Charity Cherop and Keneth Kiprop win senior races as Brits Kate Axford, Cari Hughes, Zak Mahamed and Innes FitzGerald impress ahead of Euro trials
Ugandan duo Charity Cherop and Keneth Kiprop won the senior titles at the Cardiff Cross Challenge on Saturday (Nov 9) but this was a meeting packed with multiple sub-plots and storylines.
British athletes Kate Axford, Cari Hughes, Izzy Fry and Zak Mahamed showed good fitness a fortnight ahead of the European trials in Liverpool.
Innes FitzGerald showed she is in fine form ahead of defending her European under-20 title in Turkey in December.
Olympic 1500m finalists Niels Laros and Stefan Nillessen demonstrated that cross-country is an important part of their winter plans as they the Dutch duo flew into Britain to get stuck into the senior men’s race.
Rubbing shoulders with the elite runners in the World Athletics Tour and young athlete age-groupers chasing British Athletics Cross Challenge points, grassroots club runners were in abundance as part of the Gwent Cross Country League.
Top four women (l to r): Sheila Jebet, Charity Cherop, Kate Axford, Cari Hughesene
Kiprop defends men’s crown
Kiprop out-sprinted Vincent Mutai to win the men’s race in 2023 and the Ugandan teenager repeated the trick again to take his second consecutive victory under grey skies at the Llandaff Fields venue.
After winning last year he went on to win bronze in the 5000m at the World Under-20 Championships in Lima and the 19-year-old will doubtless be aiming to make his mark in senior track championships in 2025.
A group of eight runners broke away early on over the 9600m course. Such was the pace, Laros, who was sixth in the Olympic 1500m final with a sub-3:30 performance, was detached in the chasing group.
The lead pack was gradually whittled down, though, with Kiprop kicking clear of Mutai of Kenya and fellow Ugandan Dan Kibet to win by two seconds in 27:06.
Burundi runners Célestin Ndikumana and Emile Hafashimana were fourth and fourth with Ireland’s Efrem Gidey enjoying a fine run in sixth and Britain’s Zak Mahamed seventh. “I’m happy with that run,” said Mahamed, “as it was a very strong field.”
In eighth was Younes Kniya of Morocco whereas Logan Rees of Fife enjoyed a great run in ninth as he finished just ahead of Laros with fellow Dutch runners Robin van Riel and Nillessen 16th and 18th.
Mahamed ran a half-marathon PB recently and like most leading Brits in Cardiff he is aiming for the European trials in Liverpool at the end of this month. He made the podium in the under-23 Euro Cross race in 2022 but is now in the senior age group.
As for Laros, he said he was pleased with his result, saying: “I’m happy with my run here after what has been a tough period of training. For me cross country is all about preparation for the track season.”
Charity Cherop (Paul Stillman)
No charity from Cherop
Similar to the men’s race, Cherop out-sprinted Sheila Jebet of Kenya to win by a second in 20:15 in the women’s 6400m race.
Only 17, Cherop won bronze in the 5000m at the World Under-20 Championships this year, whereas Jebet was fourth in the under-20 race at the World Cross Country Championships.
Only five seconds behind in Cardiff, Kate Axford was first Brit home as she laid down a marker ahead of the Euro trials in Liverpool.
The former hockey international has clearly returned from a stint of altitude training in Font Romeu in fine form and the Belgrave athlete is hoping for further improvements when she makes a move soon from London to Leeds to be closer to her coach Andy Henderson, who was in Cardiff to watch the action unfold.
“I thought I still had a bit to go,” said Axford on misjudging the run-in to the finish, “so there are things to learn to take into Liverpool in a couple of weeks’ time. The field was really strong here which gives me a good confidence boost.”
Hot on Axford’s heels was Cari Hughes in fourth. Like Axford, she has been altitude training recently and was one of the Welsh success stories of the day as she hails from Anglesey in the north of the country.
Izzy Fry and Poppy Tank were fifth and sixth with Sofia Thogersen, the talented junior from Denmark, seventh as Emmy van den Berg of the Netherlands and Brits Amelia Quirk and Meg Gadsby rounded out the top 10.
Innes FitzGerald (Paul Stillman)
FitzGerald wins in style
Innes FitzGerald’s winning margin wasn’t quite as big as last year but the Exeter athlete still looked impressive as she finished half a minute clear of Lizzie Wellstead and Zoe Gilbody.
FitzGerald, 18, won the European under-20 in style in Brussels 12 months ago and is gearing up for a defence in Turkey next month. She has now started studying at Exeter University, too, a wise choice that means she is not far from her family home in south Devon plus Gavin Pavey’s training group in Devon that has served her so well.
This was FitzGerald’s first race since finishing fourth in the 3000m at the World Under-20 Championships – a result which left her disappointed at the time as she would have loved to have made the podium.
She showed no sign of race rustiness in Cardiff, though, on her third visit to this race. “I haven’t done any small or local races before this as usual,” said FitzGerald, “so it was literally my first race since the Worlds in Lima.”
Innes FitzGerald with Lizzie Wellstead, Zoe Gilbody and Tanni Grey-Thompson
Wellstead and Gilbody also ran strongly in second and third with Isabel Holt, Isla McGowan and Libby Hale following.
William Rabjohns won a much closer under-20 men’s race as the Poole runner beat Matthew Clark, Mark Ruby and Quinn Miell-Ingram in a sprint finish.
William Rabjohns leads
Like FitzGerald, Rabjohns has just started at university but has plumped for the traditional athletics powerhouse of Loughborough.
Kara Gorman was an impressive winner of the under-15 girls’ race. Cheered on by her parents and pet Maltese dog, the Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow runner finished 10 seconds clear of Madison Welby with Phoebe Langlands third.
Kara Gorman with Madison Welby and Phoebe Langlands
The relatively flat course with dry weather conditions led to a number of close finishes and Ewan Withnall was involved in one of them as the Burton AC runner held off Louie Muir, Osian Parry and George Watkins to win the under-15 boys’ race.
Sam Cousins of Radley AC won a competitive under-13 boys’ race from Osian Phillips and Lewis Durston, while Madison Kindler was an emphatic winner of the under-13 girls’ race for Brentwood Beagles as Elizabeth Hutchings and Ellie Blackhurst won silver and bronze.
Madison Kindler with Elizabeth Hutchings and Ellie Blackhurst
Next stop in the British Athletics Cross Challenge series is the much-anticipated Euro trials at Sefton Park.
Full results from Cardiff here.
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