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Eilish McColgan sets British and European 10k record at Great Manchester Run

Eilish McColgan set a British and European 10km record as she finished runner-up at the Great Manchester Run.

Dundee's McColgan, 31, took two seconds off Paula Radcliffe's mark from 2003 with a time of 30 minutes 19 seconds, four seconds behind Hellen Obiri.

Obiri's fellow Kenyans Ruth Chepngetich (30:29) and Sharon Lokedi (31:05) were third and fourth.

Charlotte Purdue was seventh (32:55) with fellow Briton Steph Twell (33:12) eighth.

The men's race was won by New Zealand's Jake Robertson in 28:06, ahead of Australian Jack Reyner, with Liverpool's Abdulqani Sharif in fifth place.

More than 20,000 racers took part, with applause before the start for the 22 victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena terror attack, on its fifth anniversary.

(05/23/2022) Views: 145 ⚡AMP

Hellen Obiri and Eilish McColgan will renew rivalry at the Great Manchester run

Last September Hellen Obiri beat Eilish McColgan by six seconds in the Great North Run and this Sunday (May 22) the duo renew their rivalry over the shorter distance of 10km at the Great Manchester Run.

McColgan has been in brilliant form, with a UK 5km record at the start of this month followed by victory in the Vitality London 10,000 where she missed Paula Radcliffe’s British record of 30:21 by only two seconds.

Obiri’s achievements make her the athlete to beat, though. As well as winning two world 5000m titles on the track, the Kenyan is the reigning Commonwealth 5000m champion and world cross-country gold medalist.

McColgan chose to give last week’s Night of the 10,000m PBs in London a miss in order to focus on training in the French Pyrenees. She will hope to push Obiri close again but the quality fields assembled for Manchester mean this won’t just be a two-horse race.

Ruth Chepnegetich defied horrendous heat and humidity to win the world marathon title in Doha in 2019 and the Kenyan has clocked 64:02 for the half-marathon, which was a world record when she ran it 13 months ago but has since been beaten by Letesenbet Gidey.

Sara Hall of the United States will be familiar to British fans after her runner-up performance at the 2020 London Marathon. She also held the US half-marathon record until recently, has a marathon best of 2:20:32 and is looking for a strong run in Manchester on Sunday.

Gerda Steyn, the South African ultra-marathon specialist, is also set to test her speed over 10km.

In addition to McColgan there are of course a number of other Brits in the elite women’s race. They include Jess Piasecki, the Stockport Harriers athlete who went No.2 on the UK all-time marathon rankings earlier this year with 2:22:27.

Steph Twell, the Tokyo Olympic marathon runner, is racing in Manchester ahead of the European Cup 10,000m in France a few days later.

After finishing ninth in the Boston Marathon in 2:25:26 in April, Charlotte Purdue also lines up in Manchester. Look out, too, for Lauren Heyes, Lily Partridge and Calli Thackery, the latter of whom is also racing at the Diamond League in Birmingham 24 hours earlier.

Like Thackery, Stewart McSweyn is also racing in Birmingham the day before the Manchester event as he continues to try to race himself into shape following a bout of Covid. He is joined by fellow Australian Jack Rayner plus New Zealand brothers Jake and Zane Robertson and Spaniard Antonio Abadia in the men’s 10km.

Sadly Mo Farah pulled out of the event following his under-par run at the Vitality London 10,000 earlier this month. But the winner that day, Ellis Cross, is set to race in Manchester and all eyes will be on him to see if he can repeat his form.

Mo Aadan, the Brit who finished third at the Vitality London 10,000, is in Manchester too. Further British contenders, meanwhile, include Ben Connor, Chris Thompson, Adam Craig, Josh Griffiths, Ross Millington, Phil Sesemann and Andrew Heyes.

(05/20/2022) Views: 140 ⚡AMP
by Jason Henderson

Sir Mo Farah will be targeting his eight victory at the Vitality London 10,000 as his first race back since picking up an injury last year

More than 16,500 people will take part in the Vitality London 10,000 on Bank Holiday Monday May 2, headed by elite races that will see Sir Mo Farah returning to racing for the first time since June 2021 and the event debut of in-form Eilish McColgan, who could threaten Paula Radcliffe’s 19-year-old British and European 10K record.

Sir Mo is the most successful athlete in the history of the Vitality London 10,000, with seven victories to his name, and the multiple world and Olympic champion will use this year’s event as his first race back since picking up an injury last year while trying to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The 39-year-old will face his long-time friend and adversary Chris Thompson, as well as Phil Sesemann, the first British finisher at last year’s London Marathon. Andy Butchart, however, has had to withdraw from the race.

McColgan comes into the elite women’s race in red-hot form having smashed the British 5K record in Malaga, Spain, last Sunday (April 24). The Scottish star is already the owner of the women’s only British 10K record (30:52), which she set at the Great Manchester Run last year.

Only two British women have ever run faster over 10K than McColgan: Radcliffe, whose European and British record stands at 30:21, and McColgan’s mum, Liz Nuttall (formerly McColgan) who is the Scottish record holder with her personal best of 30:39 set in Orlando in 1989.

McColgan said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my 2022 season than to set a new British 5K record in my first race. Now I’m really looking forward to coming back to the UK and running the Vitality London 10,000 and seeing what shape I am in over 10K.”

Joining McColgan in the elite women’s field is two-time Vitality London 10,000 champion Steph Twell and Jess Piasecki, the sixth fastest British woman of all time over 10K. Charlotte Purdue, who was ninth at The Boston Marathon earlier this month and was due to race, has had to withdraw due to illness.

A record 18 wheelchair athletes will take part this year, with the field led by Paralympic stars David Weir and Shelly Woods.

There will be 10 start waves at the Vitality London 10,000, including a Run for Ukraine wave, where the 2,000 entrants are encouraged to wearing blue and yellow and fundraise for the Ukraine relief effort. One hundred per cent of the discounted £15 entry fees for this wave will be donated by organisers London Marathon Events to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Anthony Seddon, 40, from Brighton, is one of those who will be joining the Run for Ukraine wave, as part of a 1,569-mile fundraising challenge to raise money for a cause that means so much to him.

Anthony’s wife Anna is Ukrainian and he is running 10 kilometres for as long as it takes to complete 1,569 miles – the distance between the football grounds of Brighton and Hove Albion, the club he supports, and Anna’s favourite football team in her home town of Dnipro.

Anna’s mother has fled Ukraine to live with the couple in Brighton, but the remainder of her family remain in the war-torn country.

Anthony said: “Anna has many friends and family still in Dnipro, some unable to leave but most wanting to stay in their homes.

I met Anna while watching England play football at the Euro 2012 tournament. As it was football that brought us together, I have committed to run those 1,569 miles, the distance from Brighton’s Amex Stadium to the Dnipro Arena by way of running events like the Vitality London 10,000 and other half and full marathons until I complete the distance.

“Between our fundraising page and money donated by friends and family beforehand we have managed to send more than £16,000 of aid so far and we hope we can send so much more. Every penny we raise is spent solely on medical aid.”

After a successful first edition in 2019, the Celebrate You wave returns to this year’s Vitality London 10,000 to promote the mental health benefits that regular exercise delivers.

The wave of 1,000 participants will be led by Celebrate You co-founder, journalist and author Bryony Gordon who will be running her 10th consecutive 10K as part of her ‘10 days of 10Ks’ challenge to promote the importance of activity for mental health and the peer support group Mental Health Mates that she founded in 2016.

Also running in the Celebrate You wave are theatre star Carrie Hope Fletcher, body positivity influencers and models Shareefa J and Jade Seabrook and Helen Thorn, one half of the comedy duo Scummy Mummies.

The Vitality Westminster Mile, staged in partnership with Westminster City Council, takes place on Sunday 1 May, with thousands of participants taking on a series of mile events throughout the day from 10:00 to 14:30.

Among the 15 waves on the day are the #RunforRuth wave for the Ruth Strauss Foundation, led by Sir Andrew Strauss, and a Special Olympics GB Unified Mile. There are also nine family waves, a parkrun wave and a junior wheelchair athletes wave. Parents or guardians have been able to register children under-12 for free.

The free Vitality Wellness Festival takes place in Green Park on both days, featuring exciting free activities for children on the Sunday and the chance to run on the Vitality Tumbleator, a giant treadmill, on both days.

The events share one of the most stunning Start and Finish Lines in sport, with The Mall providing the setting for an iconic start and Buckingham Palace as the backdrop for a stunning finish.

The Vitality London 10,000 will be broadcast live on BBC Sport Online, iPlayer and Red Button, as well as the Vitality London 10,000 Facebook page, from 09:45 to 11:45.

(04/28/2022) Views: 163 ⚡AMP

Mo Farah’s racing comeback gathers pace

After his disappointing season last year he talked about having one last hurrah – a big farewell race somewhere to mark the end of a career that has brought him, among other things, 10 global track titles.

But there is now speculation he could be involved in this summer’s major championships on the track. Who knows, a return to the London Marathon in October could even be on the cards too.

Firstly, let’s stick to what we know. As Farah is racing 10km on the roads of London on May 2 and Manchester on May 22, this means we can pretty much rule him out of racing in the Müller Birmingham Diamond League on May 21.

Farah does not seem afraid of putting his reputation on the line either, incidentally, as the Great Manchester Run is also set to feature Stewart McSweyn, the Australian who holds the Oceania record for 1500m, mile and 3000m in addition to having clocked 27:23.80 for 10,000m on the track.

In addition, Andy Butchart is set to race and has been in good shape recently after having run 27:36.77 for 10,000m in California this month to break Ian Stewart’s 45-year-old Scottish record.

So if Farah’s road races in May go well, what are his options? Surprisingly he has never won a Commonwealth title and with the event on home soil in Birmingham it must be tempting.

The consensus is that he would struggle on the track against the likes of Joshua Cheptegei and Selemon Barega in the World Championships in Oregon in July. But Christian Malcolm, the head coach of the British team, has suggested it is “50/50”.

Speaking as last weekend’s World Indoor Championships in Belgrade drew to a close, Malcolm said: “Sir Mo is working hard and training. We will see how he goes in the summer. But he’s at that age now where you have to take it week-by-week, month-by-month, see where you are at in training.”

On the chances of him competing in Oregon, Malcolm added: “It’s possible. We don’t know at the moment. It’s 50-50 if I am being honest with you. Hopefully we will know a little bit more over the next six weeks.

As for the Great Manchester Run, Farah last took part in the event in 2018 when he outkicked Moses Kipsiro to clock 28:27.

Farah said: “I’m pleased to say the injury problems I had last year are now behind me, training has been going well and I am happy with the shape I am showing.

“Any time I race in the UK it is exciting for me because I love running in front of my home fans and I want to give my best for them.  I had an amazing reception in Manchester when I won the event in 2018 so I’m looking forward to racing on the streets of the city again later this year.”

It will be fascinating to see if Farah’s form during May is close to his best or whether there is little improvement on last year when he struggled at the British 10,000m Championships in Birmingham to clock 27:50.64 before barely improving three weeks later to run  27:47.04 in an invitation 10,000m at the Olympic trials in Manchester.

How will he fare, too, if he comes up against the rising force of Marc Scott, who beat Farah in Birmingham last year despite not being 100% fit himself and has since won the Great North Run, clocked 12:57.08 for 5000m indoors and on Saturday won bronze in the 3000m at the World Indoor Championships?

Distance running legend returns to the roads of London and Manchester in May but what else does the summer of 2022 hold in store?

After signing up to race the Vitality London 10,000 on the roads of the British capital on May 2, Mo Farah has now announced he will be running the Great Manchester Run on May 22.

Despite turning 39 years old March 23 and enduring an injury-hit summer in 2021 which saw him fail to make the British Olympic team for Tokyo, there are signs he could be entering a surprisingly busy racing period.

(03/26/2022) Views: 171 ⚡AMP
by Athletics Weekly

Eilish McColgan breaks UK 10 mile national record

Scottish runner breaks Paula Radcliffe’s national mark and Sonia O’Sullivan’s course record on the roads of Portsmouth

Eilish McColgan ended her season in style as she sliced almost half a minute off Paula Radcliffe’s UK record for 10 miles and 17 seconds from Sonia Sullivan’s course record at the Great South Run with 50:43.

The 30-year-old also took nearly a minute off her 51:38 PB as she won the event for the third time on Sunday (Oct 17).

O’Sullvan’s course record of 51:00 had stood since 2002 whereas Radcliffe’s national record of 51:11 was set in 2008 shortly before she won the New York City Marathon.

This is not the first of Radcliffe’s records that McColgan has broken this year either. In August she beat Radcliffe’s UK 5000m mark with 14:28.55 in Oslo. This means her marathon debut will be much anticipated, although she will do well to get close to Radcliffe’s fearsome UK and former world record of 2:15:25.

Like Radcliffe, McColgan seems in her element on the roads. This autumn alone she has won the Great Manchester Run in 30:52 and finished runner-up to Hellen Obiri in the Great North Run in 67:48. All this after a long track season, too, which included finishing ninth in the Olympic 10,000m final in Tokyo in August.

In addition, McColgan also continues to improve on the formidable performances of her mother. Liz Nuttall-McColgan (photo with daughter) won the Great South Run twice in the mid-1990s with a best of 52:00.

(10/17/2021) Views: 400 ⚡AMP

Bristol 10K runner disqualified after accidentally winning half-marathon

When Omar Ahmed made a wrong turn in the 10K event of the Great Bristol Run, little did he know that he would run an extra 12km to win the half marathon and then get disqualified.

The two courses diverged at one point and Ahmed, who entered the 10K as an elite runner, went the wrong way to finish the half-marathon with a time of 1:03:08 -- nearly five minutes ahead of the competition.

"Rules are rules and in this case they say we have to disqualify Omar," Paul Foster, chief executive of The Great Run Company, was quoted as saying by the BBC.

"We salute his performance and he has been invited to take part in next week's Great Manchester Run as an elite athlete. Of course, we also look forward to welcoming him back to Bristol for 2022's Great Bristol Run."

As a result, Chris Thompson who finished with a time of 1:07:53 was adjudged the winner of Sunday's race.

The 10K and half marathon are usually held in different months. Both races were cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic

(09/25/2021) Views: 287 ⚡AMP

The Great North Run has been Cancelled

This year’s Great North Run in September has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The iconic half marathon race, which raises more than £25 million for charity, was due to take place on 13 September, but race organisers have now confirmed it will not go ahead due to health risks.

A statement read: “Today, we have confirmed the cancellation of the 2020 Great North Run. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic mean it isn’t possible to stage the event as planned this year.

The 40th Great North Run is now scheduled to take place on 12 September 2021, while the Great Manchester Run on 6 September has also been cancelled, with its next edition of the race set for 23 May, 2021.

Runners who had their place confirmed by the 2020 Ballot or through membership have the option of rolling their entry over to next year. While charity runners should wait to be contacted directly in the coming days or weeks to secure a place at next year’s race.

While the rescheduled London Marathon remains on for now, with 4 October the revised date.

(06/15/2020) Views: 659 ⚡AMP

Kenyan Hellen Obiri is aiming for success over 5000m and 10,000m at IAAF World Championships Doha

Hellen Obiri has revealed she will target IAAF World Championships success over both 5000m and 10,000m in Doha this summer as part of her plan to bow out from track competition on a high.

The Kenyan won gold over the shorter distance in London two years ago and is focused on retaining her title in the Qatari capital. She admits, however, that a full-time switch to road running is in the offing after next year’s Tokyo Olympics and, with that in mind, also wants to tackle the 25-lap event for the first time.

“My main target is to retain my title and then most probably I will focus on the double – 5000m and 10,000m,” the 29-year-old said.

“I’ve not done the 10,000m on the track so I’m going to do it at the Kenyan trials (for the world championships). It’s very hard to even make the Kenyan team but of course I want to make it and then from there you can see me doubling in Doha.”

“What made up my mind is that I’m almost done with the track," she says,  "so I think I need to do final, final things. I have never done 10,000m on the track so I wanted to do it before I go to the roads, maybe from next year after the Olympics.

“I will do 10km and the half-marathon on the road from there and then maybe (move up to the marathon) in the coming years.”

Obiri will race over 10km on the roads this weekend as one of the star attractions at the Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run, where she will be looking to carry on what, thus far, has been a winning habit in 2019.

There was her impressive and memorable victory at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus back in March, which followed gold at the Kenyan Championships, while a marker was put down on her first track outing this year thanks to a fine 3000m win over a quality field which included 1500m world record-holder Genzebe Dibaba at the recent Diamond League meeting in Doha in a time of 8:25.60.

(05/18/2019) Views: 1,388 ⚡AMP
by Euan Crumley

Hellen Obiri, Steph Twell, Andy Vernon and Stanley Biwott are among the big names racing the Great Manchester 10km on Sunday

The Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run returns on Sunday, with a number of top elite athletes set to battle for titles ahead of the 30,000-strong mass race.

Kenya’s world 5000m and recent world cross country champion Hellen Obiri is making her debut at the event and will be faced with a field containing Ethiopia’s Tokyo marathon winner Ruta Aga, while two-time world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat also features, as does Ireland’s Fionnula McCormack.

A healthy British contingent is headed by Steph Twell, who won the Brighton 10km in 31:58 last month, and she is joined by Mhairi Maclennan, Jenny Nesbitt and Aly Dixon, who was recently named part of Britain’s IAU 50km World Championships team for the event in Romania in September.

Ugandan world cross silver medallist Jacob Kiplimo is fastest in the men’s field with a personal best of 26:41, though he will be facing the likes of Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, Boston Marathon runner-up this year, and Kenya’s 2015 New York marathon winner Stanley Biwott.

Mo Farah is not defending the title he won last year but the British presence will feature Nick Goolab, a man on form and the fastest Briton over 10km so far this year after breaking the course record with a run of 28:22 when winning in Brighton.

He will be joined by compatriots Emile Cairess, Ieuan Thomas and Dan Studley.

(05/17/2019) Views: 1,481 ⚡AMP

Mo Farah and Tirunesh Dibaba win Great Manchester 10K Sunday May 20

Britain's Olympic and world 10,000m champion Mo Farah said he felt "tired" after his first victory in the 10km Great Manchester Run. Farah, who finished third at the London Marathon last month, raced past Ugandan Moses Kipsiro with 100 metres left to win in 28 minutes 27 seconds. Abel Kirui of Kenya finished third, 25 seconds behind Farah. Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba won her third straight women's race, well ahead of Kenya's Joyciline Jepkosgei.  

Farah, who was appearing in the race for the first time since 2007, took part in a minute's silence before the race in tribute to the 22 people who died in last year's Manchester Arena bombing. For most of the race, the 35-year-old looked comfortable in warm conditions as he kicked past Kipsiro with 100 metres to go. But he said he was still recovering from breaking the British record at last month's marathon - his first event over the distance since switching his focus to road racing.

"I've got great speed and I know that at the end of the races I can use it if the guys haven't hurt me enough, so today was a matter of hanging in there," he told BBC Sport. "I was pretty tired. Having competed in the marathon not so long ago, today was hard work."

(05/20/2018) Views: 1,370 ⚡AMP

Tirunesh Dibaba had to drop out of the London Marathon but is now ready to defend her title in Manchester

The Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run this weekend has a top-class women’s elite field.  Ethiopian superstar Tirunesh Dibaba (pictured) returns to an event she has won no fewer than four times and to the course upon which she was impressively dominant last year. The triple Olympic champion will be in action for the first time since being forced to stop 30km into last month’s London Marathon, however, and will Face fierce opposition. Her toughest opponent will come in the form of Kenyan multiple world record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei, the only woman ever to run 10km in under 30 minutes. The 24-year-old initially broke the world record for the distance, as well as the marks for 15km and 20km on her way to also smashing the half-marathon world record in Prague in April last year. She clocked 30:04 for 10km on that occasion but returned to the Czech capital in September and lowered it further when she ran 29:43 at the Prague Grand Prix. Jepkosgei also improved on her half-marathon mark by a second when she ran 64:51 in Valencia last October. (05/18/2018) Views: 1,383 ⚡AMP
by Euan Crumley/ Athletics Weekly

Running helped Cameron Jones get his life back after being diagnosed with clinical depression

A film maker who was diagnosed with clinical depression will take part in the Great Manchester Run to raise money for mental health charity Mind. Cameron Jones, from Prestwich, said running has allowed him to get his life back on track after mental ill-health caused him to drop out of university last year. The 20-year-old, who runs OH GOSH Productions, said he felt ‘completely out of control’ when he plunged into depression in October last year, just weeks after starting the second year of his film production degree in London. He said: “I will never know the causes for sure, but I mostly think that it was my university lifestyle which rendered me unable to cope with the stress and suffering of life. “A complete lack of routine, uncertainty surrounding my career in the future, and using substances to produce good feelings, as opposed to feeling good through hard work and achievement. Keen to get his life back on track, Cameron moved home and took up running with his friend Henry Williams. (05/18/2018) Views: 1,228 ⚡AMP

Mo Farah Leads the All-Star Cast At Great Manchester Run 10K

Mo Farah is now a full-time marathoner, his history in the shorter distances gives him an advantage over the field. Stanley Biwott, Feyisa Lilesa, and Abel Kirui are also scheduled to race, making this a battle among some of the most accomplished marathoners in the world.  Less than a month after his third-place finish at the London Marathon, Mo Farah will return to the streets of Great Britain. On Sunday at the Great Manchester Run, the 10-time global champion will race a 10K—the distance that provided him with some of the greatest triumphs of his career. Six-time gold medalist and 5000m world record holder Tirunesh Dibaba makes up one half of a dynamic women’s field. The 32-year-old has made winning the Great Manchester Run a staple of her career. She’s won the race on seven occasions, including last year where she took the victory by over two minutes.  Winning on Sunday will be much more difficult. Waiting for her in Manchester is Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya. Jepkosgei doesn’t have the global championships like Dibaba, but she has fast times. Lots of them. (05/17/2018) Views: 1,340 ⚡AMP

Sir Mo Farah heads a field of superstars as the world's best go head to head in Europe's biggest 10k

British marathon record holder and four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah heads a field packed with road-running superstars as the world's best go head to head in Europe's biggest 10k. The Great Manchester Run, established in 2003, is an annual 10K run through Greater Manchester in the UK. Sir Mo's greatest threat is Kenya's 2017 world marathon champion Geoffrey Kirui. The African nation are also well represented in the women's race with 10k and half marathon world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei taking on 2015 champion Betsy Saina. But it is not just the world's elite taking to the streets of Manchester. Over 30,000 competitors line up for the 10k and half marathon routes to raise money and awareness for many good causes. One year on from the bombing, the city, united, runs together. (05/14/2018) Views: 1,462 ⚡AMP

A man paralysed from the waist down after the Manchester Arena bombing is taking part in the Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run

Martin Hibbert, from Bolton, whose injuries were described as the equivalent of ‘being shot 22 times at point blank range’, suffered a T10 complete spinal injury when he was stood just 30 feet away from the bomb when it detonated. But the 41-year-old football agent has defied the odds and will line up on the start line in Manchester city center this month determined to finish the 10k distance in under an hour. He will take part in a racing wheelchair alongside former Paralympian Richie Powell and best friend Lee Freeman. He said: “Anyone who knows me knows how determined I am. “It’s going to be a huge challenge for me to use my arms to push myself around the course, but I will do it. “Richie and Lee have been a huge support and have been at my side throughout the whole of my training and it will be a proud moment for me personally when we cross the finish line. The Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run will take place just two days before the anniversary of the attack, and a one minute’s silence will be observed as a mark of respect to the victims. (05/08/2018) Views: 1,387 ⚡AMP