Britain sweeps the 50 km world championship podium in New Delhi
Alex Milne ran a European record 2:46:09 and Naomi Robinson 3:13:39 on ten laps of a 5 km city loop at a championship postponed from December.
Photograph: Rajpath, now Kartavya Path, the ceremonial boulevard in New Delhi, by Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe IAU 50 km World Championships finally ran on Saturday in New Delhi, three months late. The race had been set for December 7 and was postponed with two weeks' notice because of the city's air quality. It started at 4 a.m. on an L-shaped 5 km loop of city roads, ten times round, in warm, humid air. The field was small, 44 men and 32 women, and Britain filled it.
Alex Milne won the men's race in 2:46:09, a European record and more than five minutes under his own previous best of 2:51:25. Charlie Davis, 2:47:14, and Logan Smith, 2:47:29, both also ran inside the old European mark. Sean Hogan was fourth in 2:47:59 and Henry Hart fifth in 2:48:32, a Scottish record. Britain took the first six places. India won team silver and the United States bronze.
Naomi Robinson took control of the women's race inside the first 15 km and won in 3:13:39, nearly four minutes clear. Katrina Ballantyne was second in 3:17:24, a Scottish record by six minutes, and Monika Brzozowska of Poland third in 3:19:03, with Magdalena Patas fourth and Mongolia's Nomine-Erdene Bayartogtokh fifth. Becky Briggs was sixth in 3:22:36 and Britain won the team race from Poland and Japan.
Milne ran a 2:11 marathon in Seville earlier this year, which puts 2:46 for 50 km in context: it is marathon pace with eight kilometres added. A dawn start, a square of road in the capital, and ten laps of it. Championships do not get much plainer than that.
Sources: iRunFar; Athletics Weekly.
