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- Charlie Hulson Back In Cardiff And Aiming For Back To Back Success
By Owen Morgan
North Wales distance runner Charlie Hulson travels south to a happy hunting ground on Saturday to line up for the annual Cardiff Cross Challenge.
Last Sunday, the Liverpool Harrier clinched the Welsh half marathon title on the streets of the capital in a new personal best time.
And this weekend he will be looking to emulate the success he enjoyed in the city’s parkland when he won the senior men’s race at the 2018 edition of the Cardiff Cross Challenge.
Hulson, who is preparing to make his marathon debut in Valencia later this year, went on to represent Great Britain against Europe and the USA at the Simplyhealth Great Stirling Cross Country event.
This year, the 26-year-old will have local competition from the likes of Welsh Commonwealth Games athletes Ieuan Thomas, of Cardiff AC and Swansea Harrier Jon Hopkins, while Englishman Sam Stabler, of Wreake & Soar Valley, will look to take the title out of Wales.
Saturday’s event will see hundreds of runners from under-11s to masters categories converge on Llandaff Fields from around the UK and beyond for what is the first leg of this year’s British Athletics Cross Challenge – further cementing Cardiff’s position as a major distance running venue.
The races will also see club athletes from around Wales and the south west doing battle in the first fixture of this year’s John Collins Gwent League.
Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated race of the day will come in the senior women’s category where some of Wales’ best distance runners will go shoulder to shoulder on the start line.
Training partners Jenny Nesbitt and Charlotte Arter have been almost inseparable when it comes to their successes on the road, track and countryside over the past 12 months.
Representing Wales over 3,000m at the Belfast International in August, only 0.05 of a second separated them as Arter finished second and Nesbitt third in a new PB of 9:05.00.
A few weeks later, there was less than a second-and-a-half between them over 5,000m at the British Athletics Championships and World Championships trials as Arter clocked a season’s best 15:56.11 and Nesbitt 15:57.56.
With the track season done, both are eager to get back to cross country action where they have enjoyed huge success over the past year.
Arter, won the Liverpool leg of the British Cross Challenge last season, and was the first Brit home at the European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg where she was part of the silver medal-winning senior women’s team.
Looking forward to Saturday, the Cardiff AC athlete said: “I really enjoy the challenge of cross country, I had a great season last year, and I’m hoping to make home advantage count here in Cardiff.
“Jenny and I are using some of the course for training each week – it’s nice to get off the roads and toughen up with some grass reps.”
Reigning Welsh cross country champion and Cardiff clubmate Nesbitt, who won the Intercounty title in Loughborough, and represented GB at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, is also looking to kick start her season in Cardiff.
“I really like the course, it’s got a good mix of elements – a proper cross country course,” she said.
“Having the chance to push ourselves here in training, and practice the technical elements – like the log jump – will hopefully pay off!”
Added to the mix will be Arter and Nesbitt’s Cardiff clubmate Clara Evans, who has also enjoyed a hugely successful season, clocking personal bests over 5k, 10k and half marathon distances.
Last weekend, Evans joined forces with Nesbitt, Arter and Lucy Marland to help Cardiff AC win the English National Road Relays in Birmingham, following up the club’s success at the Welsh Road Relays at Pembrey Country Park.
Saturday’s action starts at 11.30am with the under 11 girls’ race and culminates with the senior men and masters race, which is due to get underway at 14:50pm.
Full information on the event can be found on the Cardiff Cross Challenge website.
