Bath Half wins for Becky Briggs and Omar Ahmed

Briggs clocks 74:24 to take women’s race as Ahmed runs 64:42 for overall win in big West Country road race

Double Birmingham League winner and Midland Cross Country Champs runner-up, Omar Ahmed led throughout the Bath Half-Marathon on Sunday (March 17) after going through 3km in 8:25 before winning in 64:42, Martin Duff reports.

Dylan Evans chased hard all of the way and was 17 seconds down on the Birchfield runner’s 14:51 at 5km and the margin changed by only a second or two at each subsequent checkpoint before finishing a comfortable second in 64:54.

London Marathon-bound Becky Briggs took the women’s race in 74:24 but followed eventual runner-up Anna Domville through 5km in 17:07 before going ahead before 9km then surging away to win by half-a-minute.

Overall:  1 O Ahmed (Bir) 64:42; 2 D Evans (SB) 64:54; 3 A Lawrence (VP&TH) 65:37; 4 J Escalante-Phillips (C&C) 66:04; 5 J Hoad (THH) 66:05; 6 S Hogan (Soton) 66:21

M40: 1 M Edwards (W Tempo) 68:55

M45: 1 R Michlaeson-Yeates (S&SH) 71:23

M50: 1 M Jennings (MMM) 73:21

M55: 1 L Aherne (P Bryn) 75:23

M60: 1 P Reddaway (Ware) 86:03

M65: 1 M White (B Pear) 98:40

M70: 1 I Newsham (L Goat) 98:55

M75: 1 P Rogers (T Bath) 1:58:11

Women: 1 B Briggs (CoH) 74:24; 2 A Domville (T Bath) 74:54; K Olding (TVH) 75:15; 4 C Arnell 77:31; 5 R Anderbury 78:41

W40: 1 A Harrold (Truro) 79:13

W50: 1 K Harris (High) 80:36

W55: 1 A Riddell-Webster (Fulham) 84:41

W60: 1 C Hawling (Chelt) 1:41:07

W65: 1 J Hutchinson 98:17

W70: 1 A Dockery (W’bury) 1:56:33 

ESSEX 20, Saffron Waldon, March 17 

In his first race of the year, Peter Robinson took the Essex title for the third year in a row but his 1:47:27 victory was down on his previous outings, although he did lead Essex to an inter-county title, Martin Duff reports.

In her first venture over the distance, Verity Hopkins took the women’s section by more than a minute in 1:57:42, a time that out to bode well for a marathon debut inside 2:40.

Overall:  1 P Robinson (S’field) 1:47:27; 2 B Stephenson (Dart, M40) 1:48:42; 3 J Eves (Bed C, M40) 1:49:32; 4 J Entwistle (WG&EL) 1:50:43; 5 P Molyneux (S’field, M40) 1:50:44; 6 O Knowles (Petts W) 1:50:53

M50: 1 T Farrer (Hunts) 2:02:07

M55: 1 C Dyce 2:04:28

M60: 1 O Dare (Witham) 2:09:01

M65: 1 C Stephenson (Col H) 2:23:23

M70: 1 D Butler (Bill’cay) 2:23:47

Inter-County TEAM: 1 Essex 5:29:11; 2 Kent 5:30:42; 3 Cambs 5:42:37; 4 Suffolk 5:49:45; 5 Norfolk 5:49:58; 6 Sussex 5:56:54; 7 Herts 6:02:36

Women: 1 V Hopkins (Ton) 1:57:42; 2 R Wild (Col H 2:08:29; 3 L Barnes 2:09:11; 4 E Baverstock (Orion) 2:09:54; 5 S Overington (S’field) 2:10:17; 6 H Mann (St Alb) 2:10:38

W40: 1 K Woodward (Ware) 2:10:45

W45: 1 E Fogg (N For) 2:14:37

W50: 1 E Prideaux (S’field) 2:14:32

W55: 1 S Roberts (Colt) 2:40:46

W60: 1 W Aldridge (Dengie) 3:07:43

W65: 1 G Bullen (Thurr) 3:18:16

W70: 1 S Veerasamy (Dag 88) 4:00:24

Inter-County TEAM: 1 Essex 6:29:36; 2    Herts 6:35:51; 3 Sussex 6:37:50; 4 Suffolk 6:46:16; 5 Norfolk 6:47:15; 6 Cambs 6:50:53; 7 Hants 6:54:29; 8 Kent 6:55:17

NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE HALF-MARATHON & 10km, Scunthorpe, March 17

Jordan Skelly was a minute outside his best when winning overall in 66:33 but it was enough to see off a challenge from Elliott Smales by 25 seconds, Martin Duff reports.

Heather Townsend, who ran 2:37:01 in last year’s London Marathon, took the women’s section in 74:40, two minutes clear of City of Leeds team mate Camilla McKnespley.

Overall (13.1M): 1 J Skelly (Linc W) 66:33; 2 E Smales (Roth) 66:58; 3 W Strangeway (Linc W) 67:07; 4 J Hall (Leeds) 67:14; 5 J Rainsford (Heanor) 67:43; 6 J Johnson (Bev) 67:49

M40: 1 J Young (Knares) 75:45

M45: 1 J Wilson (Brid) 75:45

M50: 1 J Walton (Leeds) 64:25

M55: 1 C Lynam 80:34

M60: 1 C Gibbs 82:30

M65: 1 R Jones (Trent P) 98:00

M75: 1 J Willis (Skeg) 1:47:23

Women: 1 H Townsend (Leeds) 74:40; 2 C McKnespley (Leeds) 76:45; 3 A Pearse (Steel) 77:19; 4 C Thornton (Linc W) 77:48; 5 K Ballantyne-Chalmers (Leeds) 81:15; 6 C Brock (Steel, W35) 82:36

W40: 1 R Cole (Linc W) 83:48

W50: 1 H Hall (Knaves) 87:32

W55: 1 J Bolton (Kimber) 95:46

W60: 1 F Usher (Linc &D) 91:32

W65: 1 C Wheelhouse (Donc) 99:20

W70: 1 D Kesterton (Steel) 1:43:09

Overall (10km): 1 M Bowser (Linc W, M40) 31:09; 2 D Garbutt (Durh) 31:24; 3 S Robinson (Linc W) 31:30

Women: 1 S Kemshall (St Ther) 35:29; 2 L Race (Barns, W35) 38:32; 3 A Scales 39:02

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