The week’s round of UK-wide road races includes the Great Eastern, Royal Parks and Oxford Half Marathons
AGE UK LEEDS ABBEY DASH, October 13
Despite being held on the same day as the Half Marathon across the Pennines in Manchester, this popular Leeds race, with its tendency to produce fast times, again attracted a sizeable field.
James McMurray took advantage of the course and conditions to win by a few yards overall in 28:58 after a close race with Charlie Brisley, Dylan Evans and Lewis Jagger as all four finished within six seconds.
Having only finished 10th here in 29:42 last year, the St Albans runner took advantage of a competitive race to improve his four-year best by 39 seconds. Little-ranked Brisley and Australia’s Evans also improved on their previous best times to show why runners flock to Leeds in October.
In the women’s section, Giorgi Grgek followed up her fastest leg at the England Road Relay Championships last weekend with a 60m victory over Hannah Irwin in 31:39.
It was another big improvement of 46 seconds for the New Zealander, who was second here last year.
READ MORE. Manchester Half Marathon coverage
Irwin bettered his previous best with a clocking of 31:53, and there were some solid performances on the field as well.
Trina Johnson, the British master of the W60’s all-time fastest over 10 miles, half and full marathons, was over 60 here in 38:38, confirming her position at the top of the 2024 rankings, her 38:10 was the result in Lincoln. still in May.
James McMurray (Leeds Abbey Dash)
In general. 1 Jay McMurray (St Albans) 28;58; 2 C Brisley 29:02; 3 D Evans (SB) 29:02; 4 L Jager 29:04; 5 D James (V Temp) 29:12; 6 C Avery (Morp) 29:12; 7 C McLean 29:16; 8 O Lockley (Leeds) 29:20; 9 J Sagar 29:27; 10 F Brodie (Morp) 29:28; 11 C Mills (Leeds) 29:29; 12 C Moody (Serp) 29:42; 13 S Moakes 29:45; 14 A Pointon (AFD) 29:48; 15 T MacCambridge 29;50; 16 C Thomas (TVH) 29:50; 17 E Bovington (Leeds) 29:54; 18 N Edmondson (Ilk) 29:58; 19 C Coulson (Houghton) 29:58; 20 C Jones (W Tempo) 30:03; 21 M Clowes (Rex) 30:09; 22 J Hall (Leeds) 30:10; 23 G Taylor (Leeds) 30:18; 24 J Noblett (Lut) 30:19; 25 J Blevins (Gate) 30:21; 26 R Owen (Mer’ydd) 30:24; 27 J Dutton 30:30; 28 O Roberts (Merr’ydd) 30:31; 29 P Wylie (W Tempo, W45) 30:32; 30 J Johnson 30:37
M40: 1 J McKenna (Tyne Br) 30:40; 2 R Bentley (Mer’ydd) 30:54; 3 J Anderson (NSP) 31:42
M45: 2 J Arnold (Stoke) 32:10
M50: 1 J Perst (Traff) 33:02; 2 A O’Brien (Mercy Tree) 33:06
M55: 1 Jay Walton (Leeds) 33:07
M60: 1 J Convery (Bing) 35:37
M75: 1 P Young (Ride) 49:30
Georgie Grcek (Leeds Abbey Dash)
Women. 1 G Grgets (Herne H) 31:39; 2 H Irwin IC & C) 31:53; 3 A Bell (P&B) 32:29; 4 E Davies (Board) 32:42; 5 W Hopkins (Ton) 33:02; 6 B Gunn Bir) 33:32; 7 S Potter (Leeds) 33:40; 8 S Pennycook (Leeds) 33:46; 9 D Corradi (S&D) 34:48; 10 K Ballantyne-Chalmers (Leeds) 34:56; 11 S Hicks 34:58; 12 A Pearse 35:06; 13 M McKnespiey (Leeds) 35:07; 14 E Revitt (Carn) 35:08; 15 E Soanes (Bev) 35:09; 16 L Cooper (W Tempo) 35:30; 17 D Hatfield (Bev, W40) 35:33; 18 K Hawkins (Salph) 35:34; 19 M Corden-Lloyd (Belgium) 36:20; 20 N Sutton (Perst, W35) 36:30
W50: 1 D Jepson 38:27
W60: 1 T Johnson Dews) 38:38
W70: 1 J Homes (H’gate) 51:59
W75: 1 C Gale NYM) 57:21
AEPG GREAT EASTERN HALF-MARATHON, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, 13 October
Jonathan Escalante-Phillips ran nearly two minutes in a personal best of 63:58, 27 seconds off his previous best set when he won last year’s event in Bath.
This follows a winning streak of three recent road races, including the Windsor Half Marathon.
The women’s division saw Georgina Schwiening continue her unbeaten run going back several years and did so by taking over a minute off her previous best with a clocking of 70:46 to move into the top 10 for the year.
In general. 1 J Escalante-Phillips (C&C) 63:58; 2 J Arundel (B’mth) 66:43; 3 M Kallenberg (Swan) 66:54; 4 A Tovey (WSEH) 67:45; 5 M Waddington (War) 67:58; 6 C Pacey (Newark) 68:13; 7 G Phillips 68:32; 8 J Bell (SB) 68:54; 9 A Hill (R&N) 69:19; 10 B Kruze (Strat, M40) 69:26; 11 C Patterson (Mansf, M40) 69:28; 12 M Chaney-Baxter (Norway) 69:28; 13 L Mullen 69:38; 14 D Clarke (Cov) 69:41; 15 J Carr (C&C) 69:48
M40: 3 T Windley (Kesw) 70:05
M45: 1 J Bailey (Mansf) 70:07; 2 P Melling (R&N) 70:15
M50: 1 R Keal 70:27; 2 C Compton (Kent) 72:43
M55: 1 A Porter (Bramhall) 78:01; 2 M Allen Ips J) 78:16
M60: 1 M Cann 81:06
M65: 1 P Mingai (Col H) 80:06
Women. 1 G Schwiening (Camb R) 70:46; 2 E Grab (Norway) 76:34; 3 H Davies (Ips J, W45) 76:42; 4 L Bailey (Stragh, H40) 76:55; 5 C Thornton (Linc W) 77:05; 6 B Proctor (Kent) 77:55
W45: 1 S Semmens (L Eaton) 83:06
W50: 1 C Hay (Mansf) 84:09; 2 K Sung (M&M) 86:01; 3 S Eadsforth (Der) 88:16
W55: 1 J Holl (Thanet) 96:02
CHELMSFORD MARATHON & HALF, Essex, 13 October
Hannah McGowan-Jones retained her half marathon title and did so by bettering her previous best of 77:46 by over three minutes.
Total (26.2M). 1 R Baronowski-West 2:35:07; 2 N Filer (Col H, M40) 2:35:40; 3 G Carey (S’field) 2:39:28
Women. 1 H Leggett 2:55:33
Total (13.1M). 1 B Adams 73:02
Women. 1 H McGowan-Jones 77:46
W50: 1 M Lynch (LoS) 96:58
GOOSE FAIR GALLOP, Nottingham, October 13
In general. 1 M Campion (Notts) 31:34
M55: 1 K Fitch 37:48
GIVAUDAN ASHFORD 10km, Kent, October 13
In general. 1 A Hasan-Ogato 30:09; 2 W Zerome 30;17; 3 M Smith 30:24
Women. 1 A Walsh 40:02
LIGHTNING 10km, Chippenham, Wiltshire, 13 October
In general. 1 D Long (P’pridd) 30:51
M50: 1 N Grinnell (Nith) 34:37
Women. 1 P Quinn (Torbay, U17) 34;40
W60: 1 A Graham (Korsh) 44:43
LOVE LUTON RUN FEST HALF MARATHON, Bedfordshire, 13th October
In general. 1 M Elbayan (Luth) 67:56
M50: 1 S Coombes (L Buzz) 79:02
M60: 1 R Michael 89:09
M70: 1 C Lamont (Stops) 1:42:35
Women. 1 S Cliffe 94:00
OXFORD HALF MARATHON, 13 October
European Championship racer Mark Pearce won 65:18 by exactly two minutes over Hugo Fry.
In the ladies section it was Clapham’s Harriet Freeman who won in 74:35, two weeks after winning the Ealing event over the same distance.
Further down the field, British W55 posted the fastest time for 55-year-old Karima Harris with a chip time of 79:02.
“I guess the Oxford half is a proper race because there were 30,000 runners and it had timers that you had to beat,” Harris said. “But I just got a text from Mara Yamauchi, who I know, she just told me that Oxford is not licensed. I had no idea, so I’ll try for the record again at Fleet in March.”
In general. 1 M Pearce (SB) 65:18; 2 H Fry (Belgium) 67:18; 3 C Davies (RAF) ^7:21; 4 A Miele-Ingram (Radley) 68:24; 5 S Symmington 68:36; 6 M Kunov (Read) 69:19; 7 A Hill (BRAT, M40) 69:39; 8 D Rigby 70:09; 9 T Humphreys (Bord) 70:12; 10 O Knowles (Petts W) 70:15
M50: 1 S Winder (E&E) 74:10
M55: 1 J Richardson (Oxf C) 79:46
M60: 1 J Crew 83:46
M65: 1 B Whitehead (W’boro) 86:11
M70: 1 G Allen (Ch. RR) 83:39
Women. 1 H Freeman (Applause) 74:35; 2 A Eykelbosch (Dac) 75:11; 3 G Baker (Haste) 77:57; 4 B Pembroke 78:55; 5 K Harris (QPH, W55) 79:02; 6 A Rai (Fulham) 79:47
W50: 1 E Hines (Swin) 83:40; 2 C Pettigrew (Harwell) 90:45
W55: 2 J Johnson (Launc) 87:26; 3 K Allred (Abing) 89;11
W60: 1 M Williamson Lim) 90:39; 2 R Martin 94:00
W75: 1 K Williams (Eynsh) 2:06:56
ROYAL PARKS HALF MARATHON, London, October 13
Oscar Bell beat his previous best by nearly two minutes, winning with a score of 65:12.
In general. 1 O Bell (Herts P) 65:12; 2 A Soffienti (St Mungo’s) 69:04; 3 G Grassly (Merch T) 69:14; 4 P Bailey 69:36; 5 I Farnworth 69:58; 6 J Davies 71:24
M45: 1 C Braisher 72:06
Women. 1 N Jackson 78:15; 2 B McGreevy 79:35; 3 S Bowles (W35) 79:44
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RUN BOURNEMOUTH HALF MARATHON, Dorset, 13 October
In general. 1 S Cousins (S’field) 67:54; 2 J Dominay (Salis) 67:58; 3 C Newnham (Ryde) 70:46
M45: 1 Jay Baker (Cheech R) 73:26
Women. 1 L Williamson (Mountain) 79:47
W45: 1 M James (S Lawn) 83:59
W50: 1 T Thornewill 92:35
W60: 1 L Geyer (TROTS) 93:47
RUN LEICESTER HALF MARATHON & 10km, October 13
Total (13.1 m). 1 M Hussain (R’Hogs) 67:28; 2 DV Hallam (Wreake) 69:52; 3 D Brewer (High) 71:33
M70: 1 P Whelpton (Charn) 99:11
Women. 1 E Styles (W40) 80;29
W50: 1 H James (100 Mara) 92:01
W60: 1 E Whittlestone (Birst) 96:34
Total (10 km). 1 M Scarsbrook (Badgers) 31:22
M60: 1 P Makepiece (Leic C) 35:58
Women. 1 G Steel (Charn, W35) 35:20
SHELTON STRIDERS 10 km, October 13
In general. 1 R Weir 31:51
M55: 1 C Nicholl 34:09
M75: 1 M Weir (Mid M) 43:09
Women. 1 A Van Dijk 36:53; 2 J Potter Charn, W40) 37:09
TIPTREE 10, Essex, October 13
After many years in the sport, Paul Whittaker, 35, broke 50 minutes for the first time in 49:54, despite having competed regularly over the distance for the past 10 years.
In general. 1 P Whittaker (RRC) 49:54; 2 B Jenkins (Orion) 55:14; 3 C Bloomfield (Bill’cay) 55:17
M40: 1 M McTernan (Orion) 57:25
M50: 1 H Mizon (Orion) 57:46
M60: 1 C Ridley (Col H) 62:14
Women. 1 N Stretton (S’field) 61:25; 2 R Rising (Halstead) 62:31
W40: 1 J Bolton (Bil’kay) 65:01
W50: 1 V Simpson-Thomas (B Stort) 69:00
W60: 1 C Kennedy (Orion) 73:58
W70: 1 D Wooller (Col H) 86:29
READ MORE. Manchester Half Marathon coverage
WEYMOUTH 10, Dorset, October 13
In general. 1 C Peck (Ex H, M40) 54:49
M50: 1 D Hicks (Pool) 57:49
Women. 1 I Davis (Purb) 66:08
W50: 1 K Perrett (Wey) 69:53
York 5km Series, October 11
In general. 1 D McKinnon (Gull) 15:04; 2 J Johnson (Durh U) 15:16
M55: 1 A Holliday (York Tri) 17:58
Women. 1 E Whitworth (Linc W, U17) 16:48
W40: 1 L Race (Barns) 18:20
W55: 1 J Mastrolonardo (York) 21:12
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