26 October 2009

BUPA Great South Run, Portsmouth, 25 October

MO FARAH (Newham & Essex Beagles) won the BUPA Great South Run over 10 miles in the third best ever by a GB athlete clocking 46:25. He had to produce a great finish to secure the victory by one second after being off the pace when South Africa’s Stephen Mokoka went clear in the sunny but blistery conditions. Farah said: “we went through 10km and I knew it was quite fast, but I knew the final two miles would be windy and I thought that I had to save some energy." His time moves him to third on the all-time lists behind Richard Nerurkar (46:02) and Gary Staines (46:11), both times being set in 1993 at Twickenham and Portsmouth respectively. Scott Overall (Blackheath & Bromley) finished in fourth place in a fine 48:00 with Phil Wicks (Belgrave) also running a great race in seventh place with 48:38.

Ines Monteiro front ran the women’s race to win in a new Portuguese national best of 52:32, with her compatriot, Ana Dulce Felix, 26 seconds behind and Benita Johnson, Australia, third in 54:41. Pre-race favourite, Catherine Ndereba, the two-time world marathon champion, finished in a distant fifth. Claire Hallissey, who finished 25th at the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham two weeks ago, was Britain’s top finisher in seventh with 55:46. Faye Fullerton (Havering Mayesbrook) finished one place behind Hallissey in eighth with 56:28 and Katrina Wootton (Bedford & County) claimed ninth place with a time of 57:16.

Stroud Half Marathon, 25 October

KATE GOODHEAD (Bristol & West) finished second female in 77:49 (24th overall) behind Genet Measso 76:36 (20th overall). The men’s race was won by Neil Renault (Medway & Maidstone) in 66:08.

Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon, Frankfurt, Germany, 25 October

IN THE women’s race Holly Rush (Bath) finished in 15th place in a time of 2:37.46 which was only 11 seconds outside her pb and it takes her to sixth place in the Power of Ten rankings.

Birmingham Cross Challenge, 24 October

THE men’s race was won by Jean Ndayesinga (Birchfield) in 30:25 from Tom Humphreys (Cannock & Stafford) 30:45 and Chris Davies (Telford) 30:52. In the women’s race Kate Avery (Shildon U20) started her season in fine form with victory in 22:38 from Kirsty Milner (Trafford U23) 22:50 and Sara Treacy (Moynalvey U23) 22:57. The women’s U20 race was won by Emily Stewart (Kingdom Athletics) in 13:37 from Vicky Fouhy (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow) 13:39. The women’s U17 race was won by Melissa Hawtin (Oxford) 13:49 from Amber Watson (Stroud & District) 14:15 and Sally Hogan (Bromsgrove & Redditch) 14:58. Ton Curr (Stroud & District) won the men’s U17 race in 17:28 from Jack Gray (Birmingham Rowheath) 17:57 and Fergus O’Reilly (Bournemouth) 18:04.