2011 Bristol 10k
2011 Bristol 10k - Kenyans too hot to handle on the roads of Bristol!
It was double delight for Peter McHugh’s stable as his Kenyans scorched the streets in the south west to record resounding victories. Phil Wicks and Claire Hallissey proved to be the best of the Brits as both displayed impressive strength.
Indeed it was Wicks who led the initial charge over the opening Kilometers - 2.53 for the first km, so a 20 strong group heading the chasing pack of over 11,200 - a record entry in only its 4th year. The Belgrave boy continued to provide a threat till the half way mark where a nine strong pack passed in 14.31. However, Edwin Kiptoo was merely playing with the field, as his 2.45, 2.45, 2,40 for the section between 7km and 9km showed. He literally took the field apart on the 2nd half of the course. A final km, a shade inside 3mins, saw him finish in 28.39 leading 14 athletes to a sub 30 clocking. An indication of just what a fast course Bristol is.
Fellow Kenyan Edwin Kipkorir held out Berundi Jean Ndayisengar for second. Phil Wicks chased hard and was rewarded for the first British placing in 4th overall, 12 seconds - to the good of Paul Richardson who shared 29.23 with Ben Tickner and Ireland’s Steve Scullion. Wicks now leads the runbritain Grand Prix standing - with the 3rd event moving to London on May 30th. Interesting to note that Mick O’Dherty was 74th (33.23) in taking the first over 50 award.
The women’s race was a real cracker as local lass Claire Hallissey (although now currently based in the States) battled all the way to hold off Edinah Kwambai and the find of the season, Gemma Steel. Once again it was the case of a Kenyan victory as Kwambai proved slightly too strong for Hallissey and Steel as all 3 athletes dipped inside 33mins in near ideal late spring conditions. Hallissey took the Best of the Brits awards ahead of Charnwood AC’s Steel with Justina Heslop running strongly for 4th overall and 3rd Brit.
At just 4 years old, the Bristol 10k is now firmly rooted in traditions of “Best of Brit” road running and can only go from strength to strength. Geoff Wightman, MD of runbritain was clearly delighted with the 2nd GP event in its 1st year. The attention now focuses on the Bristol half marathon in September and the inaugural Ashton Court Cross Country event.
Other Awards:
In the Clarke Willmott Business Challenge Guy Landon (Eduserv, Bath) won in 34.31and Elizabeth Smith (Bobbetts Mackan, Bristol) was first lady in 38.33.
Category results including the Club Team Awards sponsored by the Bristol Up&Running store and the new Nick Rose Challenge Trophy award will be announced when results have been ratified.
2010 Bristol 10k
There were records galore at the 2010 Bristol 10k – proving a double victory for Kenya with course records for both Gordon Mugi (28:29) and Edith Chelimo (32:53).
There were superb British victories for Aldershot & Farnham’s Andy Vernon (29:12) fresh from his lifetime best set in California just seven days before and Faye Fullerton – the Havering Mayesbrooke AC athlete had a massive PB (33:03) improving by over 70 seconds to illustrate just how fast the Bristol course is.
In addition to course records in both men’s and women’s races, there was also a record entry of 10,620. In the men’s race, to highlight the quality of the field 11 men broke 30 minutes for the 10k distance and there were numerous PBs in the women’s race.
In the Clarke Willmott Business Challenge sponsor Stephen Clarke ran the race and was back in time to present Bristol Blue Glass trophies to the first man – Robert Hayes (Bank of Ireland) 35.44 and first woman – Sarah Mansfield (RBS Atoms) 43.58.
2009 Bristol 10k
The 2009 Bristol 10k attracted entries from nearly 8,000 runners – an over 50% increase from the previous year when the race was first launched.
The event was once again an outstanding success for some of our top British runners:
Phil Wicks (Belgrave Harriers) – described before the event by UKA national coach Bud Badaro “as the fastest man in the UK this year”, lived up to this billing with a very swift 28.54 to secure the gold medal and winners trophy sponsored by Bristol Blue Glass. Close behind was Andy Vernon (Aldershot AC) 29.00 in silver position and Jean Ndayisenga (Burundi/Birtchfield) 29.36 with bronze.
The women’s race was equally exciting – with GB international Hattie Dean (Hallamshire Harriers) taking gold with 33.40, Bristol University student Claire Hallissey gaining silver with 33.56 and Claire Martin (Telford AC) in bronze position with 34.49.
2008 Bristol 10k
The first Bristol 10k took place in May 2008 and attracted entries from 5000 runners.
British athletes triumphed in the new race – making a clean sweep of the top 3 womens prizes, with Phil Nicholls securing 2nd place in the mens race.
In a very close race Wendy Nicholls (34:08, Cirencester) beat Louise Damen (34:09, Winchester & District) and Claire Martin (34:15, Telford) in humid conditions on Bank Holiday Monday 5 May 2008. Fellow Brit Phil Nicholls (29:36, Tipton Harriers) came second to Jean Ndayasenga who was overall winner (29:09, Burundi/Birchfield) beating Zak Kihara (29:51, Kenya/Birchfield) into 3rd place.
Nick Rose
The great Bristol athlete and schoolteacher Nick Rose holds the UK all time 10k road record with a very swift 27 mins 34 sec. Nick is a great supporter of the Bristol 10k – although we have yet to persuade him to run in it !
Rose, who benefited from an American scholarship, set his national best on the roads of New Orleans no less than 24 years ago and his time still stands – a real tribute to the quality of the Bristol Olympian’s record.
Interestingly Rose’s track time was just 3 sec swifter than his road performance.