The Kenyan youngster beats Megan Keith among others in the women’s race as Innes Fitzgerald stays in her age group in the first race of the winter.
At just 17, Cynthia Chepkirui took victory in the senior women’s race at the Cardiff Cross Challenge on Saturday (November 8). After winning the Kenya Under-20 title in Eldoret two weeks ago, she is the favorite to win the junior women’s title at the World Cross Country Championships in Florida in January.
Running in bright and warm conditions that you might associate more with Florida than Cardiff in November, Chepkirui, who just turned 17 in September, won the twisty 6.4km course by 20 seconds from fellow Kenyan Sheila Jebbett, with Canada’s Ceili McCabe third.
It would be interesting to see Innes Fitzgerald, the European under-20 track and field champion, take on Chepkiru in Cardiff. But the British teenager was struggling in her first race since a three-week break at the end of the summer, and instead took 50-second wins in the women’s under-20 and under-17 races.
Britain’s Megan Keith was leading the senior women’s race, but the Scots runner, who won here in 2023, had to stop briefly mid-race to remove a twig that had stuck unnervingly under one of her spikes.
“On the second lap, I got a bit covered in the bottom of the shoe with a stick, so I had to stop to take it out,” he explained. “So the girls got away from me there, but I did my best to keep busy and it was out of my control. It’s still a good run for my first individual race since doing the Scottish Relays recently.”
Megan Keith finished 4th in the Cardiff Cross Challenge despite having to stop mid-race to remove a twig from under her shoe.
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Keith finished 50 seconds behind Chepkiru but is happy with his form as he enters a string of races later this month, including the Liverpool Cross Challenge later this month and, if he qualifies, the European Championships in Portugal in December.
“I’m hoping to compete in places like Spain this month,” added the Edinburgh-based athlete. “There are so many good races now that it’s hard to choose which ones to do. It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve been out of the mud, so it’s good to be back.”
After Keith, Poppy Tank is the top British woman in fifth, followed by Denmark’s Sofia Togersen, Amelia Quirk, Charlotte Dunnatt and Megan Harris, with Jess Gibbon rounding out the top 10.
With the exception of national cross country relays, the Cardiff Cross Challenge has become the traditional opener of the British cross country season and attracts international attention thanks to its World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold status.
With a fine organizational team led by Race Director Graham Finlayson and good transport links, Cardiff will undoubtedly have a strong chance of winning the European Championship in the coming years. The last time Wales hosted a World or European Championships was the 1976 World Cross in Chepstow.
As in the women’s race, the top British home in the men’s race was also fourth with Zac Mahamed leading the domestic challenge in a race that saw a Kenyan one-two-three of Matthew Kipsang, Victor Kimosop and Stephen Kimuta in a large field that included Gwent League club runners.
12:58.61 The 5000m runner on the track, Kipsang, 29, finished like a train to win by six seconds.
After Mahamed, Jacob Kane was fifth, followed by Richard Slade, Angus McMillan and Dutchman Jesse Fauckenrud.
“I’m really happy with my performance,” said Mahamed, who ran 61:44 in the Valencia Half two weeks ago and now plans to compete in the Liverpool Cross Challenge next.
Holly Dixon and Jack Higgins won an exciting one-mile race that acted as the British trials for the mixed relay at Euro Cross.
In the women’s race, Dixon moved to the front behind teenager Ava Lloyd with Lucy Jones in third, followed by India Weir, Niamh Bridson Hubbard and Khai Mhlanga. British 1500m champion Sarah Calvert finished eighth in a high-quality event.
“I went hard from the start because I knew I wasn’t going to miss some of those girls if I gave them a head start,” Dixon said. “I don’t always like to lead, but I felt I had to today and I was running for my life, hoping to get to the finish line as soon as possible.”
Cameron Boyek led the men’s race down the home straight but was overtaken by Higgins and Calum Elson in the closing meters as Will Barnicoat quickly closed in fourth.
Higgins used his 1:45 800m speed to cruise to victory. “It was very close down the last hill,” said the Tonbridge runner, “I was very close to Callum Elson and it was a case of digging deep and opening my stride a bit, although I didn’t realize I was going to win until about five meters away.”
Fitzgerald wasn’t the only impressive under-20 winner as Will Rabjohns won the men’s race by eight seconds from Quinn Miele-Ingram as Roel Dammann was the first under-17 male to finish fourth overall.
Meanwhile, finishing runner-up to Fitzgerald in the junior women’s race, while Beth Lewis finished top under-17 home behind under-20s Isabelle Holt and Lizzie Wellstead.
Both Rabyons and Fitzgerald have won in Cardiff before and Fitzgerald said:
“Maybe it would have been nice to be in the senior women’s or the mile race today, but it’s my first race this winter and it’s great to race in your age group and help raise the competition in that environment rather than drop it as soon as you’re good.”
While December’s Euro Cross is his big upcoming goal, Fitzgerald may not compete at the World Cross in Tallahassee. “We haven’t written it off yet, but right now it’s pretty low on the priority list,” he explained, “and sometimes too much travel can get in the way, and I want to go to the best races that will help me grow as an athlete and prepare for next summer, where that will be.”
Like Fitzgerald, Cara Gorman made progress in her race as the Windsor, Slough, Eaton and Hounslow runner won the girls’ under-15 race by almost half a minute.
In contrast, the under-15 boys race produced the closest finish of the day with Byron Roberts of Eastbourne Rovers AC edging out Elliott Langley-Aybar of Bracknell AC.
Madison Kindler picked up where she left off last winter with another impressive win as she took the under 13 girls race by a comfortable margin. Meanwhile, Radley AC’s Sam Cousins won the U13 boys race ahead of Cardiff duo Jacob Moss and Zac Moon.
Full results here
