England half marathon champions crowned in Manchester

Manchester was the setting for the England Athletics Senior Half Marathon Championships and what a race it was as the course lived up to its reputation as super fast to deliver some fantastic performances.

It may have still been dark when runners started to make their way to the race village but the autumn sunshine and mass support from the spectators helped to create a lively atmosphere for the 24,000 runners.

Conditions for the race were cool and dry as the elite wave runners set off. The temperature was cool but the pace at the front of the race was definitely hot and it wasn’t long before the first runners were crossing the line.

Jack Rowe (Aldershot, Farnham & District) took gold in the championships and the overall race win, storming across the line in 1:02:12.  This time smashed the course record (set by Jack at last year’s event) by an astonishing 30 seconds. Silver in the championships went to Jacob Allen (Highgate, Steve McGowan) in a time of 1:02:43 with Alexander Leprêtre (Highgate, David Chalfen) taking Bronze in 1:04:14.

In the women’s race Lucy Reid (Tonbridge, Richard Owen) ran an exceptional race taking gold in a new personal best time of 1:09:13 and finishing almost 5 minutes ahead of second placed runner. In the process, Lucy smashed the old course record by almost a minute.

Behind Lucy the battle for silver and bronze was won by Charlotte Dannatt (Camberley/Loughborough Students, Kyle Bennett) in 1:14:24, with Rebecca Murray (Bedford & County, Craig Winrow) finishing 18 seconds behind in 1:14:42.

See full Manchester marathon results here.