Izzy Fry and Joe Wigfield take the British 10,000 m titles in Loughborough
Fry won in 32:12.91 after taking the lead at the bell; refugee-team runner Kadar Omar won the men's race in 28:29.38 with Wigfield first Briton in 28:56.39.
The British 10,000 m championships were run inside the Loughborough International meeting at the Paula Radcliffe Stadium on Sunday 17 May, and both titles came with a place on the team for the European Championships in Birmingham in August.
Germany's Eva Dieterich led the women early. With twelve laps to go Hannah Irwin, Izzy Fry and Poppy Tank had formed the leading group. Tank surged with seven laps left, Irwin took the lead with four to go, and Fry moved up at the bell and held off both of them over the last 400 m to win in 32:12.91. Tank and Irwin both ran personal bests. Fry had already run the European standard this season, so the title made her selection automatic.
In the men's race Nils Voigt of Germany led early before the field split at halfway. Kadar Omar, a refugee team athlete who trains in Birmingham, Joe Wigfield and James Kingston traded the lead over the second half until Omar pulled clear in the closing laps to win in 28:29.38. Wigfield was second across the line in a personal best 28:56.39 and takes the British title, with Kingston second and Max Milarve third on the championship podium. Wigfield, too, had the European standard already.
Twenty-five laps on a Sunday afternoon in the Midlands is not a glamorous way to make a national team. It is a clear one.
Sources: UK Athletics.
