James Hunt Leads Welsh Sweep On St. David’s Day Takeover In Manchester

By Owen Morgan

The streets of south Manchester hosted an impromptu St David’s Day celebration on Sunday as Cardiff’s James Hunt led a Welsh clean sweep at the Trafford 10k.

The Cardiff Athletics man followed up his Welsh Cross Country Championship win last weekend, by breaking the tape in 29.45.

On a great day for Welsh endurance running in the North West of England, Hunt was joined in the podium places by fellow Welshmen Andy Davies and Rowan Axe, while Rob Samuel finished sixth.

Hunt, who said after last weekend’s cross country triumph that he is feeling the benefits of upping his training mileage, certainly showed his strength in Manchester.

The Welsh international came home in a new 10k personal best of 29:45, taking 13 seconds off his previous quickest mark which was clocked finishing second at last year’s Porthcawl 10k.

Hunt was chased home by the multi-talented Davies, who is also a world class international mountain runner.

Bronwen Owen finished third in the women’s race.

Davies equalled his second place finish at last year’s Trafford 10K as he came home in 30.16.

Cardiff Athletics’ runner Axe, who competed for Wales over 1500m at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, finished just a second behind Davies to claim third place to make it a fitting one-two-three for the Welsh.

Eyri Harriers athlete Samuel was just three places further back in sixth place, clocking a time of 30:29.

The women’s race also saw a number of excellent performances with Bronwen Owen leading the way by finishing third in a high quality field.

The young Leeds City athlete finished behind winner Jessica Judd and second-placed Eilish McColgan in a huge personal best of 33.32, slashing more than a minute of her previous fastest time.

Menai’s Anna Bracegirdle, who represented Wales at the recent Armagh International Road Races, finished eighth in 35:20