*Pictured above (*right) - Martin Green who enjoyed another solid international performance for the Welsh Masters team v England at the Mid-Cheshire 5k.
Fast and furious for elite Welsh Masters athletes at Mid-Cheshire International 5k challenge. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk It was another fast and furious encounter at last Friday night’s Mid-Cheshire Summer 5k Dash with the first 43 runners all dipping under 15-minutes, and just 5-seconds separating the top three male finishers. This very popular event, staged on an established ultra-quick course, also included an exciting international match between Welsh Masters and England Masters, with two North Wales Road Runners in Martin Green and Kay Hatton selected to proudly wear the red vests of Wales.
*Kay Hatton (*above) ran well for the Welsh Masters team, and (*below) Will Williams claimed another 5k PB at the Mid-Cheshire 5k.
The overall race was won by James West (Tonbridge AC) in a very speedy 14 minutes and 3 seconds, with Jonathan Cornish (Hercules Wimbledon AC), 2nd in 14.06, and Carl Avery (Morpeth Harriers), 3rd in 14.07. The first female athlete was Samantha Harrison (Charnwood AC), who is also understood to have broken the course record with a very fast time of 15.11. NWRRC had eight members within the bumper 891 entrants and included mainly elite or top-club runners. Martin Green led the club team home and enjoyed another excellent run in 180th place overall in just 16 minutes and 6 seconds, and he finished as the 5th international runner in his MV45 age cat. Jonathan Kettle put a difficult couple of weeks behind him to finish 270th and recorded his second-best 5k time ever of 16.45, with Will Williams going from strength to strength and celebrated a twenty-second PB of 17.12 in 337th place. Richard Eccles had another fine run finishing 489th in 18.30, and young Harry Driscoll was 585th in an impressive time of 19.29.
*Richard Eccles (*above) enjoyed another fine run in the 5k challenge
Jamie Tharme was 756th in 20.01, and two of the club’s talented veteran ladies, Kay Hatton and Cheryl Frost, were on top form again with Kay claiming 768th place overall, and she was the 5th FV60 age cat runner in 22.40, with Cheryl 773rd, and the 19th FV55 cat in 22.54.
*Jonathan Kettle (*above left) with Cheryl Frost (*below).
*After the race, Jonathan Kettle said: “I went out after work and ran my second fastest ever 5km in a time of 16.45. I always feel so fortunate to have a body which has the ability to let me hurt it by running. With everything that’s been going on for the past two weeks and no speed training for months! I’m happy with the run.” Will Williams explained: “I didn’t think I was going to run this race, even in the warm-up. My hip and groin were painful and tight, but I gave it a go anyway. So super-chuffed to get a twenty-second PB. I now know that when fully fit a sub-17-minute is on.” Richard Eccles added: “Not a bad outing! A busy field and lots of NWRRC runners. No Welsh Masters selection again, but that made me chase down those V55 vests and finish 3rd in the Welsh Masters group.” And Kay Hatton, commented: “It was a very high-quality field, and I was thrilled to get 22.40. I ran for Welsh Masters – and finished 7th out of 9 in the International FV55-64 age group - and just realised I was the 4th counter for Wales!”
*This is the link to the provisional results from the Mid-Cheshire 5k from 25/8/23: https://runcheshire.niftyentries.com/Results/Mid-Cheshire-5k-Summer-2023?ResultSetupId=962b05d2-0641-4312-a14e-8e0739459d80