Griffiths Blitzes 5,000 Strong Field As Sun Shines On Cardiff Bay 10K

Welsh running star Dewi Griffiths blitzed the elite field to claim first place in the new look Cardiff and Vale College Cardiff Bay Run 10K race.

The Swansea Harrier, fresh from retaining his Welsh cross country crown for the sixth time, stormed the flat course to cross the line in 29:08 in a 5,000+ field.

Griffiths missed out on the personal best he set in France last year by only 23 seconds.

He led from the front and his dominance was clear when Cardiff AAC’s Matt Clowes crossed the line to take the silver medal almost a minute later in 30.06.

Dan Nash claimed third place as he snuck in under 31 minutes, before two more Cardiff runners, Carwyn Jones and James Hunt crossed the line.

There was more to shout about for Cardiff AAC in the Women’s race as Clara Evans claimed the gold medal in her first appearances in the blue vest.

Evans, who had previously run in Pontypridd Roadents colours, crossed the finish line in 34:58 to set a new best for 2017 over the distance. Leeds City’s Emma Clayton finished second in 35.25, ahead of the experienced Emma Stepto in third.

Evans said: “I used to run this event when it was a five mile race and I would definitely come back and run again. There was a great crowd out here in lovely warm weather, it was a great day. It was my debut for Cardiff AAC today and it was great to get a win in the blue vest.”

The sun was shining on the Welsh capital as more than 5,000 runners completed the Cardiff Bay Run.

Runners flooded the Cardiff’s iconic Bay with a sea of colour for Wales’ second largest running event as the Family Fun Run kicked off a day to remember, with Lloyd Shepherd taking the boys race and Bethany Gold pipping her sister Millie to the girls race.

Team CF, running for charity partner, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, could not be missed with their ginger beards painted on their faces and a 50-strong Team CAVC made up of staff and students from Cardiff and Vale College beat the course after months of training.

A total of 5,120 runners crossed the start line and followed the race car supplied by Sytner Mini up Bute Street and back down Lloyd George Avenue before taking in iconic Cardiff landmarks like the Norwegian church and Cardiff Bay Barrage on the brand new 10K course.

Brecon Carreg supplied water at the 5K mark as runners headed back towards the Wales Millennium Centre. Capital South Wales were on hand with the music to get runners through the last kilometre, before they were handed a More Mile finishers’ t-shirt and medal by a team of 120 ‘Extra Miler’ volunteers.

Josh Jones completed the race as part of his training for a larger 24 hours for CF challenge, where he will train continuously in the gym for 24 hours. He completed the 10K wearing an altitude mask to simulate conditions at 12,000ft and still came home in under an hour for Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and had a great time doing it.

He said: “It’s been a great day, I used the event as training for my 24 hours for CF challenge, but to run alongside all these people was great. It was a beautiful day and will really help in my training as I take on the 24 hour challenge.”