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Weekend Round-Up (12-14 July)
15/07/2024 00:00, In Blog /
WANDA DIAMOND LEAGUE – MONACO, JULY 12
Melissa Courtney-Bryant (Poole AC) continued her run of brilliant form on Friday night in the south of France as she broke the 30-year-old British 2,000m record.
Just a week after beating legendary distance runner Sifan Hassan over 1500m in the Netherlands, Courtney-Bryant took almost a second off Yvonne Murray’s British best as she finished second to Australia’s Jessica Hull, who herself broke the world record.
Courtney-Bryant crossed the line in 5:26.08 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco to not only beat Murray’s mark but also shatter the existing Welsh record.
Speaking after Friday night’s race, Courtney-Bryant, who narrowly missed out on a Paris Olympics place at the UK Athletics Championships two weeks ago, said: “Jessica (Hull) is just an amazing athlete.
“Her race last week inspired me and today I wanted to be brave. I was as brave as I could have been. I put myself out there. The race was different, it hurt.
“My coach told me prior to the race that I am a really good athlete which I proved as I just missed the European record.
“The race was quicker than I would want but coach told me to start fast and I knew I needed to do it. In the second lap I felt good, in the third lap I stared to bite a bit. In the end I thought if I was about to die to finish this race, I will die then. I just pushed as hard as I could.
“I love competing in Monaco. Last year I ran my second fastest race here and this year a national record. There must be some Monaco magic for me.”
WELSH JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE - SOUTH/EAST 3 – BRECON, JULY 13
Tiana Odugbesan (Cardiff Archers) enjoyed a successful day at Brecon on Saturday where she won the under-15 girls 100m, 200m and shot put.
The multi-eventer won the 200m in 26.6 before going on to win the shot with a best of 10.23m and the 100m in a new personal best of 12.9.
Other stand-out performances as more than 300 athletes competed at Penlan Arena, included Oliver Shearer (Cardiff Athletics) winning the under-15 boys sprint double – winning the 100m in 11.9 and the 200m in 24.5.
WELSH U11-U13-U15 JUNIOR LEAGUE NORTH WALES 2 – DEESIDE, JULY 13
Lucca Tardivel (Deeside AAC) was one of the outstanding performers at the junior league meeting at Deeside on Saturday.
Tardivel won the Under-15 boys 100m in a new personal best of 11.60 before going on to win the long jump with a best of 5.71m and finishing second in the 300m, which was won by Tomos Rigby (Menai Track and Field) in a new PB of 37.95.
BLACK DIAMOND YR WYDDFA | SNOWDON 24, XTERRA SNOWDONIA TRAIL MARATHON ERYRI – JULY 13 – 14
Starting and finishing at the foot of Wales’ highest mountain, the challenge facing individuals and teams in the Black Diamond Yr Wyddfa Snowdon 24 was to ascend and descend Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) as many times as possible in 24 hours.
The overall individual race was won by James Leavesley (Woodstock Harriers) who completed nine laps in 21:23.03, while the female winner was Becky Atkinson with eight laps in 21:23.03.
Other category winners:
Pair winner open: Team Ross 10 laps in 22:40:24
Pair winer mixed: Team Beanpole bolters 9 laps in23:26:00
Team of 3 winner: Team Summit Mentality 10 laps in 23:33:24
Team of 4 winner: Team Merched Y Mynydd 11 laps in23:41:21
Team of 5 winner: Team Hogia'r Wyddfa 24 13 laps in 23:53:34.
Meanwhile, the Xterra Snowdon Trail Marathon Eryri saw a series of races over various distances ranging from 10k to ultra marathon.
The podium results were:
10k open:
Luke Mitchell - 47:29
Carl Nealon - 47:48
Oli Moore - 49:56
10k female:
Mollie Long - 53:49
Margot Saher - 58:10
Kathleen Aubrey - 58:59
Half Marathon open:
Chris Rampling - 2:03:16
Sam Williams - 2:05:52
Tom Gosling - 2:08:27
Half Marathon female:
Helena White - 2:19:33
Tove Hjertonsson - 2:22:08
Sophia Morgan - 2:23:46
Half Marathon Duo winner:
Team Tams
Marathon open:
Sean Merryweather - 4:09:08
Matthew Crolla - 4:12:30
Ryan Gaughan - 4:19:08
Marathon female:
Emily Cowper-Coles - 4:09:18
Nerys Jones - 4:37:25
Tinka Vinks - 4:41:45
Marathon Duo winner:
Team Liver-in-pool
Ultra open:
Harry Jones - 5:06:23
Sean Meehan - 5:47:45
Philip Slattery - 6:09:21
Ultra female:
Rebecca Sleath - 6:56:45
Lucy Cartwright - 7:10:18
Natasha Perks - 7:10:49
MIC MORRIS TORFAEN 10K 2024 – BLAENAVON, JULY 14
The Mic Morris Torfaen 10k took place on Sunday morning, seeing more than 800 athletes take on the course from Blaenavon to the beautiful surroundings of Pontypool Park.
The first athlete home was Ben Miles (Cardiff Athletics) who stopped the clock in 30:55. Eric Apperley (Builth) was second in 31:23 ahead of Ryan Jones (Kirkby Milers) in 32:4036:48.
The winner of the women’s race was Polly Summers (Sarn Helen), who recorded a time of 36:48. Club-mate Dee Jolly was next in 38:38, ahead of Lubica Ford (Pont-Y-Pwl) in 39:17.
WELSH JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE - WEST 3 – CARMARTHEN, JULY 14
Almost 300 athletes took part in the Welsh Junior Development League fixture in Carmarthen on Sunday.
Among the notable performances was the sprint double by Finnley Austin (Neath Harriers), who won the Under-15 boys 100m in a new personal best of 11.9 and the 200m in 24.3.
Meanwhile Katriel Udoh (Swansea Harriers) won the Under-13 high jump in a season’s best 1.53m before going on to win the 100m in a PB of 13.1.
Udoh’s victories helped Swansea Harriers win the team event on the day with a total of 2313.50, ahead of Carmarthen Harriers with 1276.50 and Bridgend Athletics 1042.
AMMANFORD 10KM 2024 – JULY 14
Dewi Griffiths (Swansea Harriers) won the Ammanford 10k for the second year running on Sunday morning.
The Commonwealth Games distance runner, who has been enjoying a successful summer on the roads, won the race last year in a time of 30:58 and repeated the feat at the weekend crossing the line in 30.21.
Griffiths finished almost three minutes ahead of Michael Roderick (Tri Hard Harriers), who crossed the line in 33:18. Craig Merriman was third in 34:08.
The women’s race was won by Griffiths’ fellow Swansea Harrier Sioned Howells, who earlier this year ran a personal best of 2:46.27 at the London Marathon.
On Sunday, Howells won in a time of 37:12, enjoying a similar winning margin to Griffiths, ahead of Sarah Howard (Port Talbot Harriers) in 40:10 and Tifanie Lewis (Amman Valley Harriers) in 42:33.
The Crib Goch Welsh Junior Mountain Running Championships also took place this weekend and we are awaiting the results, congratulations to everyone who participated.
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