Half Marathon records galore!
Did you race this weekend on the road, trails or cross country? Most of the results are in and it's time to check your handicap score and your ladder position.
It has been a huge weekend for running. From results already in, the biggest races this weekend were:
Cardiff Half Marathon - 17,016 finishers * Partially added - Awaiting full data in usable format
Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Half Marathon - 9,271 finishers
Bank of Scotland Great Scottish 10K - 8,369 finishers
Bournemouth Half Marathon - 3,331 finishers * Provisional
Lincoln Half Marathon - 2,374 finishers* Awaiting usable data
Bournemouth Marathon - 2,015 finishers * Provisional
It has been a record breaking weekend for the half marathon!
At the Cardiff Half Marathon, Michael Kallenberg (handicap -4.2) and Carwyn Jones (handicap -3.5) ran the race dressed as Robin (Michael) and Batman (Carwyn) and broke the Guiness World Record for the fastest half marathon in a superhero costume! They were raising money for their friend and training partner, Rob Bugden, who suffered serious injury after a parachuting accident in January, The pair ran an incredible 69:34 and 70:47 respectively in their superhero costumes, finishing in amongst the elite runners!
Dewi Griffiths (handicap -5.9) took 0.1 from his handicap score as leading British finisher. The Welshman ran 63.14, a personal best by almost a minute as he finished in eighth place behind a string of Africans. It was a similar story in the women’s race as Rachel Felton (handicap -0.5) also reduced her score by 0.1 and finished fifth in 74.03, a season’s best and not far outside her lifetime best.
At the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Half Marathon, our Olympic Marathon hero, Callum Hawkins (handicap -6.5) took 0.2 from his handicap score when he won the race and set a new Scottish Half Marathon record of 60:22. Callum ran a superb race to beat the defending champion, Moses Kipsiro of Uganda and to become the first Scot to win the race since 1983. This result is sure to move him up the ladder from his current position of 11th to 4th or better and his 60.24 time moves him to second on the British rankings behind only Mo Farah (handicap -8.1) and sixth on the European equivalent.
Chris Thompson (handicap -6.8) finished fourth, in the race, in an impressive 61.58. It’s no secret that Thompson has been plagued by injuries, an Achilles operation the latest setback, so it was great to see the 35 year old back to something like his best.
The British women were also on form, Lily Partridge (handicap -1.5) took 0.1 from her handicap score when she took third place in 71.39 behind Betsy Saina and Doris Changeiywo. She was closely followed by local girl Beth Potter (handicap -1.7), the 10,000m Olympian revising her half marathon personal best by over a minute with a 72.07 run.
In the 10km race that takes place on the same day, Jonathan Hopkins (handicap -3.5) took 0.2 from his handicap score with a time of 30:21 and Jo Moultrie (handicap -0.2) was first female with a time of 34:19.
Did you race in one of these or any other event this weekend? By training and racing regularly your runbritain profile will maintain a healthy score and if you plan to peak for a target race, we hope you will improve it by a significant amount and make your way up the National Ladder. Don't forget that the National Ladder not only ranks you in the UK overall but by gender, age and postcode too.