England Half Marathon champions crowned in Manchester

The streets of Manchester played host to the England Senior Half Marathon Championships at the weekend as part of the Manchester Half Marathon.

While the temperatures may have dipped since the summer, the quality of the performances certainly haven't as the runners demonstrated why the race is considered a perfect PB course. Setting off in cool and misty conditions from the Trafford Arch start line, battle quickly commenced in both the men's and women's races, with the top three in each race also taking the gold, silver and bronze in the England Athletics championships.

Men's championship

The men's race saw a close battle between the top two, with the race only decided on the run in to the finish. In the end the first two men were separated by only 5 seconds with the honours, and a new course record and personal best going to Joe Wigfield (Wirral AC) in a time of 62:04. Coming in a close second was Jonny Mellor (Liverpool Harriers) in a time of 62:09. Third place went to Omar Ahmed (Birchfield Harriers) in 62:44.

Women's Championship

In the ladies race, Lily Partridge (Birchfield Harriers) made a decisive move in the latter part of the race and stormed to victory with a new PB time of 69:34, ahead of Charlotte Purdue (Aldershot Farnham and District) in 70:13. Third place went to Charlotte Taylor (Bristol & West AC) who knocked almost 2 minutes off her previous best to finish in 70:38.

Well done to all the medallists and the 28,000 runners who took part in the event. See full Manchester Half Marathon results here.