It is getting to the time of year that fans of distance running love; big races seem to be upon us almost every weekend with action occurring both in the indoor arenas and the muddy parks of Britain. The Armagh International 5k provided some mid-week respite as a high quality field gathered in the small Northern Irish town for possibly the best 5k road race in Britain. There was no shortage of excitement as the field of 68 men raced around the one kilomtre circuit, flanked closely by spectators providing an atmosphere that very few similar events can match.
As ever, there was a strong American contingent on the start line, headed by Landon Peacock and Michael Crouch. Peacock is a former student of collegiate distance running powerhouse Wisconsin University and boasts a CV that includes a top 20 finish at the prestigious NCAA Cross Country Championships and a personal best of 13:42.90 for 5000m. His teammate, Crouch, has similarly impressive credentials with personal bests of 7:57.79 for 3000m, 13:40.89 for 5000m and 28:58.72 for 10,000m.
But some of Britain’s most in-form distance men are able to match their American counter-parts, on paper at least, and promised to rise to the challenge of taking on athletes whose track season is already underway. Midlands Cross Country Champion James Walsh was hoping to continue his fine form, whilst the winner of last week’s Alsager 5 mile race, Luke Cragg, could also not be under-estimated. When this is added to the likes of 13:36 5000m man Jonny Mellor and BUCS Cross Country bronze medalist Ashley Harrell there was no shortage of British contenders for victory.
However, it was James Wilkinson that raced clear in the closing stages to complete the five lap course in 13:54.97, beating Michael Crouch into second with Jonny Mellor finishing strongly to clinch third. Always the man to rise to the big occasion, the Leeds man executed his race plan to perfection and was rewarded with his first victory of this prestigious race.
He said: Obviously I’m very pleased with the race. It went exactly to plan; I sat in until approximately 500m to go and then I made a big move. I wanted to make it count so I knew it had to be very hard when I went, and it worked out well. The American (Crouch) came back a little bit, but I could have kicked again if I had needed to. It was fairly fast all of the way round as shown by the fact that it was nearly a course record.”
Thursday night saw an incredible forty people run under fifteen minutes, an unprecedented amount of depth for a 5000m road race, and Wilkinson spoke in glowing terms about the experience: “Armagh was a great event and I’m very glad I did it. It breaks up cross country and the winter nicely. It was nice to use this race to get the legs moving before Saturday.”
Saturday is of course the Aviva National Indoor Championships and World Trials and Wilkinson will have to recover quickly in order to do himself justice the 3000m. In previous years the Men’s 3000m has taken place on the Sunday but this year the organisers have reverted to a Saturday afternoon slot for the distance event. Victory at Armagh can only leave him well positioned to attack a place at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul. The current rankings for the 3000m are dominated by performances from the USA; Andy Baddeley heads the list with 7:47.09 and Chris Thompson has ran 7:49.14 before a flurry of collegiate athletes including Mitch Goose and Tom Farrell. Perhaps a better guide is performances over other distances and Wilkinson’s 13:54 from Thursday surely puts him right at the top of the list of contenders.
Wilkinson will have to contend with BUCS Cross Country Champion Jonny Hay and steeplechaser Luke Gunn for the honours but of the others likely to compete on Saturday, one of Wilkinson’s main challenges will come from an athlete that he defeated at Armagh; Jonny Mellor. The Liverpool Harrier had mixed feelings following his third place, but was keen to stress the positives: “I was pleased with a personal best on the roads and to dip under the fourteen minute barrier for the first time, but at the same time I’m disappointed not to win the race. Wilko is a class act though so it’s no disgrace losing to him. I was also pleased that I finished the race strongly.”
Following his run on Saturday, Mellor will have competed over three different surfaces, and a range of distances spanning 3000m to 12,000m, in a period of just three weeks. After taking on Wilkinson and others in Sheffield he will prepare to race over his furthest distance yet as he crosses the Atlantic Ocean to compete in the New York Half Marathon. It is a trip that will see Mellor take part in the half marathon before a stint of altitude training in Boulder and then head to California to participate in highly regarded track meetings at Mt SAC in Walnut and the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University.
He will compete over both 5000m and 10,000m in a bid to hit Olympic or European qualifying standards but it is also a trip that has entailed huge sacrifices. It is a venture largely funded by himself and is a story that highlights the reality of the difficulties involved in pursuing athletics at this level, “Hopefully some rich investor fancies sending a cheque my way” he joked.
