2nd December 2019

WEEKEND UPDATE - 02/12/2019

Valencia Marathon, 1 December 2019

Stephanie Davis (Philip Kissi; Clapham Chasers) was the latest female athlete to grab an Olympic marathon qualifying standard as she finished eighth at the Valencia event.

Improving her best to 2:27:40 from 2:32:38 which she set in London, Davis moved to ninth of the UK all-time list over the marathon ahead of 2012 Olympian, Claire Hallissey. She’s the fourth British female athlete to run inside the qualifying standard for the Tokyo Olympic Games in the last few months, joining Jess Piasecki, Charlotte Purdue and Steph Twell.

Other notable results in the women’s marathon saw a top ten finish for Hayley Carruthers (Daniel Robinson; Birchfield Harriers) in a career best time of 2:32:42 and Eleanor Davies (Helen Clitheroe; Preston) was 12th in a PB of 2:33:24.

In the men’s event, Charlie Hulson (Liverpool Harriers), running his first marathon, clocked an impressive 2:14:22 while Stockport’s Andrew Davies (Steve Vernon) followed closely in 2:14:36.

Results

 

10K Valencia Trinidad Alfonso, Spain, 1 December

Adam Clarke (Geoff Watkin; Aldershot, Farnham & District) moved up to fourth in the British rankings for 2019 after clocking 28:38 to finish fifth in the Valencia 10K on Sunday.

Clarke’s effort saw him shave nearly 50 seconds off his previous best of 29:28 set in  home as the second European in the race, narrowly missing out on fourth spot as he cut the tape in the same time as Kenya’s Reiben Longosiwa, just outside the podium places.

Josh Grace (Watkin; AFD) also produced a good run to take ninth position, lowering his own personal best by 22-seconds to 28:59. Tracey Barlow (Tom Craggs; Thames Valley) was the first British woman across the line in third spot, clocking 33:45 for a spot on the podium, just a couple of seconds outside her season’s best, as Sarah Astin (Pauline Ash; City of Norwich) claimed fifth in a personal best 34:07.

Results

 

Ultra-Trail Cape Town, South Africa, 30 November 

International ultra-runner Beth Pascall (Martin Cox; Belper) claimed victory Ultra-Trail Cape Town event, covering the 100km course which included 4300 metres of ascent, in a course record of 10 hours, 55 minutes and 25 seconds. Meryl Cooper (Martin Cox) – who competed at the ITRA / IAU World Trail Championships this summer – was sixth in the women’s standings in 12:40:38.

Results