Weekend update
The Berlin Marathon was the highlight of the weekend, with 37-year old Eliud Kipchoge setting a World Record of 2:01:09 (seen here winning in London). UK athletes also featured with Sonia Samuels running an impressive sub 2:30 time. Domestically the Area Relays were a feature for most club runners with some great performances from seasoned starts Steph Twell, Gemma Steel and Philip Sesemann.
At the Berlin Marathon, Sonia Samuels (handicap -1.1) ran a superbly paced race to clock 2:28:15 which was just 11 seconds off her personal best. Nicholas Barry (handicap -4.2) ran 2:21:21.
At the Midland Counties Road Relays, the men’s six-stage road relays title was decided on the final leg in Sutton Park as Notts AC’s Freddie Hessian (handicap -2.2) took the team from third to first to claim the Midlands crown. He overhauled BRAT and Bristol & West on the final leg of the race for a sensational win.
In the women’s four-stage relays, Charnwood’s Gemma Steel (handicap -1.2) produced a strong final leg to overtake Birchfield’s Bryony Gunn (handicap 0.7) to seal the title. Western Tempo came home to win team bronze.
In Manchester, at the Northern Athletics Road Relays, Salford Harriers and Leeds City celebrated victories in the women’s four-stage and men’s six-stage, respectively.
Salford’s team saw off the competition to win team gold. Sinead Bent (handicap 0.7) anchored the team to victory ahead of Leeds and Vale Royal AC.
In the men’s six-stage, Leeds led from leg two when Josh Dickinson (handicap -4.9) took them into the lead, and GB & NI international Philip Sesemann (handicap -6.0) secured the victory for the West Yorkshire team on the final leg. Hallamshire Harriers and Blackburn finished second and third overall.
Victoria Park and Tower Hamlets secured the men’s South of England,six-stage road relays title at Crystal Palace, while Cambridge Harriers were triumphant in the women’s four-stage race.
At the Aldershot Road Relays, Aldershot Farnham and District earned a double senior women’s and men’s victory at the event. Steph Twell (handicap -1.1) confirmed AFD took the four-stage win after the team dominated the four stage race. Bracknell were second while AFD’s B team were third. In the men’s race, the AFD team led throughout with Ricky Harvie (handicap -4.9) anchoring the team to victory ahead of Tonbridge and Cambridge & Coleridge.
UK runbritain rankings for endurance events and age groups
Other results from the weekend are on the following links: