Despite many changes to the athletics calendar, the Podium 5k, Bath Half and England Age Group Indoor Combined Events Champs were among the events to take place

While a number of events were cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, some events did still take place, including the New Balance English Schools Cross Country Championships at Sefton Park in Liverpool, for which our full online report is here.

Other recent highlights are below.

Podium 5km road race, Burnley, Lancashire, March 14

European and Commonwealth 1500m bronze medallist Jake Wightman won the men’s race in 14:30, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Daniel Racle, with Nick McCormick a further two seconds back.

The top eight finished inside 15 minutes.

Charlotte Arter is the women’s world parkrun record-holder and she came close to that record time (15:49) with 15:53 to win the women’s race in Burnley and finish 34th overall.

Jemima Elgood was second in the women’s race in 16:46 and Megan Davies was third in 16:51.

The ‘B’ races were won by Jack Wilkinson (16:45) and Sally Armitage (18:52).

Bath Half Marathon, Somerset, March 15

Reaction online was mixed as to whether the event should have gone ahead but in the end 6,806 people took part, around half the usual number. Some runners chose to don their race number but complete their 13.1 miles from home instead of officially at the event.

The race was won in wet conditions by Irish international marathoner Paul Pollock in 64:14 ahead of Jamie Crowe in 64:38 and Jonathan Cornish in 65:17.

Definitely a day to thank all the marshalls and volunteers for braving the cold weather and downpours. Fantastic organisation and atmosphere around! Very happy with the win. Well done to all runners @bathhalf. #rainraineverywhere #stilldryingout @NNRunningTeam pic.twitter.com/AQ8XmA3MRx

— Paul Pollock (@ppmarathon) March 15, 2020

British under-20 half-marathon record-holder c won the women’s race in a PB of 74:34.

Phillipa Williams was second in 75:01 and Rachel Felton third in 75:07.

MK Half Marathon and Festival of Running, Milton Keynes, March 15

Steve Tuttle (72:11) and Alice Ritchie (83:58) won the half-marathon races, while the 20-mile events were won by Nick Hughes (1:58:32) and Lara Bromilow (2:14:10).

The 10km champions were Jason Baker (34:47) and Olivia Baker (39:53), while the 5km events were won by Jonathan Parr (16:35) and Amy Killick (19:38).

Croydon Half Marathon, March 15

Daniel Gaffney broke the course record to win the men’s race in 70:47, while Rachel Lindley won the women’s race in 85:54.

The Croydon Half Marathon went ahead as planned this morning and was won by Daniel Gaffney in a course record of 70:47, while Rachel Lindley won the women's race in 85:54. ? by @James_Athletics pic.twitter.com/YMvMwDAcbV

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) March 15, 2020

England Age Group Indoor Combined Events Championships, Sheffield, March 14-15

Ella Rush claimed the first title of the weekend, breaking the UK age-15 best with 3865 points in the under-17 pentathlon, with her score also moving her to third on the UK under-17 all-time list.

Georgina Mabbott won the under-15 pentathlon with 3175 points, just one point ahead of runner-up Alice Wilson.

Dante Clarke scored 2953 points to win the under-15 boys’ pentathlon title, while the two-day under-17 men’s heptathlon was won by Sammy Ball with 4670 points ahead of Djavan Pedro with 4620 points.

Beijing, China, March 14

The first indoor athletics event to take place in China since the coronavirus outbreak saw two-time world shot put champion Gong Lijiao throw a world-leading 19.70m.

Pretoria, South Africa, March 14

Akani Simbine ran an early 100m world lead of 9.91 (+1.7m/s) in the heats before 10.03 (-1.8) in the semi-finals and 10.01 (+1.3) in the final.

Phatutshedzo Maswanganyi ran a national under-20 record of 10.06 (+0.8) in the semi-finals.