British distance runners show good form as our international round-up includes cross-country news from Austin, fast 5000m times in Boston and in-depth results from the Valencia Marathon

SOUND RUNNING CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS, Austin, USA, November 30

Three-time European under-23 champion Charles Hicks had his first race since July and was a fine fourth in a top-class field after having taken a short break from competition recently.

The Briton, who has won European under-23 titles at cross-country in 2021 and 2022 and 5000m this year, was only seven seconds from the head of the field.

The race was won by Commonwealth 10,000 fifth-placer Adriaan Wildschutt.

The South African has had a momentous 2023 already with national records at 3000m (7:39.25), 5000m (13:02.46) and 10,000m (27:23.10).

The 2019 NCAA champion Edwin Kurgat finished runner-up ahead of fellow Kenyan Wesley Kiptoo.

Kiptoo, like Hicks and Kurgat, has also won NCAA gold, taking the collegiate title in the 2021 indoor 5000m.

It was tough from start to finish, said Hicks, who now runs for Bowerman Track Club and has decided not to defend his European under-23 title in Brussels this month. I was trying to go for the win but thats how it goes when facing tough competition. It was super fun and a great event to be a part of.

Men: 1 Adriaan Wildschutt RSA 22:07.40; 2 Edwin Kurgat 22:11.40; 3 Wesley Kiptoo 22:14.20; 4 Charles Hicks GBR 22:15.00; 5 Ahmed Muhumed 22:26.50; 6 Olin Hackerv 22:58.10

Women: 1 Katie Wasserman 26:49.40; 2 Katie Izzo 26:51.40; 3 Mercy Chelangat 26:54.50; 11 Ellie Leather GBR 28:13

MARATÓN VALENCIA TRINIDAD ALFONSO, Valencia, Spain, December 3

Rarely for an overseas event, there were two British men going sub-2:09 and three women sub-2:30.

For a full report click here

Men
1 Sisay Lemma (ETH) 2:01:48
2 Alexander Mutiso (KEN) 2:03:11
3 Dawit Wolde (ETH) 2:03:48
4 Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 2:04:19
5 Gabriel Geay (TAN) 2:04:33
6 Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) 2:04:48
7 Chalu Deso (ETH) 2:05:14
8 Mohamed Esa (ETH) 2:05:40
9 Mehdi Frere (FRA) 2:05:43
10 Gashau Ayale (ISR) 2:05:46

Women
1 Worknesh Degefa (ETH) 2:15:51
2 Almaz Ayana (ETH) 2:16:22
3 Hiwot Gebrekidan (ETH) 2:17:59
4 Celestine Chepchirchir (KEN) 2:20:46
5 Majida Maayouf (ESP) 2:21:27
6 Sultan Haydar (TUR) 2:21:27
7 Desi Mokonin (BRN) 2:22:29
8 Genevieve Gregson (AUS) 2:23:08
9 Sofiia Yaremchuk (ITA) 2:23:16
10 Isobel Batt-Doyle (AUS) 2:23:27

Leading British athletes

Men: 34 MAHAMED MAHAMED 2:08:42; 36 PHILIP SESEMANN 2:08:49; 69 DAN NASH 2:15:22; 80 CHRIS PERRY 2:16:28; 90 DAVID BISHOP 2:17:11; 92 DOUG MUSSON 2:17:21; 95 JASON HALL 2:17:31; 113 DOMINIC JONES 2:18:22; 118 RYAN THOMSON 2:18:50; 121 PATRICK RODDY 2:19:04; 130 LOGAN SMITH 2:19:46; 131 JAMES TURNER 2:19:56; 132 EWAN CAMERON (V40) 2:19:57; 136 NICK DAWSON 2:20:16; 139 LIAM ALDRIDGE (V35) 2:20:23; 141 ALEX GLADLEY 2:20:26; 142 DANIEL HAYMES 2:20:27; 144 DOUGLAS SELMAN (V35) 2:20:32; 159 RHODRI OWEN 2:21:28; 162 JOE MORWOOD 2:21:47; 175 JONATHAN HILEY (V35) 2:22:39; 176 2:22:39; 178 STEVEN BAYTON 2:22:45; 180 PAUL PIPER (V40) 2:22:51; 205 RUSSELL BENTLEY (V40) 2:23:31; 206 CHRIS BRUCHHAUSEN 2:23:34; 210 UGUR ALTAN 2:23:39; 250 MICHAEL YOUNG (V35) 2:24:37; 252 AARON WILSON 2:24:41; 257 TOM CORNTHWAITE (V35) 2:24:53; 258 GEORGE SUTHON 2:24:54; 260 ALISTAIR SMITH (V35) 2:24:57; 261 ROB BRUNDISH (V40) 2:24:58; 274 CHRIS MASON (V40) 2:25:08; 276 THOMAS HOLLIDAY 2:25:09; 289 RICHARD PRICE (V40) 2:25:32; 290 MOHAMED HASHI 2:25:33; 295 KRISTIAN WATSON (V35) 2:25:38; 296 RHYS BOORMAN 2:25:41; 310 WILL CLARKE (V35) 2:25:55; 312 MACGREGOR COX 2:25:55; 327 WAYNE WETHERHILL (V35) 2:26:18; 337 2:26:35; 359 2:26:57; 369 2:27:17; 375 CAMERON CRAIK 2:27:21; 388 ADAM HILL (V40) 2:27:30; 396 TOM BEEDELL (V35) 2:27:42; 443 BEN GODDARD (V35) 2:28:15; 453 JACK BROTCHIE (V35) 2:28:26; 483 JOSHUA BIRD (V35) 2:28:50; 487 2:28:54; 504 NICK COLLINS (V45) 2:29:06; 505 2:29:08; 528 CHRIS BILEY (V35) 2:29:32; 599 JOHN SHARP (V45) 2:30:48; 633 BRUCE RAESIDE (V40) 2:31:23; 697 SHANE GRACE (V45) 2:32:35; 712 LEON JOHNSON (V45) 2:32:47; 776 DAVID WILLIAMS (V50) 2:33:44; 809 ANDREW DRAKE (V40) 2:34:15; 971 JOHN YOWARD (V45) 2:36:35; 1043 DANIEL BEAZLEY-LONG (V45) 2:37:24; 1114 FINTAN PARKINSON (V45) 2:38:03; 1176 MARK WALKER (V45) 2:38:42; 1189 DAVID GRIMA (V45) 2:38:49; 1209 DOMINIC WARE (V45) 2:38:59; 1218 SIMON MIDDLETON (V45) 2:39:07; 1240 TY FARRER (V50) 2:39:17; 1574 JONATHAN MOORE (V50) 2:42:21; 1586 MATT HALL (V50) 2:42:31; 2053 MATTHEW COLLIER (V50) 2:45:48; 2248 ROB GILCHRIST (V50) 2:47:11; 2521 MARK JUBA (V50) 2:48:47; 2708 ALEX TOLL (V55) 2:49:42; 3329 SIMON FLETCHER (V60) 2:53:29; 4008 MAX CAMPBELL (V60) 2:56:40; 4044 BOYD PARK (V55) 2:56:50; 4101 MAXWELL LAING (V60) 2:57:03; 4201 NORMAN MAWHINNEY (V65) 2:57:23; 4499 STEPHEN WATMOUGH (V60) 2:58:17; 4609 STEPHEN SCORER (V55) 2:58:33; 4711 DAVID JUSTIN BAIRD-MURRAY (V55) 2:58:51; 5123 PHIL AHIER (V55) 2:59:51; 6334 JAMES SAUNDERS (V60) 3:06:26; 8425 PETER ARBEID (V60) 3:15:45; 8719 PETER BARRETT (V60) 3:17:18; 8779 GEORGE TAYLOR (V60) 3:17:37; 9102 PAUL MCCULLAGH (V65) 3:19:01; 10761 STEPHEN WARBURTON (V65) 3:26:27; 13100 JERRY LOCKSPEISER (V70) 3:35:54

Women: 269 CLARA EVANS (W) 2:25:04; 278 LILY PARTRIDGE (W) 2:25:12; 440 SONIA SAMUELS (W40) 2:28:09; 642 LAUREN HEYES (W) 2:31:33; 749 LEILA ARMOUSH (W) 2:33:25; 781 TESSA MCCORMICK (W) 2:33:48; 914 VIRGINIE BARRAND (W) 2:35:43; 928 EMILY KEARNEY (W) 2:35:55; 1190 2:38:49; 1310 GEORGIA MALIR (W) 2:39:47; 1367 ABIGAIL HOWARTH (W) 2:40:18; 1368 ANNIE BIRCH (W) 2:40:19; 1384 EMMA HOUCHELL (W) 2:40:29; 1408 CLAIRE JACOBS (W35) 2:40:45; 1666 SARAH FORBES-SMITH (W) 2:43:07; 1801 NAOMI MITCHELL (W) 2:44:05; 1907 VICKI INGHAM (W35) 2:44:45; 2296 KATIE KING (W) 2:47:31; 2334 GEMMA HILLIER-MOSES (W35) 2:47:47; 2396 LARA BROMILOW (W40) 2:48:05; 2798 2:50:03; 2981 CLAIRE HAMMETT (W) 2:51:17; 2982 AMY LOWE (W) 2:51:17; 3282 ELLE WARREN (W) 2:53:13; 3422 EMILY PAUL (W) 2:54:01; 3467 MELISSAH GIBSON (W35) 2:54:13; 3589 CATHERINE YOUNG (W35) 2:54:47; 3591 MOLLY BRYAN (W) 2:54:47; 3611 AILIE MCGOWAN (W) 2:54:53; 3664 KARIMA HARRIS (W50) 2:55:08; 3729 KATIE AUSTIN (W40) 2:55:31; 3793 ISOBEL BRAMLEY (W) 2:55:48; 3845 KATY HALLSIDE (W45) 2:56:04; 4054 CLAIRE THOMAS (W40) 2:56:54; 4128 IMOGEN MACKIE (W) 2:57:08; 4249 REBECCA CLARKE (W) 2:57:32; 4300 GEORGINA FURZE (W35) 2:57:43; 4394 NIKKI WILKINSON (W) 2:58:00; 4498 ROBYN PINDER (W) 2:58:17; 4676 ELIANA CAMPBELL (W) 2:58:45; 4816 AMY WHITE (W) 2:59:09; 4936 KIRSTEN SCOTT (W) 2:59:25; 5024 MARY CORMACK (W35) 2:59:36; 5248 FEE MAYCOCK (W55) 3:00:13; 5728 HELEN ANSELL (W35) 3:02:47; 5870 BECKY TOVEY (W40) 3:03:47; 6322 HAYLEY ROGERSON (W45) 3:06:21; 6392 TERESA MURPHY (W45) 3:06:41; 6448 ELLEN BROOKES (W40) 3:06:55; 6472 SOPHIE CARTER (W40) 3:07:01; 7110 SARAH DUDGEON (W45) 3:09:54; 7711 SARAH BENTON (W50) 3:12:34; 7842 MICHELLE MAXWELL (W50) 3:13:13; 7953 SUSANNA HARRISON (W60) 3:13:40; 18226 TRICIA HIRST (W65) 3:58:13; 18630 JACQUELINE MILLETT (W70) 3:59:32

Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, Boston University, United States, December 2

There were some sensational times in the 5000m races with Parker Valby and Graham Blanks setting NCAA indoor records. Both athletes had won the NCAA cross-country titles the previous week and here Valby became the first national collegiate female athlete to break 15 minutes indoors or out with 14:56.11, while Blanks clocked 13:03.78.

Harvard runner Blanks surged clear of Ky Robinson of Australia in the latter stages as US-based Brit Sam Atkin in third showed a fine return to form following injury with 13:06.66 as UK champion James West ran a PB 13:22.98.

Florida athlete Valby is known for her front-running but here the 21-year-old sat in behind Annie Rodenfels for much of the way before taking off in the last kilometre. In fifth, Britains Hannah Nuttall ran 15:17.84.

Men: Mile: 1 Sam Ellis 3:55.36; 2 Elliott Cook 3:55.50; 3 Aidan McCarthy 3:56.09; 4 Parker Schneider 3:56.67; 5 Sair Salgado 3:57.75; 6 Rory Linkletter CAN 3:59.05; 7 Carson Smith 3:59.41. B: 2 Joseph Rogers GBR 4:04.18; 5 Leo Freeland GBR 4:06.95; 6 Henry Johnson GBR 4:07.70
3000: 1 Nico Young 7:37.73; 2 Brian Musau KEN 7:38.04; 3 Kieran Lumb CAN 7:38.39; 4 Ryan Schoppe 7:38.80; 5 Craig Engels 7:43.76; 6 Drew Bosley 7:43.98; 7 Hillary Cheruiyot KEN 7:45.90; 8 Lukas Kiprop KEN 7:47.52; 9 Paul Ryan 7:48.42; 10 Jack Anstey AUS 7:50.02; 11 Conor Murphy IRL 7:53.17; 12 Aaron Las Heras ESP 7:54.07; 13 Taha Erraouy MAR 7:56.25. B: 1 Lucas Bons 7:53.71; 2 Ben Veatch 7:55.77; 3 Blaise Ferro 7:55.90
5000: 1 Graham Blanks 13:03.78; 2 Ky Robinson AUS 13:06.42 AR; 3 Sam Atkin GBR 13:06.66; 4 Parker Wolfe 13:13.61; 5 Habtom Samuel ERI 13:14.85; 6 Willy Fink 13:19.44; 7 Kasey Knevelbaard 13:20.94; 8 Liam Murphy 13:21.20; 9 Alex Maier 13:21.28; 10 James West GBR 13:22.98; 11 Brian Barraza 13:23.34; 12 Kirami Yego KEN 13:24.36; 13 Jackson Sharp AUS 13:25.51; 14 Dennis Kipngetich KEN 13:26.34; 15 Alex Phillip 13:35.87; 16 Darragh McElhinney IRL 13:35.99. B: 1 Nico Young 13:22.96; 2 Romain Legendre FRA 13:24.09; 3 Drew Bosley 13:29.26; 4 Loic Scomparin FRA 13:29.35; 5 Theo Quax NZL 13:29.48; 6 Matthew Wilkinson 13:31.25; 7 Yasin Sado 13:31.87; 8 Luke Combs 13:32.08; 9 Ben Shearer 13:36.86. C: 1 Bob Liking 13:28.03; 2 Dylan Schubert 13:29.95; 3 Evans Kiplagat KEN 13:30.56; 4 Travis Mahoney 13:30.74; 5 Matt Strangio 13:31.92; 6 Antonio Lopez ESP 13:31.98; 7 Joey Nokes 13:32.45; 8 Sanele Masondo RSA 13:33.61; 9 Tom Brady 13:33.83; 10 James Corrigan 13:34.24; 11 Anthony Camerieri 13:34.90; 12 Tai Dinger 13:35.03; 13 Isaac Updike 13:36.46; 18 Thomas George GBR 13:53.43. D: 4 Tom Patrick GBR 13:53.96. E: 5 Joe Hudson GBR 13:54.14; 6 Austen Dalquist 13:54.18; 7 Max Turek CAN 13:54.94; 8 Titus Winders 13:55.38. F: 3 Joseph OBrien GBR 13:51.24. G: 2 Tom Graham-Marr GBR 13:54.27

Parker Valby of Florida runs an NCAA womens 5000m record of 14:56.11 indoors in Boston. pic.twitter.com/PIWefWbsuE

AW (@AthleticsWeekly) December 2, 2023

Women: Mile: 1 Gabija Galvydytė LTU 4:33.29; 5 Elise Thorner GBR 4:37.59
3000: 1 Olivia Markezich 8:40.42; 2 Maia Ramsden NZL 8:46.84; 3 Amina Maatoug NED 8:46.89; 4 Billah Jepkirui KEN 8:49.08; 5 Anna Camp-Bennett 8:49.87; 6 Madison Elmore 8:50.43; 7 Kaylee Mitchell 8:51.06; 8 Flomena Asekol KEN 8:52.57; 9 Kimberley May NZL 8:54.16
5000: 1 Parker Valby 14:56.11; 2 Annie Rodenfels 15:03.97; 3 Ella Donaghu 15:16.97; 4 Hilda Olemomoi KEN 15:17.44; 5 Hannah Nuttall GBR 15:17.84; 6 Katie Camarena 15:18.81; 7 Regan Yee CAN 15:18.93; 8 Amanda Vestri 15:21.11; 9 Scrimgeour Chloe 15:24.36; 10 MacKenzie Doyle 15:27.42; 11 Bethany Hasz 15:29.42; 12 Alicja Konieczek POL 15:34.74 NR; 13 Molly Born 15:36.04; 14 Rosina Machu 15:37.05. B: 1 Annika Reiss 15:37.94; 2 Jenna Hutchins 15:37.97; 3 Elise Stearns 15:38.11; 4 Gracelyn Larkin CAN 15:38.18; 5 Ella Baran 15:38.29; 6 Phoebe Anderson GBR 15:38.47. C: 10 Holly Rees GBR 15:56.80. D: 2 India Weir GBR 15:55.53 7 Maisie Grice GBR 16:11.70. E: 10 Esme Davies GBR 16:23.06; 17 Holly Smith GBR 16:39.54. G: 10 Mollie Scott GBR 17:08.87; 23 Grace Burrell GBR 17:33.67