We had one of the highlights of the cross country season on Saturday at the European Championships where Great Britain won the overall team title and took home plenty of individual and team medals and titles. Also taking place was the IAU World 100km Championships which saw Brits win medals. Indoors season has kicked off with some quick performances over in America. And there are still plenty of road races going on. Read on for more race results!
Storm Darragh cancelled many races and Parkruns around the country, particularly in the South West, but fortunately many races were able to go ahead.
International
Great Britain & NI dominated the medal table at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey. There was double gold in the U23 age group as Will Barnicoat and Phoebe Anderson both took the individual wins and set up their teams for a team titles with David Stone taking individual bronze. The U20 women finished first with Innes Fitzgerald and Jess Bailey taking gold and silver. The senior women’s race was dominated by Nadia Battocletti (Italy) with GB finishing second overall led home by Kate Axford. The senior men finished third overall in a race that was won by Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) as Rory Leonard was the top Brit in 9th. The U20 men were the only team not to win a medal as they finished 4th overall but George Couttie picked up an individual silver. The mixed relay team finished third. Full results here.
Over in India, another group of Great Britain athletes were taking part in the IAU World 100km Championships. Sarah Webster won an individual bronze medal behind the two French athletes Floraine Hot and Marie-Ange Brumelot. The British women finished second as a team. The men’s podium was made up of Jumpei Yamaguchi (Japan), Antonio Aguilar (Spain) and Haruki Okayama (Japan).
There was a British victory for Calli Hauger-Thackery at the California International Marathon (CIM). She ran 2:24:28 to finish ahead of Jacqueline Gaughan (USA) in 2:24:40 and Stephanie Bruce (USA) in 2:28:41. The men’s race was won by Tsegay Welduibanos (USA) in 2:07:25 with CJ Albertson (USA) second in 2:10:06 and Nick Hauger (USA) third in 2:11:55.
There was a road mile race over in Hawaii at the Merrie Mile. The top 4 women all clocked 4:28 but the race was won by Nikki Hiltz (USA) with Weini Kelati (USA) second and Sinclaire Johnson (USA) third. It took a sub-4 clocking to win the men’s race as Hobbs Kessler (USA) ran 3:56 to win ahead of Jack Anstey (Australia) in 3:57 and Neil Gourley (Great Britain) in 3:58.
Taking place at the same venue in Hawaii was the Honolulu Marathon. Yamane Haileselassie (Eritrea) won in 2:11:59 ahead of Reuben Kerio (Kenya) in 2:12:16 and Kensuke Horio (Japan) in 2:15:30. Cynthia Limo (Kenya) was the first women home in 2:31:14 as Sandrafelis Tuei (Kenya) finished second in 2:31:48 and Judith Korir (Kenya) third in 2:36:17.
The indoor athletics season has started and there were some very quick times over the US. The BU Sharon Colyear-Danvile Season Opener in Boston featured a mile, 3000m and 5000m. The mile races were won by Josh Hoey in 3:52.61 and Wilma Nielsen in 4:31.94. The 3000m races were won by Bailey Hertenstein in 8:45.05 and Ethan Strand in a very quick 7:30.15. There was a sub-13 clocking in the 5000m as Graham Blanks won in 12:59.89 with Doris Lemngole winning the women’s race in 14:52.57.
National
Unfortunately many races in the UK were cancelled over the weekend due to storm Darragh but some did manage to go ahead.
The historic cross country Oxford vs. Cambridge Varsity Match went ahead and saw Oxford dominate the team contest. Oxford won the women’s match but Niamh Bridson-Hubbard and Bea Wood of Cambridge were first and second. Oxford also won the men’s race with Canadian Olympian Jared Ward winning the individual race.
The Milton Keynes Winter Half Marathon was won by Tosin Adedeji (Newham) in 1:11:13. The women’s race saw a sprint finish between Bedford & Country AC athletes Rebecca Murray and Alice Lambert with Murray just out-dipping Lambert as both clocked 1:20:32.
Local
The third race in the Gloucestershire AAA Cross Country League took place at the University of Bath. The top 3 men were Johnny James (Radley AC), Harry Maxwell (Team Bath AC) and Mack Downey (Belgrave Harriers). The top 3 women were Millie Porter (Western Tempo), Ella Waldman (Bristol & West AC) and Grace Roberts (University of Bath).
The Christmas Chilly 10k & Christmax Mile went ahead at the Castle Combe racetrack near Chippenham. The 10k was won by Jamie Williamson (Springburn Harriers) in 31:56 ahead of Adam Tango Holland (Tavistock AC) in 33:14 and Daniel Giles (Swindon Harriers) in 33:21. Emma Hines (Swindon Harriers) won the women’s arce in 39:06 with Holly Horton (Highworth RC) second in 40:19 and Heather Marnoch (Unnattached) third in 41:26. The Mile was won by Adam Tango Holland (Tavistock AC) in 4:53.9 with Olivia Lynch (Unnattached) first woman home in 6:10.9
The Santa Scamper in Chippenham, Reindeer Run in Cardiff, Mental Elf 5k in Bath and RNLI Mendip Hills Reindeer Run & Santa Saunter in Somerset were all cancelled/postponed due to the weather.