Runners sparkle in Loughborough

ATHLETICS HANNAH Viner, Lia Radus and Maayan Radus each beat more than 200 other runners in their respective races at the British Athletics Cross Challenge in Loughborough.

Viner, 22, finished 21st in the senior women’s 10K cross-country event, while Radus’s 20th position in the 5K U17 race leaves her well prepared for her next competition, the English Schools Cross Country Champion-

Alan Perry and Roger Bruck ships in Leeds. Her sister Maayan, who is also travelling to Leeds as reserve for the Intermediate Girls team, was 69th over the 4K U15 course.

A record 633 athletes entered the British Masters indoor championships at Lee Valley, among them Roger Bruck and Alan Perry. Barnet and District AC athlete Bruck again secured victory in the V75 high jump, won silver for the long jump with a season’s best of 3.11m and ran the 60m in 10.77, his best time since 2017. Perry, 66, of Harrow AC, also achieved an SB in the 60m with 9.32. “It wasn’t an particularly fast time,“said Perry, “but it proved that my back injury isn’t getting in the way of my running as it had been – it was the first time since before the winter that I had been able to come out of the blocks well.

“The problem is still there, but it’s manageable now, so I can look forward to the outdoor season and hopefully some good sprint times.”

LONAH-CHEMTAI SALPETER of Israel won the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon in 1:06:40. The European 10,000m champion reached 5km in 15:44 and 10km in 31:25, maintaining a regular 3:09km pace for the first 15km. Salpeter increased her pace in the closing stages before a strong finish, narrowly missing the course record of 1:06:38. She knocked off more than a minute off her half-marathon personal best.