UK-wide endurance running round-up includes the Ogi Porthcawl 10km and Bridges of the Tyne 5-miler
OGI PORTHCAWL 10km, Porthcawl, Wales, July 7
Tumultuous weather didn’t deter athletes with a new men’s record set by Birchfield’s Omar Ahmed at 29:09, his third victory in the Run 4 Wales 10km series.
The wet and windy conditions gave way to sunshine on this coastal course, during the race, as 47 seconds were hacked from Josh Griffiths’ 2019 record.
Omar said: “I was feeling good but at the beginning of the race it was windy, raining and very wet, so I was a bit scared but, eventually, I managed to get warm and I’m so happy to win.”
Welshman Dewi Griffiths, who recently reset his lifetime best at the Great Manchester Run, was hot on his heels for most of the race securing second place with a time of 29:15, despite recovering from illness.
He said: “I wanted a bit of an honest race to blow the cobwebs out and see where I was at. I’ve had a turbulent week and been on antibiotics most of the time but I decided to run on Friday, to give it a go and see what happens. I felt alright out there until Omar kicked in at about 8km and that was it then.”
Previous course record holder and former UK marathon champion, Josh Griffiths, narrowly took third place with 29:48 ahead of Seyfu Jamaal.
Porthcawl 10km
In the women’s race it was Les Croupiers Alaw Evans, who previously came third in the series opener in Newport in April, who claimed victory with a time of 34:51 ahead of Louise Small’s 35:26.
Evans said: “It was really windy and I forgot how many hills there were so I just ran my own race. I got to 7km and saw the leader (Small) so thought I’d just keep doing my own thing. I managed to catch up with her and there was really good support all around the course.”
Deep in the field there was a personal best 40:00 for David Gibson, the fourth ranked UK over-70 runner.
Overall: 1 O Ahmed (Bir) 29:09; 2 D Griffiths (Swan) 29:15; 3 J Griffiths (Swan) 29:48; 4 S Jamaal (Lon H) 29:51; 5 J Millar (B&W) 30:13; 6 K Taylor (B&W) 30:39; 7 K Omar (Bir) 30:53; 8 J Butler (Swan) 30:54; 9 D Hamilton (P’pridd) 31:06; 10 S Jewson (Croft) 31:53
M45: 1 P Matthews (P Bryn) 32:04
M55: 1 P Williams (A’wyth) 35:59
M70: 1 D Gibson (Tri Hard) 40:00
Women: 1 A Evans Les C) 34:51; 2 L Small (SAFD) 35:26; 3 E O’Dea (Dees) 36:19
W45: 1 D Morris (Builth) 36:29; 2 L Flynn (Les C) 36:50
W55: 1 T Jenkins (P’cawl) 40:24
W60: 1 J Evans (C’philly) 44:53
AJ BELL GREAT NORTH 10km,…
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