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Weekend Round-Up (16th & 17th March)
18/03/2024 00:00, In Blog /
DUDINSKA 50 – SLOVAKIA, MARCH 16
Race walker Gracie Griffiths (Pembrokeshire Harriers) produced a brilliant performance to claim a new 10K personal best in Slovakia on Saturday morning.
Representing Wales at the prestigious annual Dudinska 50 World Athletics Race Walk Tour Gold Label event, Griffiths was competing against some of the world’s top athletes.
The recent UK Athletics Indoor Championships 3,000m silver medallist put in a strong performance with an impressive finish to clock a time of 50:46 and claim an excellent 8th place finish.
The time puts Griffiths 15th on the all-time UK Under-20 fastest list and 3rd in the all-time Welsh rankings. It was also agonisingly close to the qualifying standard for the World Race Walking Team Championships which will be held in Antalya, Turkey, next month.
SPORTSHOES PODIUM FESTIVAL – LEICESTER, MARCH 16
Double Welsh Commonwealth Games representative Melissa Courtney-Bryant (Poole AC) clocked a new 5K road PB in a high-class field at the SportShoes Podium Festival at New College, Leicester.
Lining up in the Elite Women’s 5K, which was rattling along at close to world record pace at the half-way mark, Courtney-Bryant finished 5th in 15:27 behind Asmarech Anley, of Ethiopia, who broke the tape in 14:59.
This was Courtney-Bryant’s first road 5K since 2017 and the 2018 Commonwealth Games 1500m bronze medallist took 31 seconds off her previous best time.
Fellow Welsh Commonwealth Games athlete Jenny Nesbitt (Pontypridd Roadents) finished 13th in the same race, stopping the clock in 15:41.
The Men’s Elite race featured the likes of Olympic 1500m champion Jake Wightman and was won by 5K world Champion Hagos Gebrhiwet, who crossed the line in 13:19 – the fastest time recorded on the roads, in the UK over 5K.
The first Welsh athlete home was Ben Reynolds (Cardiff Athletics) who finished 33rd in 14:19.
2WISH GREAT WELSH MARATHON EVENTS 2024 – PEMBREY, MARCH 17
Dan Osborne-Nash (Cardiff Athletics) and Hayley Weston (Romsey Road Runners) took the honours in the 2Wish Great Welsh Marathon, which started and finished at Pembrey Country Park on Sunday morning.
Osborne-Nash, who has represented Great Britain at the European and World IAU 50K Championships, won the men’s race in 2:27.19, well ahead of Dominic Perry, who was second in 2:40.31 and Mike Bryant (Swansea Harriers) in 2:42.08.
Weston won the women’s race in 3:07.24, ahead of Rebecca Stone, who claimed second place in 3:24.38 and Angharad Roberts, who crossed the line in 3:28.18.
As well as the marathon, there was a half marathon to contest along the Llanelli coastline.
First to complete the 13.1mile men’s race was World Athletics Championships marathoner Josh Griffiths (Swansea Harriers), who claimed the win in 1:08.34.
Michael Roderick (Tri Hard Harriers) was second in 1:10.24 and Will Gadd (Pontypridd Roadents) was third in 1:12.11.
The women’s half marathon was won by Lydia Shaw in 1:30.23 ahead of Sophie Bowerman (Clapham Chasers) in 1:36.15 and Martha Ifan (Run Grangetown), who was 3rd in 1:42.41.
MERTHYR HALF MARATHON 2024 – MARCH 17
Taking in the historic Trevithick and Taff Trails, Merthyr Half Marathon attracted a large entry on Sunday morning.
Lauren Cooper (Western Tempo) followed up her win in the Newport Half Marathon earlier this month by taking the honours in the women’s race.
The former Welsh 3,000m steeplechase record holder crossed the line at Merthyr College in 1:25.28. Second place went to Naomi Sutton (RUN4ALL Neath) in 1:28.39, with Wendy Price (Amman Valley Harriers) 3rd in 1:34.26
The men’s race was won by Jonathon Astley (Parc Bryn Bach Running Club) in 1:18.26, ahead of Tim Spencer (Aberdare AAC) in 1:20.04 and Andrew Reddy (Aberdare AAC) in 1:20.24.
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