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Weekend Round-Up (24 - 25 January 2026 )
26/01/2026 00:00, In Blog /
2026 WELSH CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS – CARDIFF, JANUARY 24
US-based brother and sister Thomas and Emily Chaston claimed the men’s and women’s senior titles at the 121st Welsh Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
The siblings, who travelled to Wales especially to compete at the championships, made their journey worthwhile as more than 1,100 athletes took part in difficult weather conditions.
With the championships returning to Cardiff for the first time since 2014, it was fitting the brother and sister claimed their victories in the capital.
The city is the birthplace of their father, Justin Chaston, who represented Great Britain in the steeplechase at three Olympic Games and Wales at the Victoria Commonwealth Games in 1994.
Emily was the first to claim gold as she eventually shook off the spirited challenge of Kayley Price (Newport Harriers) who had been vying for the lead until the final stages of the 7,760m course.
In wet and windy conditions, which made the ground extremely muddy and slippery underfoot, especially on the slopes, Chaston moved away in the last 300m to break the tape in 27:15.
Price claimed silver in 27:20, while the in-form Eden O’Dea (Deeside AAC), who had also challenged at the front for much of the race, was third in 27:31.
Belgrave Harrier, Chaston, who like her father specialises in the steeplechase, said after the race:
That was hard!
It went out at a pretty comfortable pace, but the girls picked it up each lap, and all the mud was crazy - like nothing I've ever seen before. And the log jump in there was a little bit of a surprise, but with my steeplechase background, it was okay.
Chaston, who is due to graduate from the University of Utah in the spring, said she had targeted the Welsh championships after her college season in the States.
After I was done competing in the NCAA, I had some injuries that I needed to heal up, so I just did a fun road half marathon in the fall, just to prepare for this. These championships were what I was really focused on.
We love coming over here. My grandparents are from Wales, and then some of my family lives in London now, so we get to stay with them when we come here.
Commenting on claiming a Welsh title ahead of her brother, who finished second in these championships last year, Chaston said:
I hope he takes the win as well, but he's in great shape right now, and he's in a great mindset. I think he's going to do amazing today.
And so it was as her fellow Belgrave Harrier proved to be equally sure-footed in the mud to claim the senior men’s title in the next race of a busy championship schedule.
Chaston, who like his sister positioned himself towards the extreme left of the start line to avoid the worst of the early jostling for position, was in the leading group throughout alongside the likes of Great Britain international Dafydd Jones (Swansea Harriers).
But on the penultimate lap of the 10,230m race, Chaston made a decisive break and never looked back as he continued to extend his lead before crossing the line in 31:30.
Jones finished second in 32:16, while Luca Messanger-Jones (Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds) was third in 32:43.
Chaston, who is hoping to represent Wales in the steeplechase at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games later this year, said of the race:
It was messy!
When the hill on the backside of the course is the easiest part of the race, that tells you that the rest of it is just brutal. I had to just keep my composure and really just grind.
Commenting on his sister pipping him to a being the first to pick up a Welsh title, the Colorado-based athlete said:
It's great. We don't have any family rivalry like that. It's all love. So I'm really proud of her. She did amazing.
Like his sister, Chaston was delighted to be running in Wales.
We love Wales so much. We've been coming here forever, and obviously half of my family lives here, so it's very special to come home and run in proper weather!
On his Commonwealth Games ambitions, Chaston said:
We’ll run a few track races in the winter and then gear up for steeplechase outdoors and look to try to make the Commonwealth Games for steeple.
Things are going well right now. I don't like to talk too much about the future. I like to just get through each week, because injury can pop up anytime. So I try to just go week by week and try to stack weeks of mileage.
I'm gonna go back to London, I'll be there for a few days, and then, I'm gonna go out to Boston and run a 5,000 in a couple weeks.
The first Welsh title of the day went to Alesha Santos (Rhondda AAC), who followed up her 1500m and 3,000m double at the Welsh Indoor Junior Championships last weekend by winning the Under-13 girls title.
Santos moved away from the rest of the field on the finishing loop of the 3,130m course to win in 11:06 ahead of Ella Hayes (Deeside AAC) in 11:14 and her twin sister and clubmate Gwen Hayes in 11:17.
The Under-13 boys race saw an exciting sprint down the finishing straight which eventually saw Jacob Moss (Cardiff Athletics) pull away from club-mate Zac Munn to take gold by two seconds in 10:03. Farley Pritchard completed a clean sweep of the podium by Cardiff as he took bronze in 10:42.
Nate Greig (Bridgend Athletics) continued his excellent pre-Christmas cross country form by claiming the Under-15 boys title over a 4,110m course.
Greig crossed the line in 13:34 with Jack Griffiths (Swansea Harriers) second in 13:47 and another Bridgend Athlete Lewis Durston finishing third in 13:53.
In the Under-15 girls race, Martha Bown (Deeside AAC) followed up her win at the Inter Regional Cross Country in November by claiming the title here in 15.09. Aimee Porter (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers) was second in 15:18 with Esme Lewis (Bridgend Athletics) third in 15:37.
Next up was the Under-17 and Under-20 women’s race, contested over 5,090m. The overall race was won by Under-17 athlete Bryony Boyce (Cardiff Athletics), who claimed the gold in 18:35. Second was fellow Under-17 runner Holly Humphreys (Swansea Harriers) in 18:50. Under-20 athlete Ceri Griffiths (Newport Harriers) was third in 18:52.
A hard fought day’s racing in extremely challenging conditions was rounded off with the Under-17 and Under-20 men’s race over 5,700m.
The overall race was won by Under-20 athlete Iwan Thomas (Carmarthen Harriers), who won by a convincing margin in 18:18. Fellow Under-20 athlete Rhys Pladdy (Cardiff Athletics) was second in 18:41. Under-17 athlete Zac Campbell (Deeside AAC) was third in 18:46.
The day’s events got underway with hundreds of primary school children taking part in two races organised in conjunction with Urdd Gobaith Cymru.
A host of other masters age groups and club medals were also hotly contested throughout the day. Full results can be found in the link below.
NEW BALANCE INDOOR GRAND PRIX – BOSTON, JANUARY 24
Commonwealth Games hopeful Izzy Boffey (Enfield and Haringey) smashed the 28-year-old Welsh indoor 800m record by almost one-and-a-half seconds in Boston on Saturday.
Boffey produced a 28.98-second final 200m to finish second to the USA’s Roisin Willis in a high quality international field, to clock a blistering 2:00.14 – a World Indoor Championships qualifying standard.
The time surpasses the previous Welsh indoor record of 2:01.52 set by Hayley Tullett in Birmingham in 1998.
4J SENIOR SCOTTISH INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – GLAGOW, JANUARY 24
Reese Robinson (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers/Cambridge University) set a big new Welsh indoor triple jump record at the Emirates Arena.
Robinson leapt out to a huge 12.95m to take the senior women’s gold medal by 30cms from Lilly Hulland (Thames Valley Harriers).
The distance shattered Sara Barry and Olivia Scrimshaw’s indoor best of 12.53m. It also equal to the outdoor record of 12.95m which was set by Hannah Frankson (Woodford Green) in the Netherlands in 2013.
ISTAF INDOOR – DUSSELDORF, JANUARY 24
World Indoor 60m champion Jeremiah Azu (Cardiff Athletics) ran a new season best of 6.53 to win at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting in Germany.
Earlier in the week, Azu had run 6.54 as he finished second to fellow GB international Romell Glave in Sweden.
UTMB ARC OF ATTRITION – CORNWALL, JANUARY 24
The multi-talented Kris Jones (Swansea Harriers/HOKA/Elite Trail Team) won the 50 mile race at the UTMB Arc of Attrition in Cornwall on Saturday.
The Arc 50 is a challenging point-to-point race from The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno to Porthtowan taking in 50 miles of the stunning and dramatic South West Coast Path.
Jones, who has represented Wales and Great Britain over a wide range of disciplines, led the field home in a winning time of 7 hrs 09.41 mins. His nearest rival was fellow Elite Trail Team runner Keith Wigley in 7:27.45.
In the 24K race, fellow Welsh athlete Katrina Entwistle (Bristol and West AC) finished second in a time of 2:08.04.
LARRY WIECZOREK INVITATIONAL – IOWA CITY, JANUARY 24
In the United States, David Locke (Cardiff Athletics/Bradley University) won over 800m at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational in 1:49.72, finishing almost two seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
2026 CARDIFF MET NON THOMAS GRAND PRIX – JANUARY 25
More than 400 travelled to the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff, for the event which also featured a number of British Milers Club races.
There was a Welsh All Commers record in the invitational 300m race which saw two-time Commonwealth Games sprinter and Great Britain international Hannah Brier (Swansea Harriers) going head to head with young pretender Darcy Coslett (Llanelli AAC).
Brier produced a blistering run to clock a brilliant 38.14 and break her own All Comers record of 38.19, while NDP athlete Coslett – herself a British Under-17 400m record holder clocked 39.46.
There was a high quality entry in the two rounds of 60m women’s sprints, which saw National Development Programme athlete Nell Desir (Cardiff Archers) twice beat her PB of 7.50.
Desir clocked 7.47 in the first round and 7.42 to post the fastest times of the day ahead of fellow GB relay squad member Jessica Mantle (Cardiff Athletics), who clocked a fastest time of 7.50. Third fastest on the day was promising Under-17 sprinter Aliyah Afolabi (Cardiff Archers) with a fastest time of 7.59.
There were also some excellent performances In the field events, including the shot put competitions.
In the men’s competition, NDP thrower William Richards-Baldwin (Gloucester Athletic Club) won with a new PB of 16.21m. Second place went to fellow NDP Lachlan Robbie (Cardiff Archers) with 15.33m.
The women’s shot saw Grace Hawker (Cardiff Archers) win with a new PB of 11.09m.
In the BMC races, Transition Programme middle distance athlete Jack Organ (Brecon AC) ran the fastest 800m time of the day as he clocked 1:51.31 to win the A race.
Louis Starr (Rugby and Northampton AC) won the B race in 1:52.88, while NDP athlete Thomas Loynes (Neath Harriers) won the C race, clocking 1:54.62.
In the women’s 1500m A race, Emma Powell (Western Tempo) finished third in 4:23.56.
LLISWERRY 8 MILE RACE – JANUARY 25
Dubbed the flattest race on the planet, the Lliswerry 8 Mile Race took place on Sunday morning.
The men’s race was won by Adam Bull (Pontypridd Roadents) in 41:14, ahead of Alastair Cambell (Lliswerry Runners) in 41:27. Jamie Williamson (Bristol and West AC) was third in 41:41.
Emily Fell (Les Croupiers RC) won the women’s race with a gun time of 47:55 ahead of Ceri Merwood (CDF Runners) in 48:00. Both runners shared a chip time of 47:51. Gabriella Booth (Porthcawl Runners) was third in 48:04.
RESOLUTION RUN 5K – BUILTH WELLS, JANUARY 25
This year’s event featured a flatter course than is usually run around the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells.
Charlie Morgan was the first to complete the new course as he finished in 17:25. Dean Thomas (Maldwyn Harriers) was second in 17:32, while third overall was Donna Morris (Builth Wells Running Club) club, who was also the first female to finish in 17:55.
Morris enjoyed a busy weekend as the previous day she had finished 11th overall in the Senior Women’s/Masters Women, 65-plus Men race at the Welsh Cross Country Championships and was the first W40 finisher.
The third place male finisher was Phil Morris (Builth Wells Running Club), who clocked 18:00.
The second female finisher was Alesha Santos (Rhondda AAC), who herself won the Under-13 girls race at the Welsh Cross Country Championships on Saturday. Hannah Thomas (Maldwyn Harriers) was the third female finisher in 19:31.
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