Third time’s a charm for 10k champ Hynes
GATESHEAD ONE-TWO AS THOUSANDS TURN OUT
MATTY HYNES was a runaway winner of the Simplyhealth Great North 10k at the third time of asking.
Having finished second in 2014 and third in 2015, the Gateshead athlete made no mistake this time to finish nearly two minutes clear of his nearest rival with a winning time of 31min 45sec.
It wasn’t surprising his time was way outside his best as he is in full training for the Berlin Marathon and hadn’t eased back on his training before joining 4,000 others on the start line.
In what turned out to be more of a training run, Hynes was still pleased with the outcome, saying: “The time doesn’t really matter because it’s a really tough course and I was out on my own from the word go.
“This was only my second real race this year – he won the Pocklington 10-mile in January in 52:15 – so I wanted to get back into the racing mode before my next outings, a 10-miler in Holland then the Berlin Marathon.
“It’s always nice to win any race but this is a bit special seeing that I’ve finished second and third in the past.
“The support along the route was superb, especially during the circuit inside the stadium.’’
Gateshead team-mate Conrad Franks crossed the line in second place (33:52). There was some confusion as the GN events website initially gave that honour to Saltwell’s Abraham Tewelde who had a chip time of 33:42, but he came through the finish gantry in 75th position in 41:29 after missing the start by around seven minutes.
Birtley’s Darren Purves was a clear third followed by Jarrow and Hebburn’s Lee Gifford and Matthew Alderson of Blaydon.
While Hynes has been a regular in the Great North 10k, Scottish visitor Sarah Laverty took in the race for the first time and made it a winning one.
The Edinburgh athlete, on holiday from her New Mexico university, was having her first outing on the roads this year.
And while her winning time of 37:28 was way down on her best, she was still delighted with her performance after crossing the line in 25th place overall, saying: “I’ve had very few races this year, a couple of 10,000m and a 5,000m on the track so I was looking forward to racing on the roads again.
“It’s my first race here in the North East and I thoroughly enjoyed it, though the final hill was pretty tough!’’
Last year’s winner, Michelle Nolan of Gateshead, finished runner-up this time, which wasn’t surprising as she spent the early hours of the day celebrating at a wedding.
Northern Ireland’s Amy Bulman made it an international affair by finishing in third place.
LEADING RESULTS - Men: 1 M Hynes (Gates) 31:45; 2 C Franks (Gates) 33:52; 3 D Purves (Birt) 34:16; 4 L Gifford (J&H) 34:27; 5 M Alderson (Blay) 34:32; 6 S O’Donnell (Sund) 35:01; 7 P Blakey (Sund) 35:18; 8 S Medd (Gates) 35:32; 9 S Hobson (Driff) 35:33; 10 J Thorn (Gosf) 35:38; 11 L Dover (Hough) 35:42; 12 P O’Mara (TyneBr) 36:13; 13 I Pritchard (Unatt) 36:17; 14 D Hornsby (Bord) 36:19; 15 A Davison (Sund) 36:37.
Women: 1 S Laverty (Edin) 37:28; 2 M Nolan (Gates) 38:57; 3 Amy Bulman (WillTemp) 39:08; 4 L Talman (Darl) 39:24; 5 L Simmonette (DerVal) 39:41; 6 J Wisniewska (Unatt) 41:25; 7 L Mooney (EastKil) 41:33; 8 K Stevenson (TyneBr) 41:50; 9 L Cottiss (Unatt) 41:54; 10 M Ferrier (Gates) 42:26.