The pair clock respective times of 29:14 and 31:36, while David Weir comes back from the Paris Paralympics to win in the British capital yet again
Jack Rowe and Eilish McColgan produced superb runs to take respective victories at the Vitality London 10,000 (September 22).
The duo dominated their individual races and won by sizeable margins in the British capital.
Rowe, who triumphed at the Big Half earlier on in the month, clocked 29:14 for 10km and claimed the victory by 28 seconds.
History Of McColgan
The 28-year-old spent some time on holiday in Greece off the back of his Big Half win and will once again race over 13.1 miles at the Manchester Half (October 13). He will then decide whether to do any more events in the winter or reset and solely focus on 2025.
It’s been a stunning season for Rowe, who’s recorded personal bests in the 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m.
He also finished 17th over 5000m at the European Championships and then placed third over the distance at the UK Athletics Championships.
Jack Rowe wins the Vitality London 10,000 (Graham Smith)
Rowe, who had the 5000m qualifying standard for the Olympics, wasn’t selected for the Games and the three who went were George Mills, Sam Atkin and Patrick Dever.
After the Vitality London 10,000, he stated that he was “trying to formulate a plan” that involves the 5km, 10km and half-marathon for next year.
“I’m aiming to weave in a few of them,” Rowe told AW. “The 5km is a strength based distance and as long as you’re hitting the right kind of training, I think you can dip down to that distance and do a few.
“Between now and Christmas it will be strength based training for me with the wider emphasis of getting conditioning in for a marathon. After the new year I’ll do a few 5000m and 10,000m races early in the season before transitioning to the roads in good time.
“I’ve made such a step on the track and that’s meant I’ve been more comfortable on the roads. However, I’ve pushed off too early in some road races so I need to learn to be more patient.”
Eilish McColgan wins the Vitality London 10,000 (Graham Smith)
Eilish McColgan continued to build on her momentum to full fitness, winning the Vitality London 10,000 by an incredible 41 seconds.
This time last year the Brit underwent knee surgery and spent the following three weeks in crutches.
What followed was a heavy rehabilitation programme – including everything from cross-training to aqua jogging – to help prepare McColgan get back to competition once again.
After failing to finish in the 10,000m at the European Championships – McColgan’s first track event since her national record of 30:00.86 in California last March – she then placed 15th over 25 laps at the Olympics.
In the past few weeks McColgan’s competed in three road races, starting out with two 13.1 milers at the Big Half and Great North Run.
McColgan Achievement
The 30-year-old won the Big Half 69:14 and placed fifth at the Great North Run with 67:45, finishing just five seconds off the lead and beating her mum Liz’s best mark on the famous course.
McColgan then swapped the mist of South Shields for the sun of Dubai and spent a week out in the United Arab Emirates before flying back to the British capital for the Vitality London 10,000.
Eilish McColgan (London Marathon Events)
Her time of 31:36 was still a way off her best mark – McColgan’s national 10km record is 30:19 – but the most important thing was to continue progressing ahead of 2025.
“It was really nice to be back on the roads of London again,” she said. “The crowds are amazing the whole way around that course. It’s nice to see the masses coming through as well.
“I’m really happy at the moment. After the surgery towards the end of last year, it’s been a long process to get back to where I am now. With two half-marathons and then a 10km, it’s been a tough couple of weeks getting back into racing. I wish it was the other way round and I did the 1okm first as it was a little bit sluggish. However, I’m really pleased and I couldn’t have asked anything more from my body!
“If you told me that I’d run back-to-back half-marathons and then do a 10km in the space of a few weeks, I would’ve thought there was no chance of me doing that. I just think that shows how my body has got that much stronger again and getting back to where I was. There’s light at the end of the tunnel and now it’s about resetting and building into next season.”
David Weir at the Vitality London 10,000 (Graham Smith)
In the men’s wheelchair race, David Weir claimed yet another victory in London and recorded a time of 22:13, winning by an incredible three minutes and 19 seconds.
This was Weir’s first race since he announced his international retirement from track racing.
The 45-year-old, nicknamed “The Weirwolf”, competed in the T54 1500m, 5000m and marathon at the Paris Paralympics.
A six-time Paralympic and world champion, Weir first competed in the Games at Atlanta 1996 and explained that retiring from Team GB was “an easy decision”.
David Weir at the Paris Paralympics (Getty)
“I sort of made the decision I went into the Games, Weir told AW. “My family has taken a lot of sacrifices for me to be away this year to get to Paris. I just couldn’t do anymore. I’ve done a lot of camps. I went to Dubai earlier on in the season to get selected and I got the second fastest time in the world and I’m proud of that.
“I could not do all of this again going into another Paralympic cycle. I’m 45 at the end of the day. I was a bit emotional at the end of the Paralympic marathon and it was quite hard to talk about it at the time. Now I’ve had two weeks at home, I can definitely say it’s the right decision. I can now focus on road racing and I can hopefully inspire others.
“I’ve got the Berlin and New York City Marathons coming up and then I’ll take a few weeks off as my body has taken a battering this year! I know what marathons I want to do next year and I’ll build up to 2025 after some holiday.”
Martyna Snopek was the winner of the women’s wheelchair race and clocked a time of 38:37, taking victory by one minute and 13 seconds.
Kinyanjui and Chemnung triumph in the tRUNsylvania 10km
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