HOME STARS LOOKING FOR BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALS AT THE VITALITY BIG HALF

While Sir Mo Farah and Callum Hawkins will both have eyes on the overall prize of victory at The Vitality Big Half on Sunday (4 March), there is also the chance to double up and win the British Championship in the process.

The Vitality Big Half, which is being held for the first time this year, will incorporate the British Half Marathon Championships and has attracted some of the best distance runners in the country.

Farah (Gary Lough, Newham & Essex Beagles) and Hawkins (Robert Hawkins, Kilbarchan) are the top two British names in the men’s field, especially now the other main home contender Dewi Griffiths (Kevin Evans, Swansea) has been forced to withdraw through injury.

Another British male contender hoping to make the podium is Jonny Mellor (Steve Vernon, Liverpool Harriers) who is ranked fifth over the distance this year after a 63:17 clocking in Barcelona last month.

Other British men hoping to be in the mix are: Tsegai Tewelde (John Mackay, Shettleston), Matthew Sharp (Geoff Watkin, Enfield & Haringey), Josh Griffiths (Swansea Harriers), Luke Caldwell (Nic Bideau, Dorking & Mole Valley), Aaron Scott (Nick Anderson, Lincoln Wellington), Alex Teuten (Roderick Lock, Southampton), Kris Jones (Swansea Harriers) and Will Richardson (Peter Stewart, Birchfield Harriers).

The women’s race has brought together some of the very best British distance runners, led by Lily Partridge (Aldershot Farnham & District) who leads the UK standings over the distance with her 71:06 time at the Seville event in late January.

Among the other elite entries in the women’s contest gunning for British Championship medals are: Alyson Dixon (self-coached, Sunderland Strollers) and Charlotte Purdue (Nic Bideau, Aldershot Farnham & District) as well as Sonia Samuels (Sale Harriers Manchester) and Tracey Barlow who both enjoyed morale boosting performances in Barcelona earlier in February.

Also in the field are Louise Small (Mick Woods, Aldershot Farnham & District), who was second in the English Cross-Country Championships on Saturday), Tracy Barlow (Nick Anderson, Thames Valley Harriers), Rebecca Murray (Alex Stanton, Bedford & County), Jenny Spink (Bruce Tulloh, Bristol & West), Faye Fullerton (Havering), Charlotte Arter (James Thie, Cardiff)

The Vitality Big Half starts at Tower Bridge and finishes in Greenwich, passing through the boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham and Greenwich.