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Weekend Round-Up (3-4 August)
05/08/2024 00:00, In Blog /
MURDER MILE 2024 – CROSS KEYS, AUGUST 2
The Murder Mile is reputed to be one of the toughest in the country and is included in the Runner's World list of 10 hardest races.
To make the challenge that little bit tougher, the event was run in wet and windy conditions, however the women’s race was won in a new course record of 9:37 by Ceri Merwood (CDF Runners). Lucy Williamson (Mynydd Du) was second in 9:42, ahead of Emma Wookey (Lliswerry Runners) in 11:10.
The winner of the men’s race was Lloyd Cottrell (Liswerry) in 8:15, ahead of Sam Griffiths (Caldicott Running Club) in 8:29 and Adam Whittaker (CDF Runners) in 8:36.
OLYMPIC GAMES, PARIS – AUGUST 3
Jeremiah Azu (Cardiff Athletics) suffered individual 100m Olympic heartache in Paris on Saturday morning.
Wales’ fastest ever sprinter was disqualified after being adjudged to have false started in the first-round heats.
In a packed stadium of around 80,000 people, Azu was drawn in heat one against the likes of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, who would go on to win a silver medal in the final.
But as the starter’s pistol rang out around the vast bowl of the Stade De France, Azu was deemed to have jumped the gun by the narrowest of margins.
Despite the 23-year-old’s protestations to officials and pleas to be allowed to run under protest, he was ordered to leave the track.
The Welshman claimed he had reacted to a sound in the stadium, which was also hosting pole vault qualification at the same time.
An understandably upset Azu spoke to the media shortly after his disqualification, showing commendable composure under the circumstances.
"Honestly I reacted to a sound,” Azu told the BBC immediately after his disqualification.
"It's a shame, the crowd is so excited, they have got the pole vault going on, the French fans are in here.
"It's a shame they did not let me run under protest. I am not sure what rules are being used.
"I was saying I want to run under protest. Any other race they allow you to run and then afterwards you review it. It's the Olympics so it is clearly different rules."
Azu said he would be launching an appeal against the decision in the hope of being advanced to the semi-finals.
Unfortunately, the appeal was dismissed and he must now try to overcome his disappointment and concentrate on preparing for the 4x100m relay.
The first round of the men’s 4x100m relay is scheduled to take place on the morning of August 8.
OLYMPIC GAMES, PARIS – TEAM UPDATE, JULY 3
Welsh marathon record holder Clara Evans (Pontypridd Roadents) has been called up to the Great Britain team in Paris to replace the injured Charlotte Purdue.
Evans will now line up in the women’s marathon on the streets of Paris on August 11 instead of Purdue, who has suffered an ankle injury.
Earlier this year, Evans finished ninth in the half marathon representing GB at the European Athletics Championships in Rome, where she won team gold alongside Calli Thackery, Abbie Donnelly and Lauren McNeill.
In 2022, Evans finished ninth representing Wales in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, before going on to break the Welsh record at the Valencia Marathon last December, setting a new mark of 2:25.01.
NATIONAL ATHLETICS LEAGUE – CHAMPIONSHIP PROMOTION FIXTURE – BEDFORD – AUGUST 3
Swansea Harriers and Cardiff Athletics missed out on promotion to the National Athletics League Premiership as Shaftsbury Barnet and City of Sheffield booked their places in the top flight.
However, both Welsh clubs enjoyed some excellent individual performances on the day.
They included Hannah Tapley (Cardiff Athletics) winning the high jump, while Under 20 athlete Nicolas Maczugowski (Cardiff Athletics) dipped under 54sec for the first time after running a huge personal best of 53.22sec in the 400m hurdles.
In the women’s 800m, Cardiff also led the way as Rhiannon Hawker and Anna-Rose Merchant each enjoyed comfortable wins.
Swansea’s sprinters came to the fore in the 100m as Stanislav Kovalenko and Dan Beadsley ran wind-assisted times of 10.39sec and 10.42sec.
The club enjoyed another clean sweep in the men’s 110m hurdles as Jake Cover ran a legal PB of 14.55sec, with Evan Cole running a wind-assisted 15.63sec.
Rio 2016 Olympian Seren Bundy-Davies (Trafford) took second behind fellow Welsh athlete Hannah Brier (Swansea Harriers) in the 400m.
Swansea Harrier and Tokyo 2020 Olympian Joe Brier produced a superb 46.52sec over the same distance.
There were further impressive Welsh performances at the Premiership fixture in Birmingham, where James Tomlinson (Birchfield Harriers) won the discus by nearly 10 metres, courtesy of a best throw of 57.17m.
HERCULES WIMBLEDON 5,000M FESTIVAL – ERYRI, AUGUST 3
Dafydd Jones (Swansea Harriers) was an impressive winner at the Hercules Wimbledon 5,000m Festival on Friday evening, dipping under the 14 minute mark for the first time.
His time of 13:53.60 saw him claim victory over Herne Hill's Sam Bramwell in the 10th race of the evening by two seconds, and finish as the fastest runner across all the races.
Lloyd Sheppard-Brown (Cardiff Athletics) finished just one second outside of a P.B. with a time of 14:16.58.
OGWEN 10 & OGWEN 25 YR HELGI DU – ERYRI, AUGUST 3
The Ogwen 25 – Yr Helgu Du, which includes epic trails and technical terrain, took place in Eryri’s spectacular Ogwen Valley on Saturday.
The 25k men’s race was won by Alex Homei in 2:25.25, ahead of Joao Normand in 2:31.55 and Jack Craig 2:34.26.
The first woman home was Bethan Long (Mynydd Du) who was also fifth overall as she clocked 2:46.58. Long was followed across the line by Sanne Vinks (Pris Hendrik) in 2:47.31, while Tina Vinks was the third woman home, in ninth place overall, clocking 2:53.26.
The men’s 10k race was won by John Atherstone, who stopped the clock in 45:45, ahead of Grant Hudson in 45:52 and Chris Berrington (GOG Triathlon Club) in 48:21.
The first woman to finish was Anna Atherstone in 53:30, with Jessica Storey second in 54:32 and Janelle Dexter-Lowe in 57:49.
LLANTHONY SHOW SENIOR FELL RACE 2024 – AUGUST 3
This year’s overall winner was Thomas Black (MDC), who led the way home in 29:58, followed in by Jonathan Ford (Mynydd Du) in 30:30 and Max Murdoch in 31:28.
The women’s race was won by Beth Rawlinson in 33:15, ahead of Rhian Probert (Mynydd Du) in 33:49 and Katie Ironside (MDC) in 37:14.