwaert in 32:52.29.

Photo: Gill Bland

Mohamed Mohamed storms to a new PB

Hillingdon’s Mohamed Mohamed dominated the Men’s C race to in in 29:00.24, a full 35 seconds off his road best. Romanian athlete Stefan Gavril was second 29:33.44. Birchfield Harrier Omar Ahmed came home in third in 29:34.89.

Speaking after the race Mohamed said “I’m very happy with my performance and I want to thank all the officials and volunteers and the organisers of the Night of the 10,00m PB.”

As with the women the men’s B race was all international and saw a fine run from Isreal’s Yitayew Abuhay to win in 28:44.74.

Photo: Robbie Britton

Adkin is European Champion

Miles away from the track, the European Mountain Running Championships took place in Zermatt,  Switzerland.

Keswick’s Jacob Adkin took the win in the men’s senior race in what looked like a fine day for mountain running. Adkin’s win comes after a fine run of recent success with a win in last week’s Mont Blanc Marathon Vertical KM and the European trial at the start of June.

The young star started patiently and overtook his coach Robbie Simpson around the four kilometre, before storming past everyone for the win. The course did a fast loop of Zermatt and then was all uphill, at a very steep gradient, to Riffelberg at 2582m.

Adkin, helped by Robbie Simpson (seventh) and Andy Douglas (ninth) took gold for the senior men’s team.

In a highly competitive race Sarah Tunstall took fourth in the senior women’s event. The Kendal AC athlete looked strong throughout, showing her international class with such an excellent performance. It is worth noting that two of the podium athletes ahead of Tunstall, Maude Mathys and Cristel Dewalle, have had anti-doping rules violations in recent years.

Joe Dugdale won the U20 men’s race, leading the young team to their own victory.

Top class performances in Australia and the States

Further across the field in Australia, was the Gold Coast Half Marathon. There were some cracking female performances, with the top 2 athletes crossing the line in under 70 minutes. The Irish-born Australian long-distance runner, Sinead Diver, took gold in a beaming time of 69:45. Diver was closely followed by Ellie Pashley, only 5 seconds behind in 69:50. Just above the 70-minute mark was Lisa Weightman in 70:30.

Also across the world, in another of many 10k races, the 50th AJC Peachtree Road Race took place. Belgrave’s Tish Jones crossed the line in a very respectable 33:30, competing against some of the best.

Slightly closer to home, was the Leamington Spa half marathon. Rugby and Northampton AC’s Alistair Mcdonnell ran all the way to the men’s victory in a respectable 01:13:10. Mcdonnell was shortly followed by Andrew Savery and Sean Jones in 01:13:26 and 01:15:09 respectively.

Leamington AC’s Natalie Bhangal was first woman to cross the line, claiming gold with 01:28:49. Separated by only 22 seconds was Natasha White of Northbrook AC (01:31:33) and Bonita Robinson of Hermitage Harriers (01:31:55).

Inaugural Porthcawl 10km a success

The Porthcawl 10k really did shine under the sun with some cracking times across both the men’s and women’s races. Griffiths, the resounding favourite, crossed the line in a time of 29:55, confirming his place as one of the current top Welsh road runners.

Having begun the 2018 Healthspan Wales 10k Series with a third-place finish, Griffiths was happy to have reaffirmed his place within the series. He said, ‘I wanted to win, and it is always nice to get under 30 minutes, but he really made the race. That is my first 10k win this year and it is always nice to cross the line first.’

James Hunt had a breakthrough race, cracking the 30-minute barrier for the first time! Hunt of Cardiff AC crossed the line in 29:58 to secure second place. James Hunt dug deep, but it wasn’t quite enough to take the win from Griffiths. Hunt said, ‘Josh just came on strong in the last kilometer and I couldn’t hold onto him’. Coming across the line in 3rd place was Phil Wylie of Cheltenham & County Harrier in a time of 30:41.

Excellent return for Cockram

Natasha Cockram, part of this year’s Fast 10 class of 2019, took the victory in the women’s race in a time of 34:51. Cockram continues to show improvements since her return from Tulsa University and having struggled with injury since London Marathon.

Cockram reported, ‘I’ve been back running for the past three weeks and I’m just happy to be back racing again. It wasn’t about the time […] it was just about getting back into a race’. Second across the line in a time of 35:20 was Manchester Marathon winner Jenny Spink. Ruby Orchard of Cornwall AC claimed bronze in a time of 37:31, completing the women’s podium.

Photo credit: Porthcawl 10km

A busy weekend of domestic 10ks

Sunday continued to add to the 10k buzz that filled the warm weekend with races across the country including the Great North 10k and others in Brentwood, Newmarket, Porthcawl, Manchester, Gloucestershire, and Leeds.

At the Asda Foundation Leeds 10km the men’s victory was taken by Scott Hinchcliffe in a time of 31:29, followed by Marcos angwl Valero Palacios in 31:54. Only 3 seconds behind the Roundhay Runner was Gareth Joste in 31:57.

The women’s race saw the top 3 women easily dip under the 39-minute marker. The win went to Nik Tarrega of Knavesmire in 38:06, followed by Aisling Wall in 38:18. Third over the line was Ackworth Road Runners’ Sarah Hunter, in 38:28.

Further up north, in the Great North 10k in Gateshead, Tombridge’s Ashley Gibson took the win in a noteworthy 35:40, running her fastest time of the year so far. The silver medal was claimed by Hannah Wood in 38:06, and the silver by Laura Havis in 42:30.

In the men’s race there was less than a minute between the top 3. James McKenzie of Heaton Harriers won gold in 33:1, a massive 59 second PB! Second place went to Sparrow Morley in 33:44, followed by Dean Williamson, 20 seconds behind in 34:04.

Aburezeq wins again

For yet another year, Mohammed Aburezeq of Altrincham & District AC defended his title at the City of Manchester 10k. Aburezeq crossed the line in a cracking 31:14, claiming the win by over 40 seconds. Second place went to Tom Charles, who achieved a time of 31:55, ahead of Salford Harriers & AC’s Gamar Adam in 32:20.

The UKFast City of Manchester 10k women’s race was won by Kirsty Longley of Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton in 35:29. Longley was followed by Carol Parsons with a time of 36:55, and in 39:59, just dipping under the 40-minute barrier, was Rachael Rozhdestvenskaya of Sale Harriers Manchester.

At the Brentwood Running Club 10k in Essex, Springfield Striders dominated the men’s podium. The men’s race saw Pete Robinson claim gold in a rapid time of 32:09, a solid 1 minute 23 second PB. Robinson was only 10 seconds ahead of Crispian Bloomfield of Billericay Striders who was followed by James Sullivan of Springfield Striders in 34:25.

The Striders however didn’t feature in the women’s podium where Ruth Wallace of Fleet & Crookham AC cemented the win in 39:15. Crookham was followed by Jennifer Lovelock in 41:10 and Hayley Lamkin in 41:24.

A great weekend for Cambridge & Coleridge AC

To add to the long list of 10k’s happening over the sunny weekend was The Marcus Gynn Newmarket 10k. Ben Jones of Cambridge and Coleridge AC claimed the men’s title in 33:24, whilst the women’s gold went to Odette Robson of Saint Edmund Pacers in 40:31.

Cambridge and Coleridge AC have had a fine weekend overall with fantastic performances from the Night of the 10,000m PBs through to the Lord Mayors 5km.

After a slightly dramatic start to the day with an unexpected route change due to road works, the Gloucestershire 10k took place. The win was taken by Richard Dare in 33:36, with Alastair Campbell taking second in 33:53. The women’s race was won by Kelly Lyons in 40:30 with Alice Doggrell crossing the line second in 41:25.

Sesemann and Archer win Lord Mayor’s 5k City Centre Classic

Leeds City’s Phil Sesemann stormed home to victory on the challenging course at the Lord Mayor’s 5k in Norwich. Sesemann’s time of 14:35.3 was enough to edge out Jonathan Escalante-Phillips (14:40.3) and Brighton’s Stephen Ferroni (14:44.8).

Holly Archer was a dominate victor in the women’s race finishing in 16:50.6. The Cambridge and Coleridge athlete has had a fantastic 2019 setting a new 5km best of 16:04 at Ipswich Twilight. Joining Archer on the podium were Isabel Rodriguez (17:44.6) and Faith Viney (17:58.3).

parkrun UK

Kevin Skinner and Naomi Taschimowitz are your fastest athletes at UK parkruns this weekend (July 6th). Full 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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