Results from road race action in the Welsh capital plus the ULTRA LONDON, Loch Ness Marathon and more

Coverage of IAAF World Championships action in Doha can be found here, while an English National Road Relays round-up is here and other recent highlights are below.

Cardiff University / Cardiff Half Marathon, Wales, October 6

Leonard Langat took 73 seconds off the course record to win the Cardiff University / Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday.

The Kenyan secured success after a sprint finish to pip his compatriot and 2016 champion Shadrack Kimining by a mere two seconds.

Langat won the race in 59:30, while long-time race leader Kimming had a 10-second PB to reward his efforts in second place in 59:32.

“I was feeling comfortable behind Shadrack and I pushed on in the final 500 metres,” said Langat. “I kept the pace up right to the finish because I was feeling so strong.”

The first British athlete home was Mohamud Aadan in 11th place in 64:15. Peter Le’Grice was one place further back in 64:21, a 35-second PB, while Charlie Hulson took the Welsh title, which has been dominated by Dewi Griffiths in recent years, with a PB time of 64:28 – a 51-second improvement on his previous best set in Copenhagen last month.

Hulson, a former English cross-country champion, is preparing for his marathon debut in Valencia in December and was delighted with his run in Cardiff.

“I’m still relatively young for the marathon,” said the 26-year-old, “but I enjoy the longer work and there is no point in waiting around to have a go at it.

“I felt fairly comfortable at the pace at which I was running, but I won’t be going off that quick on my marathon debut. Anything under 2:13.00 I will be happy with and the long term goal is to make the Welsh team for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.”

There was another dramatic finish in the women’s race as Kenya’s Lucy Cheruiyot and Ethiopia’s Azmera Abreha ran side-by-side down the finishing straight, with Cheruiyot’s compatriot Paskalia Kipkoech not far behind.

In the end, the extra strength of Cheruiyot carried her to victory, although both she and Abreha were given the same time of 68:20. Kipkoech was a further five seconds behind in 68:25.

The first British athlete home in the women’s race was Jenny Spink in seventh in a time of 73:26. Rebecca Hilland came home in 10th in 77:42, while Carys Hughes won the Welsh title in 78:20, stripping 2 min, 49 sec off her previous best time.

In the elite men’s wheelchair race, Danny Sidbury won comfortably despite having to pull over to find some tools to tighten one of his wheels after it threatened to fall off.

Following the event, which featured a record 20,432 starters from a 27,500 entry, organisers announced the sad news of a fatality, with 35-year-old Nicholas Beckley said to have died in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest.

“Nicholas Beckley, aged 35, died at the University Hospital of Wales, Heath, Cardiff, having collapsed at the finish line after completing the race,” organisers said in a statement. “He suffered a cardiac arrest and received immediate attention in the medical centre located at the finish line.

“Nick, who worked as a Senior Planner at Cardiff Council and was an alumni of Cardiff University, had run the race twice before and was a regular runner and football player.”

Matt Newman, CEO of event organisers Run 4 Wales, said “The thoughts of everyone connected with the race are with Nick’s family and friends at this difficult time. The medical team and emergency services reacted with great speed and professionalism to his collapse on the finish and he received specialist medical care within a minute of finishing.

“We will remain in close contact with the family and will continue to support them in every way we can.”

ULTRA LONDON, October 5

The inaugural edition of the event, which had 500 entries, saw runners take on either a 55km or 27.5km ultra running challenge in the UK capital.

Thomas Kingham (pictured) won the men’s 55km in 4:15:15, with Miki Neant claiming the women’s title in 5:03:09, while the 27.5km winners were Florent Papeil in 2:10:36 and Clémentine Ebel in 2:25:20.

The longer distance saw runners set out from Woolwich and travel through nine of South London’s boroughs, while those taking on the 27.5km course started at the midway point at Crystal Palace before participants finished together in Richmond upon Thames.

On Shrewsbury Half Marathon, October 6

The men’s race saw eventual winner Tom Roberts and runner-up Jack Pickett run together for a large section of the course, but it was Roberts who eventually pulled away to claim victory in a time of 69:54 ahead of Pickett’s 71:56.

Third place was claimed by Callum Welman in 76:16.

The women’s race was dominated throughout by Jackie Skinner, who took the win in a time of 81:27. Second place went to Rachel Sweatt in a time of 82:49 and Elliw Haf crossed the line five minutes later to take third place in a time of 87:48.

Baxters Loch Ness Marathon and Festival of Running, Scotland, October 6

Isaiah Kosgei clocked 2:29:31 to win the men’s marathon and Katie White ran 2:42:04 to break the course record in the women’s race.

The 10km winners were Cameron Strachan in 30:31 and Megan Keith in 34:42.

MBNA Chester Marathon, October 6

Tom Charles won the men’s race in 2:29:29, while Abbey van Dijk claimed the women’s title in a time of 3:01:51.

Bournemouth Marathon Festival, October 5/6

Lloyd Biddell won the men’s marathon in 2:25:48 ahead of Phil Wylie (2:33:26) and Steven Yates (2:41:06) while the women’s race was won by Gill Bland in 2:59:41 ahead of Jen Granger (3:00:30) and Juliet Champion (3:02:57).

James Hoad (69:45) and Sophie Delderfield (81:17) won the half-marathon races.

Mattoni Liberec Nature Run, Czech Republic, October 5

The second running of the Mattoni Liberec Nature Run 12 & 23km was dominated in cold and rainy conditions by Vít Pavlišta in the 23km race (1:26:16), while Marcela Rambová (1:47:57) was the women’s race winner.

The 12km distance was won by Robert Heczko (43:31) and Tereza Hrochová (48:11), who managed to improve the women’s event record by five minutes.