Distance Running News, 4-5 August 2018

06 August 2018

Fee Maycock continued her recent fine by winning the LV50 British Masters 10k road race gold medal with an excellent performance at the Trentham 10k. Starting in the rural village of Tittensor just outside Stoke-on-Trent, the course had a long and testing hill in the first half that ensured fast times were unlikely. However, this did not stop Maycock who finished as sixth lady home and a clear winner of the over 50s national title in a very credible time of 40:50 on a course that saw most runners record between ninety seconds and two minutes outside their season’s bests.

The club’s distance runners again performed well at the Midland League Division One fixture in Nottingham where the highlights included a double win for Graham Rush and a first ever senior A string win for teenager Georgia Palmer. Looking for some race practice over the shorter distances ahead of a 5000m race at Milton Keynes next weekend, Rush intriguingly made a rare appearance over 1500m in a race that saw him go head to head against teammate Dan Owen. A slow start to the race saw the pack go through the opening lap in 66 seconds before reaching 700m in 1:56. At the end of the second lap the GB 10,000m international made his move with a long kick for home as he instantly opened up a gap over the field to reach the bell in 2:57 as Owen gave chase in second. With the result never in doubt, Rush took the win 3:58.0, whilst Owen closed the gap to take second in 3:58.3 as he held off Wolverhampton’s Jack Bonsor who recored 3:58.5 for third place. Just 35 minutes later Rush lined up again for the 3000m and again took the victory with a time of 8:45.4 for a two second winning margin over Birchfield’s Thomas Beasley. Richard de-Camps ensured that the Harriers claimed maximum points as he finished as leading B runner in 9:06.2 for fifth place overall, having earlier finished fourth in the 800m A race in 1:56.8. Matt Evans contested seven events on a busy afternoon that saw him finish fifth in both the 800m B race and the the 3000m steeplechase. Whilst Rush’s wins may have come as little surprise to team manager James Miller, it is unlikely that he had expected a victory in the ladies 1500m from Georgia Palmer. The fifteen-year-old made her senior league debut last month by winning the 800m B race in 2:25.2 and this time stepped up to the A race with a 2:25.8 for sixth place. Agreeing to double up to help the team, Palmer showed great maturity to sit in the pack throughout the 1500m before closing down Tamworth’s Katherine Snowden in the final home straight. Her time of 4:59.7 gave her a two second winning margin, but significantly it took 2.46 seconds from her previous PB as she broke the five minute barrier for the first time. In the same race Rachel See finished seventh in 5:08.7 to finish as second B runner. Earlier in the day Naomi Eaton placed third in the 3000m in 11:01.5 and Emma Quekett finished fourth in the B 800m in 2:35.4.

The previous day Dan Owen also competed in the British League fixture in Liverpool where he finished second in the 3000m steeplechase in a time of 9:09.23. This was Owen’s second fastest time in the event and less than three seconds outside his personal best from 2015. At the Cheltenham parkrun Alex Lee claimed his 35th event win in style with a course PB as became just the fifth man to break the sixteen minute barrier at the Pittville Park event. Lee’s time of 15:59 still puts him behind teammates Graham Rush (14:59), Dave Roper (15:42), Phil Beastall (15:48) and James Brewer (15:55) on the all time lists where Ben Price (16:00) completes an all Harriers top six. Saturday’s event also saw Dan Minors (19:02) finish eighth whilst James Wilkinson (19:53) made a welcome return to action. Further afield there were parkrun first places for Alex Bampton (15:53) in Oxford, John Parker (16:37) in Minehead, Dave Aubrey (16:43) at the Riverfront event in Newport whilst Beth Hawling (18:06) was the first lady and third overall at the Finsbury parkrun.