Newyddion

25/08/2021 00:00, I Mewn Blog / Road /

Dewi Griffiths and Charlotte Arter will head the start lists for the Cardiff 5k – Race for Victory on Sunday.

The popular road race will kick-start the Welsh Autumn Road Racing Season, hosting the National Championships for the 5km distance and a competitive Inter-Area Match between Wales and teams from the Midlands, the North of England and the UK Armed Forces.

The race takes place in the Whitchurch suburb of Cardiff at 7pm and will return following an absence in 2020 due to the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic.

Marathoner Dewi Griffiths is one of the top Welsh distance runners of all time and with a return to fitness following injury, may target a Welsh All-comers record that currently sits at 14:11. The Swansea man has a lifetime best of 13:43 set at the Podium 5k last August, just three seconds of the Welsh record set by Roger Hackney at 13:40 in 1986.

Jack Gray of Cambridge & Coleridge is the next fastest on paper with a 13:47 mark set at the Ipswich Twilight 5k in 2019 finishing fourth. His 10,000m best of 28:49 came later that year.

Cardiff Athletics’ Nathan Jones has improved massively since returning from an Athletics scholarship in the States in 2018 and will line up for Wales with a 13:59 5km best from the Podium 5k last August.

Tom Marshall claimed the Welsh 5,000m title by a whisker from young superstar Osian Perrin earlier this month. The former was the winner here in 2017 and joins the men’s team with a track P.B. of 13:53 and the latter heads the Welsh Junior Men’s team with a best of 14:02 which is a Welsh Junior Men’s Record.

Perrin has had an incredible year which included a Great Britain & Northern Ireland Team debut, finishing fifth at the European Championships in Tallinn.

The Welsh A team will also see Morgan Davies of Swansea Harriers and Dan Nash of Cardiff Athletics in action with Dafydd Jones of Carmarthen Harriers, Lloyd Sheppard of Cardiff Athletics, and Adam Barber of Harborough AC line up alongside Perrin in the Junior Men's Team.

Alfie Manthorpe, racing for the North of England is another young athlete in action with a proven pedigree having won the England U23 Championships at the 3,000m S/C in Bedford recently. Freddie Hessian will lead the Midlands team with a P.B. of 14:19.

Charlotte Arter is an outstanding favourite in the women’s race and was the winner here in 2018. Her time of 15:39. on that occasion missed the Welsh record by just one, second, set days earlier by Stevie Stockton.

The Cardiff Athlete is always hard to beat in the domestic competition and her greatest test may come from fellow Welsh Team members and training mates Jenny Nesbit and Clara Evans. Swansea Harrier Sophie Harris will complete the Welsh Team quartet.

Nesbitt was the Inter-Counties Cross Country Champion in 2019 and has an impressive track best of 15:30. The recent form includes a 15:34 clocking in Loughborough, falling just four seconds outside the Welsh qualification mark for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Evans is a roadrunner of proven pedigree and a 72:21 mark at the half marathon to her name and a 2:32.42 marathon best.

Cari Hughes will head the Welsh Women's B Team and will be hoping to get amongst the medals. The former Uk Inter-Counties Cross Country Champion will be joined by Anna Bracegirdle, Alaw Beynon-Thomas, and Caryl Edwards (Nee Jones).

Eleanor Bolton of Ribble Valley, representing the North of England and Danielle Hodgkinson of the Uk Armed Forces are likely to offer the fiercest non-Welsh competition.  Bolton has dipped under the 16-minute mark several times in the past and most recently this April in Barrowford. Hogkinson has great staying power, proven by her 33:41 10km best time.

The Welsh Junior Women's Team will feature Moli Lyons, Eva Edwards, Rheagan Edwards, and Rhiannon Paton.

Jade Williams of Amman Valley Harriers will be in action and although primarily a track specialist, was second here in 2019 and has a P.B. of 16:08.