Story added: 15th July 2016

Run Norwich 2016 race preview

Every race needs a winner – and while for many the achievement of completing the 10k or beating a personal best will be reward enough, a number of entrants will be battling it out for the prize of first place.

This year the competition for the top spots in both the men’s and women’s categories heats up. No less than five of the top six finishers across the male and female classifications last year have re-entered, and they’ll be facing some stiff competition from newcomers with pedigree.

We’ve scoured through the entrant list and compiled a shortlist of some possible contenders for the top spot:

Men’s

He’s back. Nick Earl, the Run Norwich inaugural winner in 2015, will be defending his title at #RN16. He’ll be looking to better his time of 31:28 on what will be a revised course from last year. The signs are encouraging as Earl, a Norwich native who resides in Australia, has clocked in with impressive times of 30:41 (Hobart, Australia) and 30:26 (Launceston, Australia) over the 10k distance, so far this year.

Ben Russell (Norwich Road Runners), pipped to the post by six seconds last year, will be sure to push Nick Earl hard for the top-spot again. His fastest 10k time in 2015, at the Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash, saw him close to going sub-thirty.

In could be the challenge from a newcomer to Run Norwich  – and another Brit-abroad – who could prove to be the toughest competition for Earl however. Sam Atkin from Lincolnshire is currently a senior at Lewis-Clarke State University in the USA.  The 23-year-old has posted times of 29:44.33 on the track this year (Spokane, Washington, 10,000m) and a succession of victories have included the NAIA Championships and NAIA Indoor Championships (3000m & 5000m).

Adrian Mussett, who has run a sub-30 10K, took first place in his native Colchester and finished second in the Great East Anglian Run (GEAR) in King’s Lynn in May. The 44-year-old will be hoping he can better last year’s third place finish.

Elsewhere, Tom Hook, who finished fifth last year (33:05), shaved a minute off his time while winning the Wymondham AC New Year’s Day 10K in January (32:05). Primarily a 1,500m athlete, he set a personal best at the BMC Gold Standard Races in Watford in June, with a time of 3:45.

Piers Arnold, last year’s fourth place finisher and winner of the 2015 Great Yarmouth East Coast 10k (31:45), has recorded some impressive times this year, mostly over the 5K distance, including first-place in the 5,000m event at the Norfolk County Championships. Carl Goose (32.44 – Humpty Dumpty 10k) and Michael Eccles (32:44) are sure to be among those challenging for the top five places.

Women’s

In the female race, last year’s champ Tracy Barlow will be seeking to make it two in a row. The Thames Valley Harrier, primarily a Marathon runner, cruised home with a 48-second cushion in 2015 and the signs look good this year that she will repeat her success – she finished first at this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon in the non-Elite section, as well as an impressive second place at the Bath Half-Marathon.

She will face stiff competition this year from a Run Norwich debutant, Ipswich Jaffa’s Helen Davies, who finished second at GEAR earlier this year.  Her time of 35.07 there, means she will be a serious contender for gold at Run Norwich this time around.

Last year’s runner up Sarah Stradling finished fourth at GEAR (36.11). The Colchester Harrier knocked 19-seconds off her GEAR time this year compared to last, so the signs are good for #RN16.

Nene Valley’s Philippa Taylor, fourth place last year, clocked a 35:47 over 10km back in 2012 and a 36:54 (Woodhall Spa 10k) this year.  Twenty-year-old Sophie Rock (CONAC) could be one to watch – she won the Trowse 10k back in March while Jane Clarke (CONAC), a veteran GB international, is surely a cert for age group prizes.