Grand Prix points updated
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We are pleased to have the Grand Prix standings updated and congratulate John Beattie (handicap -5.0) for furthering his lead and Liz Hartney (handicap 3.7) for moving into the lead, in the women's competition, after this weekend's Cardiff 10k.
John Beattie won the race on Sunday and claimed another 450 points: 250 for the win and 200 for running under 29:30 (with a time of 29:12). He now has 1485 points in the runbritain grand prix for the top men’s individual prize of £2,000. John has run all four of the races so far but will miss the next one, at the Lloyds Bank Cardiff Half Marathon as it is scheduled just one week after the Berlin Marathon where he is due to compete in his first marathon since 2012.
Grand Prix points are awarded for the first 250 finishing positions in the six races that are in the series. 250 points are awarded to the first British finisher, down to 1 point for the 250th British finisher and there are extra points available for fast times. Up to the best four scores from the six available races count at the end of the series. John has scored bonus points in all but one of the races so far and we have yet to see whether he will run the final race at the Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash where another fast time could add extra points.
Dewi Griffiths (handicap -5.6) was the second placer at the Cardiff 10k on Sunday but has only run one of the other races, so far, and so is currently in 7th. However his high scores, for top places and sub-29:30 at both the Bupa London 10000 (445 points) and the Cardiff 10k (449 points) give him an impressive score of 894 with two races still to go. Dewi, just back from a spell of altitude training with Steve Jones in Boulder, Colorado, has his sights firmly set on the fifth grand prix event, the Lloyds Bank Cardiff Half Marathon on October 4th, which incorporates the British Championships and the trials for the 2016 IAAF World Half Marathon that will also be held in Cardiff, next March.
Kojo Kyereme (handicap -4.3) finished 3rd on Sunday and claimed 348 points: 248 for 3rd and 100 for breaking 30:00 (with a time of 29:50). This performance has moved him into 2nd place.He has also done all four races and has a total of 1037 points.
The top six men on the table and ten of the top 16 have run in all four races so far and so are likely to only add marginal points to their current totals, from here on in, giving those who have only run 3 or 2 races everything to run for.
Liz Hartney moved herself to the top of the table after finishing 28th at the Cardiff 10k on Sunday (earning 223 points) but she is the only woman to have run all four races, so far.
Rachel Felton (handicap -0.3) scored her third consecutive Cardiff 10k win and earned 250 points. The performance by Felton, along with Faye Fullerton (handicap -1.2) in fifth (244 points) were their third high scoring runbritain grand prix performances and could see them in contention for the top women's individual prize. Rachel is currently 2nd on the table with 743 points and Faye is in 3rd with 736.
Michelle Ross-Cope (handicap -0.9) finished 2nd on Sunday and is currently on 10th with only two races under her belt. All of those between her and Liz Hartney have done three races so far.
In the women's competition, only two runners have scored bonus points but both have only done one race: Jo Pavey (handicap 0.0) earned 350 points at the Bupa London 10000 for the win and a time under 33 minutes (32:56) and Lily Partridge (handicap -1.1) also earned 350 at the Vitality Reading Half Marathon for first place and her time of 70:31.
It looks likely that the women’s £9,000 end-of-series prize awards will go right down to the final race at the Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash in November.