- Home
- Other Sports
- Dewi And Charlotte In Hunt For British And European Glory After Getting GB Call Up
Dewi Griffiths and Charlotte Arter have been named in a strong Great Britain team of 12 for the European 10,000m Cup in London next month.
As well as European glory, the Welsh duo will be chasing the British 10,000m title. The event also acts as a trial for the World Athletics Championships in September.
Griffiths has already sealed a place at the Doha championships in the marathon following his outstanding performance at the Virgin London Marathon in April when he was the third Briton home.
The Swansea Harrier’s appearance at the European 10,000m Cup, which is part of the popular annual Highgate Harriers’ Night of the 10,000m PBs at Parliament Hill, will be his first track race since August 2017.
A hip injury he suffered after making a spectacular marathon debut in Frankfurt in the autumn of 2017 resulted in Griffiths missing out on representing Wales at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
However, since returning to competition last summer, Griffiths has shown on the road and over cross country that he is returning to the kind of form he showed before his injury.
The last time he ran at the Night of the 10,000m PBs, Griffiths was second to Andy Vernon in a time of 28:31.88.
Arter also has fond memories of the Parliament Hill event having finished third in the European Cup race there last year in a personal best time of 32:15.71, which also brought her the British title.
The performance gained her qualification for last summer’s European Athletics Championships in Berlin, but she was forced to pull out due to a ankle injury.
However, the Cardiff Athletics runner has bounced back to form in spectacular fashion winning the British Cross Challenge in Liverpool, which gained her selection for the European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg at the end of 2018.
Already this year Arter has produced a string of standout performances including setting a new half marathon PB in Barcelona, finishing first at the Brecon Carreg Cardiff Bay 10K and setting a parkrun world record time of 15:50.
There is further Welsh interest amongst the GB team in the shape of Swansea Harriers’ England international Verity Ockenden, who produced a 5,000m PB in the United States earlier this season.
With six women and six men selected, Britain will contest for team medals in both events at the European 10,000m Cup, which will be integrated into the A races run on July 6.
Team Leader Mark Pollard said: “We are delighted to have announced such a strong team for the European 10,000m Cup in London next month.
“Incorporated into the Night of 10,000m PBs once again, the European 10,000m Cup is a standout event on the calendar and a significant marker in an important year for all of the athletes selected.
“We will be looking to achieve the highest possible placing in both the men’s and women’s team standings and are confident that the athletes selected can deliver successful results.”
The full Great Britain team for the European 10,000m:
MEN:
Ben Connor (Derby; Steve Vernon)
Nick Goolab (Belgrave; Craig Winrow)
Dewi Griffiths (Swansea; Kevin Evans)
Adam Hickey (Southend; Eamonn Martin)
Matt Leach (Bedford & County; Philip O’Dell)
Marc Scott (Richmond & Zetland; Jerry Schumacher)
WOMEN:
Charlotte Arter (Cardiff; Chris Jones)
Sarah Inglis (Lothian; Mark Bomba)
Eilish McColgan (Dundee Hawkhill; Liz Nuttall)
Verity Ockenden (Swansea; Tony Houchin)
Jess Piasecki (Stockport; Robert Hawkins)
Alice Wright (Worcester; Ben Rosario)
