Running News Daily

Barnaba Kipkoech and Natasha Cockram take the spoils as over 6,000 runners enjoy Belfast Half Marathon

Kenya’s Barnaba Kipkoech and Great Britain’s Natasha Cockram took the honors in emphatic fashion at Sunday’s Moy Park Belfast Half Marathon, leading home over 6,600 competitors in the largest event of its kind in Northern Ireland.

30-year-old Kipkoech was in world class form following a sub two hour and 11 minute marathon run in Rotterdam. He also ran under 63 minutes in the recent Malaga Half Marathon.

On a beautiful Belfast morning, Kipoech repeated this form from an early stage producing a sizzling pace to leave the opposition in his wake. He shattered the course record by over two minutes with a time of 63 minutes and 48 seconds. This was over three minutes ahead of North Belfast’s Finn McNally who took the runner-up spot in 67.04. The Brighton based runner is the current Northern Ireland Cross Country champion .

Annadale’s Brhane Gebrebrhan - the Northern Ireland 5,000 metres champion - took third place in 68.24 ahead of Spain’s Abdenasser Oukhelfen. Only two seconds further back was CNDR’s Conor Gallagher. Newcastle’s Robert Hagen ran a personal best of 70.22 to finish sixth.

In the women’s event US-based Cockram wasted little time in showing her dominance over last year’s winner Anne Marie McGlynn.

Cockram competed for Great Britain in the last World Championships, and has a marathon personal best of two hours and 26 minutes.

She forced the pace from early to finish in 72 minutes and 47 seconds. This was over a minute ahead of Letterkenny’s McGlynn who was also well ahead of third placed Monica Silva of Portugal in 74.59. Ivana Anderson was fifth with 79.29 followed by Sarah McNutt on 80.49.

Mo Farah eighth in penultimate race of career

Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah finished eighth at the Great Manchester Run, the penultimate race of his career.

The 40-year-old Briton completed the 10km course in 29 minutes 11 seconds - 44 seconds behind winner Eyob Faniel of Italy.

Kenya's Hellen Obiri defended the women's title in 31 minutes 14 seconds.

Farah's final competitive race will be the Great North Run in Newcastle on 10 September.

"I'm so proud of what I've achieved throughout my career," he told BBC Sport.

"I was a bit nervous at the start, but this city has some great history and the support I got was amazing."

Farah won 5,000m and 10,000m gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

He has also won six world and five European golds, and was knighted in 2017.

Faniel, who was born in Eritrea but moved to Italy as a child, beat Briton Marc Scott by four seconds, with Australia's Stewart McSweyn a further four seconds back. Britain's Jonny Mellor was 10th.

Obiri, who won the Boston Marathon last month, finished 45 seconds ahead of compatriot Peres Jepchirchir in second.

Calli Thackery was third - 1min 37secs behind Obiri - one of five Britons in the top 10.

Stephanie Twell was fourth, Rose Harvey fifth, Natasha Cockram seventh and Rachael Franklin 10th.

Britain's Commonwealth 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan was absent as she recovers from a knee injury.

Manchester stage set for speedy 10km contests

Mo Farah set for penultimate race while Hellen Obiri returns to defend her crown on city streets.

Mo Farah will tackle what is set to be the penultimate competitive race of his storied career as the 20th edition of the AJ Bell Great Manchester Run is staged on Sunday (May 21), but it won’t just be the multiple global track champion who will be attracting attention on the city streets.

Last year’s 10km event produced a spectacular women’s race as Hellen Obiri surged to a brilliant win in 30:15, four seconds ahead of Eilish McColgan’s British record-breaking performance.

The Kenyan returns to defend her title this year, fresh from winning the Boston Marathon last month, but the former 5000m world champion and 2022 Great North Run winner won’t be joined by McColgan who is continuing her recovery from the knee problem which prevented her from making her marathon debut in London.

Instead, the strongest challenge is set to come from Peres Jepchirchir, the Kenyan Olympic marathon champion who was third in London, and Ethiopia’s 2015 5000m world championships silver medallist Senbere Teferi.

Steph Twell will lead the home charge as part of a British contingent which also features the likes of Mollie Williams, Monika Jackiewicz, Lily Partridge, Rose Harvey and Natasha Cockram.

On paper, the fastest man in the men’s field is Callum Hawkins, though how close he can come to his 10km road PB of 28:02 remains to be seen following his injury problems in recent years. The Scot, who has twice finished fourth over the marathon at the World Championships, will be looking to make more progress back towards top form.

Fellow Brit Marc Scott, the winner of this event in 2021, has a PB of 28:03 and will want to make his mark in his first outing since coming 12th in the Istanbul Half Marathon at the end of last month. Farah can expect plenty of support again, having last been seen in action when coming ninth in the London Marathon, where he confirmed his intention to retire at the end of this year. The four-time Olympic champion also clocked 30:41 for 10km in Gabon last month.

The home athletes will be up against the Australian duo of Jack Rayner – runner-up in Manchester last year and the current national 10km record holder – plus Stewart McSweyn, the national 1500m and 3000m record-holder who has an identical road PB to Scott.

Last year’s Osaka Marathon champion, Japan’s Gaku Hoshi, plus Uganda’s Commonwealth marathon champion Victor Kaplangat, add to the strength of the international field.

The men’s wheelchair race should be a tight contest, too, featuring Sean Frame, Johnboy Smith and Commonwealth marathon bronze medallist Simon Lawson.

As well as the popular 10km, the event schedule also features a half marathon plus the Mini and Junior Great Manchester Run.

Running couple Lily Partridge and Ben Connor take wins at the Great South Run

Pro long-distance runner Lily Partridge and partner Ben Connor, an Olympic marathoner, both took victory in their respective women's and men's races at the Great South Run on Sunday.

Partridge, who was the first British woman at the London Marathon in 2018, crossed the finish line of the 10-miler in 54:29, while Connor won the men's race in 47:19.

Welsh athlete Natasha Cockram was just behind Partridge in 54:35, while Steph Twell, who has competed at three Olympics including the marathon in Tokyo 2020, took third in 54:51.

Afterwards, Partridge said: 'It was a great race, the three of us were together up to about eight miles. I hit the front at about six miles.'

'It wasn’t really planned, so I thought I’d just try and make it a hard run race. It was a good opportunity for me to put myself under pressure and gain some confidence and it really paid off.'

In the men's race, Ellis Cross, the Aldershot, Farnham & District runner who beat Sir Mo Farah at the London Vitality 10,000 earlier this year, came in second in 47:32, while Birchfield Harrier’s Omar Ahmed took third in 47:49.

It's Connor's third time running the Great South Run, having finished third and then second in the past. Afterwards, the Tokyo 2020 marathoner said: 'I’m really pleased. It’s my thirtieth birthday tomorrow, so I’m off to Barcelona tonight and will be celebrating the win.'

In total, 20,000 people took part in the event in Portsmouth on a gloriously sunny day.

Geoffrey Koech won the men's elite race at the Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday

The Kenyan just failed to beat the hour mark, crossing the line in 1:00:01, with Gizealaw Ayana second and fellow Ethiopian Chimdessa Gudeta third.

Beatrice Cheserek secured a Kenyan double by winning the women's race in 1:06:48 ahead of compatriot Viola Chepngeno and Ethiopian Zewditu Aderaw.

Mel Nicholls won the women's wheelchair race in 1:00:19, with Richie Powell taking the men's title in 1:08:44.

"The course is good. It feels good to win here and I pushed really hard. This is my fastest performance in Cardiff," said Koech, the pre-race favourite.

Cheserek was delighted after adding the Cardiff title to the Gothenburg Half Marathon she won last September: "This was my first time in Cardiff. The support was fantastic and helped me to work hard."

Swansea Harrier Dewi Griffiths was the best placed elite British man in eighth (1:04:15), with Cwmbran's Natasha Cockram (1:13:12) claiming seventh among the women.

"After the first 400m, I realised this is why I love this race," said Griffiths. "You get so much support as a Welshman all the way around and the crowds really kept me going when it got tough."

The 19th edition of the event in south Wales coincided with the running of the 2022 London Marathon, with an estimated 25,000 runners taking part in the Welsh capital.

Cockram had planned to compete at the London Marathon but a bout of Covid altered her plans.

"There was no way I was going to be marathon ready so soon after Covid," she said. 

"Obviously today was a lot slower than back in March but I'm happy to come out here and win the domestic part of the race. There were some fast girls up at the front but happy with that at the end of a 100-mile week.

"I love returning here - it's home and the crowds are amazing. It was all a bit of a rush, I only decided on Friday to come but I am so glad I came."

The Cardiff Half Marathon course records are held by Kenya's Leonard Langat, who ran 0:59:30 in 2019, with compatriot Edith Chelimo setting a fastest women's mark of 1:05:52 in 2017.

John Korir and Natasha Cockram prevail in Los Angeles Marathon

John Korir of Kenya made a break with 7 miles remaining to win the 36th Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday.

Natasha Cockram of Wales won the women’s race with a similar strategy.

The 24-year-old Korir, who was second here two years ago, finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 48 seconds, nearly six minutes better than countryman Edwin Kimutai (2:18:01). Eritrea’s Amanuel Mesel Tikue finished third in 2:18:17.

Korir’s older brother, Wesley Korir, is a two-time Los Angeles champion.

“Now our family is so happy today,” John Korir said. “This is three times our family winning this race. We are happy now.”

Cockram won after placing 13th in the London Marathon on Oct. 3. She ran the 26.2-mile Stadium to Stars course in 2:33:17.

“I wasn’t sure how my body was going to be feeling after London,” Cockram said. “About halfway, I felt sure and comfortable. I kind of wish I’d gone earlier.”

Kenya’s Antonina Kwamba was second in 2:37:36, edging Russia’s Nina Zarina by a second.

Korir and Cockram each won $6,000. The total prize purse was $40,000.

The race traditionally takes place in March. It returns to that spot next year.

Charlie Purdue and Jake Smith enjoy Big Half victories

Around 12,000 runners took part in 13.1-mile event in London on Sunday

Charlotte Purdue and Jake Smith put in solid performances on the roads of London as they struck victory in the Vitality Big Half on Sunday (Aug 22).

In her third win in the women’s race, Purdue improved her own course record to 69:51, which bodes well for her chances at the Virgin Money London Marathon on October 3.

In the men’s race, Smith clocked 62:06 to beat Jack Rowe by five seconds and the Cardiff runner will hope to go quicker still when he lines up in the Great North Run on September 12.

Around 12,000 runners set off in various waves as part of the return of mass participation running following the pandemic. In the race to finish first woman home, Purdue ran with Samantha Harrison in the early stages before pulling away in the second half of the race. Harrison held on for second in 70:40 as Natasha Cockram was third in 72:46.

Next came Hannah Irwin in 73:24 followed by Naomi Mitchell in 74:24 and Verity Ockenden in 74:35.

“It’s good to be back running with a crowd,” said Purdue, who was racing for the first time since February 2020 due to injury. “I was happy with the time. I was more bothered about ‘racing’ it than the clock, though. I’ve been training really hard for London Marathon so wasn’t sure how tired I’d be, although I felt okay.”

On her build-up to the London Marathon, she said: “My main aim is not to get injured and to keep training consistent and get to the start line healthy.”

Smith was part of a group with Rowe, Mo Aadan and Phil Sesemann mid-way through his race but he broke away at around nine miles and held his advantage over the chasing Rowe despite multiple nervous glances over his shoulder in the latter stages.

Smith ran 62:06 with Rowe clocking 62:11, Aadan 62:28 and Sesemann 62:47.

In fifth Andrew Heyes ran 63:10, followed by Matt Clowes in 63:40, Jamie Crowe in 64:19, Ollie Lockley in 64:26, Doug Musson in 64:36, Calum Johnson 64:38, Jonny Mellor 64:44 and Josh Griffiths 65:11.

“I came into this race as the fastest and had the pressure to deliver so to come away with the win is amazing,” he said. “It’s the first race I’ve done when they bring you forward on the start line (to introduce you to the crowd). After that I just put my head down and tried to race it.

“My aim was to throw in surges throughout and then go hard with about 5km to go. I ran a negative split as well which I’m really happy about.”

Sam Kolek won the men’s wheelchair race in 50:37 as Nikki Emerson won the women’s wheelchair category in 67:38 after Shelly Woods punctured.

Thousands run through London in first mass 10k since lockdown was lifted

Thousands of runners have taken to the streets of London for their first mass 10k since lockdown restrictions were lifted.

Roads across central London were closed as the runners in the Asics London 10k swept past views of landmarks to the sound of cheering crowds and entertainers who lined the streets.

Race director Ian Allerton described it as “an important day for the mass participation industry” as many runners helped raise funds for more than 200 charities in what he hoped would be the start of “a new season of safe running events in 2021”.

TV presenter and activist Katie Piper who was the victim of an acid attack in 2008, officially started the race before stepping out to become one of up to 14,000 runners on the course.

Her run was to raise funds for a rehabilitation centre and she later said she had “such an amazing day”.

Ms Piper said it had been “really powerful” to see the benefit the race had on her mental wellbeing and on others who took part.

Organisers said they have been working closely with Westminster City Council and Public Health England over the past six months to ensure the event was Covid-secure.

The annual mass participation event, which was billed as “London’s best summer celebration of running,” was previously cancelled due to the pandemic.

The 2021 route was brought to life by the sounds of live bands and DJs at every 1km to help the runners keep moving as they raced past landmarks such as Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the London Eye.

Andrew Heyes won the male race with a time of 29 minutes and 25 seconds, Natasha Cockram clocked 33 minutes and 37 seconds to cross the line first in the female run while Bethany Evans was victorious in the wheelchair event with a time of 40 minutes and 42 seconds.

Mr Heyes said: “I really enjoyed the sights and am so excited to be back after 18 months.”

Ms Cockram added: “It was brilliant being back out on the road. Since the pandemic I’ve only been able to train on the track.

“Being out on the big wide roads is so exciting, I want to do it again.”

The event came a day after thousands of adult joggers and walkers in England laced up their trainers to take part in 5km Parkruns in local parks for the first time since lockdown eased.

Chris Thompson (2:10:52) and Stephanie Davis (2:27:16) Win British Olympic Marathon Trials

It has been a momentous week for veteran distance runner Chris Thompson, and it’s only Friday.

On Monday, the 39 year-old Olympian and his wife Jemma Simpson celebrated the birth of their son, Theodore, their first child. Then today, in a perfectly timed effort at the Müller British Athletics Marathon and 20km Walk Trials, he ran his way on to his second Olympic team in dramatic fashion, coming from behind to win in a personal best 2:10:52, comfortably under the Tokyo Olympics qualifying standard of 2:11:30. According to statistician Jon Mulkeen, Thompson has now made 25 British national teams since qualifying for the World Junior Championships in 1998 in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

“I’ve never felt so much emotion in my life,” a teary-eyed Thompson told commentator Tim Hutchings in his post-race broadcast interview. He continued: “Everything fell into place in the last couple of laps.”

At today’s race, held in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew in southwest London, the top-two men and women could earn automatic selection for the Tokyo Olympics if they left the finish area with the Olympic qualifying standard under their belts. Only one man and one woman, Ben Connor and Stephanie Davis, possessed those respective standards of 2:11:30 and 2:29:30 coming into the race. So Thompson had to hit the time today, plus finish in the top-2 to gain automatic team selection.

In the first five kilometers Thompson, Connor, Dewi Griffiths and Mohamud Aadan (making his marathon debut) ran close behind the pacemakers Callum Hawkins and Jake Smith. Hawkins, who finished fourth in the 2019 World Athletics Championships Marathon, had already been pre-selected for the Olympic team and ran today to “show fitness” as required by British Athletics selectors and also to help his compatriots fulfill their Olympic dreams. Through 10-K (30:51) they were all together running at a 2:10 pace, but over the next five kilometers Thompson would drift back. The 2010 European Athletics Championships 10,000m silver medalist decided that the pace was a little too ambitious.

“After 30 minutes I realized I’d worked the course out,” Thompson explained. “Listen, you can’t keep pushing like this. The turns, everything, was just building up and I thought, I need to check back. These guys need to be in very, very good shape to keep this going.”

At the halfway mark (about 1:04:42), Thompson was about 20 seconds back. Because the Garden’s paved paths are narrow and the primary 3.3-kilometer race loop had 11 turns or bends, Thompson was hidden from his rivals. Indeed, it seemed to the broadcast audience as if he was completely out of contention.

Between 25 and 30 kilometers, the leading men only put up a sluggish 5-K split time of 15:43. Thompson was a whopping 36 seconds behind, and was still out of sight. But over the next five kilometers –after pacemaker Hawkins had dropped out at around 32 kilometers– Thompson made up that entire deficit, while Griffiths dropped back (the Welshman would finish fourth in 2:13:42). At 35-K (1:48:32) it was a three-man race and they were running at about a 2:11 pace. Thompson took stock of his position.

“I’ve either messed this up royally or it’s going to turn around very quickly,” Thompson said.

After running briefly with Connor and Aadan, Thompson left his rivals and forged ahead on his own. By the 40-kilometer mark (2:04:07) he had a commanding 44-second lead. He checked his watch a few times to make sure he was going to make the time, then in the final meters to the finish he started celebrating, nearly stopping at the finish tape as he punched his fists in joy. His official time of 2:10:52 put him well under the standard and on his second Olympic team in nine years.

“I was in dreamland,” Thompson marveled. “The last two laps, I’m like nothing’s stopping me now.”

Behind Thompson, Connor and Aadan battled for second right through the final kilometer. Connor finished a clear second in 2:12:06, and since he already had the qualifying standard from the Virgin Money London Marathon last October where he ran 2:11:20 he locked up his team spot. Aadan got third in 2:12:20, a solid debut.

“Satisfaction, relief. Whatever you want to call it,” Connor said when asked to describe his emotions He was impressed with how Thompson managed his effort today. “I could hear him breathing about ten seconds before he came by,” Connor said. He added: “Smart running from him. Fair enough.”

Women’s Race

The women’s race, which used two male pacemakers, was dominated by Scotswoman Stephanie Davis. Davis, 30, was the only woman who started today’s race in possession of the Tokyo Olympic qualifying standard (she ran 2:27:42 in Valencia in December, 2019). She ran a smart race, following the pacers closely through halfway in an honest 1:14:05. That whittled the lead pack down to five: Davis, Sarah Inglis, Natasha Cockram, Lily Partridge and Charlotte Arter (making her debut). By 25-K Davis had just a four-second lead. Over the next five kilometers that cushion mushroomed to 52 seconds and the race was over. Davis cruised to the finish in a personal best 2:27:16 booking her first Olympic team berth.

“I can’t believe it,” Davis said in her post-race broadcast interview wearing a surgical mask. “I’m smiling so much underneath this mask, and I’m just so delighted. I knew I was in good shape, but anything can happen in the marathon.”

Natasha Cockram finished second in a personal best 2:30:03, but her performance was 33 seconds outside of the minimum required time for Tokyo so she did not earn a team berth. Third place went to Rosie Edwards in 2:31:56, also a personal best. Inglis finished sixth in 2:34:09 (she had run 2:29:41 at The Marathon Project last December in Arizona), and both Lily Partridge and Charlotte Arter dropped out.

With today’s race in the books, British Athletics selectors will have to fill the other two places on the women’s team by going through the remainder of their multi-step selection process. Three women who did not race today —Jess Piasecki, Charlotte Purdue, and Steph Twell-– all have the qualifying time and could be considered for team selection.

Today’s race was the first stand-alone British Olympic Marathon Trials since 1980. The Virgin Money London Marathon, typically held in late April, is usually used as the primary selection race, but that event won’t be held in 2021 until October because of the pandemic.

Full results with 5km splits can be found here. The full race broadcast is here.

Talk about the race on the LetsRun.com messageboard.

Welsh runner Natasha Cockram has Tokyo in her sights

Cockram won British marathon title in October despite an ankle injury but now goes into Friday’s Olympic trials fully fit

Six months ago Natasha Cockram endured an injury-hit build-up to the Virgin Money London Marathon but still finished first British woman home.

Struggling with an ankle injury, she only managed two training runs of eight and five miles in the final three weeks before the race plus, of course, plenty of cross-training. Yet on that damp, cool morning in the British capital she overtook Naomi Mitchell in the closing stages to take the national title in 2:33:19.

The 28-year-old has enjoyed a much better build-up to the British Olympic marathon trials in Kew Gardens on Friday (March 26), though, which makes her one of the leading contenders for Olympic selection.

“It’s been a lot smoother than London,” she told AW this week on her preparations for Friday’s big event. “For quite a few weeks after London (last October) I was just focusing getting healthy again.

“But now I’ve got in all the work I wanted to and have had some good consistency. I’m injury free which is the hardest part coming into a race.”

Cockram was a teenage talent who won multiple Welsh titles and the British under-17 indoor 1500m title before going off the boil for a spell until eventually finding her niche in the marathon.

From 2012-15 she studied at Tulsa University in Oklahoma but emerged with a knee injury that was so bad that medics told her “to reconsider her career choice” because running seriously was out of the question.

“I went from 40 miles a week (as a teenager in Wales) to instantly up to 100 miles a week when I went out there and I was constantly burned out and didn’t really perform,” she remembers.

On returning to the UK she realised she needed an operation. “Luckily I had (health) insurance back in the States so I went back there and had knee surgery, which put me out for a year, then I came back just to keep fit initially,” she says.

“I pretty much gave up running after university and then started up again just for fun and did a few mountain running races. But I began training more and in 2017 I ran 2:49 for the marathon in Dublin then 2:45 in Newport in 2018 off cross training. Then I ran 2:35 in Dublin later that year after getting a coach and training more seriously.”

Cockram has been guided by Texas-based coach Tony Houchin for the past four years and the relationship is working. In Dublin in October 2019 she broke Susan Tooby’s long-standing Welsh marathon record with 2:30:49 despite running with a large bruise on her leg after her horse kicked her on the eve of the race.

That performance armed her with the belief that she could beat the Olympic qualifying time of 2:29:30. Conditions in London did not allow it last October but she remains confident she can do it this week at Kew Gardens.

“As a child I wanted to go to the Olympics but I don’t think it was a realistic view back then. Even at university it wasn’t realistic and even going to the Commonwealths didn’t seem realistic back then,” she says.

London Marathon Events is offering $453,000US of funding to 30 elite athletes as they prepare for the Olympics including Alex Bell

World Championships semi-finalist Alex Bell is one of 30 British athletes who have been offered funding from London Marathon Events (LME) for the 2020 season as part of LME’s extensive and longstanding support of British endurance running.

Bell, who reached the semi-finals of the 800m in Doha last year, was one of eight athletes on last year’s inaugural LME funding programme who represented Great Britain at the 2019 World Championships.

Three others – Marc Scott, Ben Connor and Zak Seddon - continue on the LME programme for 2020 while another four – Charlotte Purdue, Steph Twell, Aimee Pratt and Neil Gourley – have progressed from LME funding to British Athletics’ Olympic Podium Potential Funding after hugely successful performances in 2019.

The athlete programme is part of a larger £350,000 ($453,000US) funding commitment from LME to British endurance running that includes support of the World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) and training camps for British endurance athletes.

Bell said: "I am extremely grateful to receive another year of help from London Marathon Events. I had a memorable year on the track last year reaching the World Championships semi-finals and now I have the Tokyo Olympic Games as my big motivation for 2020. This funding will be crucial to help and support me in a year that could be the biggest of my career to date."

LME has worked with British Athletics to select the nominated individual athletes and the funding is designed to provide a bridge for endurance runners to the WCPP and to improve the standard of British endurance running across all distances.

In addition to the 15 athletes who are continuing on the funding programme, 15 new names have been added to the list including Rosie Clarke (third photo) and Elizabeth Bird, who both ran the 3000m steeplechase at last year’s World Championships, Piers Copeland, 1500m silver medallist at the 2019 Under-23 European Championships, and Stephanie Davis, who last year ran the ninth fastest marathon time in history by a British woman.

The athletes were shortlisted by a panel of British Athletics and London Marathon Events endurance experts and range from middle-distance runners to marathon specialists. No athlete currently funded through the British Athletics WCPP is eligible to receive London Marathon Events individual funding.

Hugh Brasher, Event Director of London Marathon Events, said: “We are passionate about effectively supporting British endurance running and the first year of this new initiative of funding individual athletes has produced good results. Eight of our funded athletes were selected for the World Championships and now four of those have progressed onto the British Athletics Olympic Podium Potential Programme. The aim of this funding was to provide a pathway for talented endurance athletes and these results show it is working.

“We wish this year’s funded athletes every success and we hope to see a number of them in Team GB at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer.”

The full list of athletes to be offered London Marathon Events funding is:

Mohamud Aadan (Thames Valley), Charlotte Arter (Cardiff AAC, Alexandra Bell (Pudsey & Bramley), Elizabeth Bird (Shaftesbury Barnet), Emile Cairess (Leeds City), Hayley Carruthers (Birchfield Harriers), Rosie Clarke (Epsom & Ewell), Natasha Cockram (Micky Morris Racing Team), Jamaine Coleman (Preston), Ben Connor (Derby)

Piers Copeland (Wimborne), Stephanie Davis (Clapham Chasers), Nick Goolab (Belgrave Harriers), Derek Hawkins (Kilbarchan AAC), Jake Heyward (Cardiff AAC), Sarah Inglis (Lothian Running Club), Tish Jones (Belgrave Harriers)

Matt Leach (Bedford & County), Jonny Mellor (Liverpool Harriers), Amy-Eloise Neale (Wakefield District Harriers), Jennifer Nesbitt (Cardiff AAC), Verity Ockenden (Swansea Harriers), Chris O'Hare (Edinburgh AC)

Lily Partridge (Birchfield Harriers), Marc Scott (Cambridge & Coleridge), Zak Seddon (Bracknell AC), Jake Smith (Cardiff AAC), Jenny Spink (Bristol & West), Chris Thompson (Aldershot Farnham & District), Alice Wright (Worcester AC)

Welsh runner Natasha Cockram breaks national marathon record despite being kicked by a horse four days earlier

Heard the one about the woman who got kicked by a horse and four days later broke the Welsh marathon record?

Natasha Cockram set a new national women's record of 2hr 30min 50sec, finishing fifth in the Dublin Marathon.

Remarkably, she completed the feat just two years after her first race, four days after being kicked in the leg by a horse and despite working full time.

"I didn't have the best week before the race," Cockram told BBC Sport Wales. "I was in panic mode after the kick!"

'I didn't think I would even make my flight'

Cockram's rise in Welsh athletics has been extremely fast, having fallen off the radar because of injuries after a promising junior career.

She had not even run the marathon distance until 2017, but she ran so well in Dublin (running 2:49:37) that she decided to try and take athletics more seriously.

On Sunday at the same venue the Cwmbran runner beat the previous Welsh best of 2:31:33 set by Susan Tooby at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and did it despite having a big bruise on her knee.

Cockram rescued a horse and when she went to visit it last Wednesday, got an unpleasant surprise.

"I didn't have the best week. On Wednesday I went to check on my horse and I got kicked by another horse in the field," she said.

"So I had a bit of panic mode and didn't think I'd even make my flight to Dublin, let alone the race.

"It did cross my mind when it happened I might not be able to race. I was straight on to the phone to the Welsh athletics physio, but he assured me it was just a bruise.

"It didn't hurt during the race, my leg went numb in mile 18... but I pushed through.

"It didn't really register right away that I had broken the record, I knew I had the time, but I think I was more disappointed I didn't get the Olympic standard, as I was on course to hit it."

Full time work and told she would never run again

Cockram is now targeting a place at the Tokyo Olympics after finishing 80 seconds short of the Team GB marathon qualifying time.

She says she will run the Houston Marathon in January and the London Marathon as she looks to hit the Olympic mark of 2:29:30, having just failed to do so in breaking the Welsh record.

Her success is all the more amazing considering she is not a full time athlete and has suffered with severe injury issues.

"I always liked the idea of doing a marathon. Dublin in 2017 was my first one so it's a good place for me. I have always liked the distance and I have always looked up to people like Paula Radcliffe, I would watch her race as a child," she explained.

"I did Dublin in 2017 more for fun but I ran two hours 49 seconds and thought that was a pretty amazing time and I should do it more seriously again."

At that point Cockram, who went to university in the USA, had all but given up on running professionally.

"I headed out to university as quite a high achieving junior, but university didn't go my way, I think I was over-training and then I got quite a serious injury and was told I would never run again," she added.

"Just to be running again is a blessing. I tore the tendon in my knee and had my patella bone scraped, it is just a serious surgery. Quite a few doctors here said it would be a career ending injury, so I headed back out to the USA to talk to doctors until one said he would give it a go.

"I went into surgery and came out and it took me about two years to get back running."

All eyes now on Tokyo 2020

Cockram works full time for the Welsh Government and admits it is only after breaking the Welsh record that is has dawned on her that Olympic qualification is a realistic aim, having previously mixed training with a 'normal' career.

"Most days I am out of bed at 4, 4.30am to train then and I do a full day's work before training in the evening until about 9.30pm," she said.

"A normal Monday would be a ten mile run in the morning, followed by working all day and then heading straight over to Sport Wales to do strength and conditioning training and then head out for another run and then home and to bed. Repeat it again for the rest of the week!

"I have not run any major championships yet, which is weird to say when I am talking about Tokyo, but I don't see why I can't give it a go.

"I think knocking off 80 seconds is something I can do, especially as things didn't really go my way in Dublin, even leading into the week before.

"Before the race the Olympics didn't seem realistic at all, I was thinking more about 2024, but as the race went on, I was close and now I've definitely got to go for Tokyo 2020.

"My consistency of training, working with my coach and Welsh athletics, it has all contributed to my times getting better and better."

Cockram knows she may have to make sacrifices at work to turn her Olympic dream into a reality.

"I do value my work and life outside of running, but I think to improve and go to the Olympics I will need to be thinking about sponsorship and at least dropping some of my hours in work," she said.

"I don't really sleep enough for an athlete or have the right recovery time, so I would like to give it a go as a full time athlete.

"The motivation is the fact I love it. Even when it hurts I enjoy it and now the Olympics being on the cards is the goal to keep me going."

Callum Hawkins, Lily Partridge and Dewi Griffiths are among the latest wave of British athletes named for the Virgin Money London Marathon on April 28

Callum Hawkins and Dewi Griffiths will also be running the London Marathon in April. 

Great Britain international marathoner Hawkins has fond memories in the UK capital after running 2:10:52 in 2016 before clocking 2:10:17 to finish fourth at the 2017 World Championships, while Griffiths memorably ran 2:09:49 at the Frankfurt Marathon in 2017.

British marathon champion Lily Partridge will join the women’s field along with previously announced Charlotte Purdue, Tracy Barlow, Sonia Samuels, Hayley Carruthers, Tish Jones and Natasha Cockram.

Just one second separates Purdue’s marathon personal best of 2:29:23, set at the 2017 London Marathon, and Partridge’s best time of 2:29:24 which she ran to finish eighth in her first London Marathon last year.

The British field in both the men’s and women’s races at the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon which will be used as the selection race for the World Championships in Doha. 

Welsh athlete Natasha Cockram has Houston Marathon as her next big marathon goal

Successfully coming back from a career threatening injury is the inspirational narrative every running fan wants to read.

Unfortunately, it is not always the case, but thankfully Natasha Cockram’s account is one of the positive tales of coming back from the depths of injury hell – and now she can’t wait to write the next chapters of her running story.

During a few difficult years the prospect of not running again was all too real, but after a successful knee surgery, plus her resilient attitude and dedication to get back running, the 26 year-old can now once again dream of earning a GB vest for a major championships.

Cockram’s breakthrough performance of 2:35.47 to finish fourth at the Dublin Marathon in October catapulted her fifth on the Welsh all-time list. It was a nine minute personal best after winning April’s Newport Marathon in 2:44:58, despite spending the prior three months only cross training.

Both performances were a surprise to the Micky Morris Racing Team athlete, and she humbly says she is just “enjoying running again, which is the main thing” after her injury battles.

The Welsh athlete now aims to target three big marathons in 2019, beginning with the Houston Marathon on January 20, followed by London in April, where she hopes her performance will bag her one of the coveted places on the GB team for the World Championships in Doha.