Rory Leonard takes down British 10km report in Valencia

The Brit slashes six seconds off the mark after clocking 27:38, whereas the European males’s report additionally falls within the Spanish metropolis

Rory Leonard kicked off his 2025 season in some type after setting a British 10km report in Valencia.

The Brit clocked 27:38 and took six seconds off the earlier mark, which was held by each Mo Farah and Emile Cairess.

Farah ran 27:44 on the Vitality London 10,000 in 2010, earlier than Cairess equalled that mark in Valencia three years in the past.

The Spanish metropolis is a hotspot for data and it’s no shock {that a} myriad of Brits achieved large private bests.

Charlie Wheeler, who was the second quickest Brit behind Leonard, additionally ran faster than the earlier British report.

Alex Yee, who’s the reigning Olympic and world particular person triathlon champion, was the third quickest Brit within the subject and recorded a time of 28:07, which places him joint-Eleventh on the UK 10km all-time checklist.

It was his first ever official 10km race – Yee boasts a private finest over 10,000m of 27:54.91 on the monitor – and is a part of his preparation for the London Marathon in April.

Yee will making his debut over 26.2 miles within the British capital and plans to do not less than one half-marathon forward of London.

Elsewhere in Valencia, Phil Sesemann (28:10), Alfie Manthorpe (28:14), Ellis Cross (28:24), James Gormley (28:33), Logan Rees (28:35) and Jacob Allen (28:35) all achieved private bests.

The quickest ever British male over 10km continues to be Nick Rose, who ran 27:34 in New Orleans in 1984, nevertheless it’s not formally recognised because the nationwide report by UK Athletics.

Within the girls’s subject in Valencia, Amy-Eloise Neale ran 31:15 and went seventh on the UK 10km all-time checklist.

She was the quickest Brit within the subject, with Jessica Warner-Judd, who’s competing at subsequent weekend’s Houston Half Marathon, clocking 31:54.

The European 10km males’s report tumbles in Valencia

In one of many all-time nice finishes on the Valencia 10km, Andreas Almgren edged out Dominic Lobalu by only one second in a really pulsating battle.

The pair clocked 26:53 and 26:54 respectively and each went effectively underneath the earlier European 10km report of 27:04, which was held by France’s Etienne Daguinos.

Kenya’s Vincent Langat, who ran 26:55 and likewise got here near successful, pushed Almgren and Lobalu however settled for third.

Almgren, who’s a world junior 800m bronze medallist from 2014, has just lately discovered his candy spot as a distance runner – he simply missed out on the ten,000m podium ultimately 12 months’s European Championships.

Lobalu in the meantime turned European 5000m champion and completed fourth within the Olympic ultimate over the identical distance in Paris.

Almgren and him are actually tenth and Eleventh on the worldwide 10km all-time checklist.

Down the sector, there have been additionally a spate of nationwide data, with one spotlight being Eire’s Efrem Gidey bettering John Treacy’s long-standing mark of 27:46 from 1985.

Gidey, who trains with Leonard on the Hoka supported Makou Endurance group, clocked 27:43 for twentieth, highlighting the energy in depth of fast occasions in Valencia.

Spain’s Ilias Fifa, who’s the 2016 European 5000m champion but additionally served a four-year doping ban between 2018 and 2022, set a nationwide report on dwelling soil of 27:41.

East Africa dominate the ladies’s race 

Hellen Ekalale Lobun clocked 29:30 to safe the victory on the Valencia 10km.

The Kenyan, who went fifth on the worldwide all-time 10km checklist, beat Ethiopia’s Girmawit Gebrzihair –  the 2019 world junior cross-country champion – by simply 4 seconds.

Kenyan and Ethiopian runners dominated the highest 10 with the main European being Slovenia’s Klara Lukan, who positioned twelfth and missed her personal nationwide report by three seconds with 31:07.

France’s Mekdes Woldu clocked 31:43 and Belgium’s Lisa Rooms ran 31:47.

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