Results from the Podium 5k, Lugano Trophy, England Athletics Combined Events Championships and more, plus Valerie Adams enjoys a winning return

The major events of the weekend were the Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships and British Athletics Cross Challenge final (report here) plus the NCAA Indoor Championships (report here). Other notable performances included the following.

Lugano Trophy, Switzerland, March 11

Tom Bosworth finished a close second in the 20km walk in one of his best ever times of 81:28. Japan’s Koki Ikeda won by just two seconds.

Bethan Davies finished third in a Welsh record 91:53 and that puts her second all-time in the UK rankings to Jo Jackson’s 90:41.
Italian Eleonora Giorgi won in 1:30:31.

England Athletics Combined Events Championships, Sheffield, March 10/11

Scott Brindley easily won the under-17 heptathlon with a British record 5086 points.

It added a massive 138 points to Joel McFarlane’s score from the same event last year.

Ella Rush won the under-15 pentathlon with a 3346 score which moves her to 11th all-time, five points down on new world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

Emily Bee won a hard-fought under-17 pentathlon with 3669 points.

Oliver D’Rozario won the under-15 boys pentathlon with 2820 points.

Podium 5k, Barrowford, March 11

Laura Weightman continued her impressive form before leaving for the Commonwealth Games, winning in a 15:25 road PB which was also a new course record by 20 seconds. It moves her to fourth on the UK all-time list.

Mo Abu-Rezeq won the men’s race in 14:21 which took six seconds off the previous course mark.

British Masters’ Indoor and Winter Throws Championships, Lee Valley Sports Centre, March 10/11

W40 Diana Norman, W60 Carole Filer and W70 Angie Copson notched up multi success.

Copson improved both the W70 world records for 1500m to 5:49.12 and 3000m to 12:37.45.

On day one, Norman won the W40 shot, long jump, high jump and javelin but lost out to to Susan McLoughlin’s 59.42 in the 400m.

On the second day she won with a 10.01m triple jump, followed by an 800m win, in 2:21.58.

Filer won both shot and high jump (4.28m) after being headed by 60m flat winner Jane Horder in the hurdles.

The 1998 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Michelle Thomas just lost out to Giare Skirvin’s 8.11 in the W45 60m but was dominant in the 200m with 27.09.

82-year-old Tony Bowman again notched up good wins in the long and triple jumps and his specialty 60m hurdles, at 11.38.

Power of 10’s Jackie Brett took several W50 throws; her best being a 10.31m shot and 40.58 hammer.

Guy Bracken broke the indoor M55 mile record earlier this year and here won in with a 4:20.90 1500m which is intrinsically superior to the mile record.

Martin Duff’s report will appear in this week’s magazine.

European Throwing Cup, Leiria, Portugal, March 10/11

World champion Johannes Vetter extended his world-leading javelin mark to 92.70m, adding nearly seven metres to the championship record of 85.85m. He threw 88.28m in the third round before 92.70m in the fifth round.

Team-mate Bernhard Seifert was a distant second with 80.62m.

There was a good quality men’s shot put competition won by neutral athlete Aleksandr Lesnoy’s 21.32m.

World leader Hanna Malyshik from Belarus won the women’s hammer with 72.62m.

Nagoya Women’s Marathon, Japan, March 11

Ethiopia’s Meskerem Assefa won in a 2:21:45 PB with a 70:13 second half. Kenya’s Valary Jemeli was second in 2:22:48.

EDP Lisbon Half Marathon, Portugal, March 11

David Weir won the wheelchair race in 45:39.

On his half-marathon debut, Kenya’s Erick Kiptanui won the men’s race in 60:05 from Eritrea’s Yohanes Gebregergish (60:16) and Kenya’s Morris Gachaga (60:17). World record-holder and former winner Zersenay Tadese was fifth in 60:29.

Ethiopia’s Etagegn Woldu won the women’s race in 71:27.

Rome Half Marathon, Italy, March 11

Chicago Marathon winner Galen Rupp won in a 59:47 PB well clear of Kenyans Moses Kemei (60:44) and Justus Kangogo (61:02).

Ethiopia’s Haftamenesh Tesfay won the women’s race in a 69:02 PB.

Den Haag, Netherlands, March 11

Kenya’s James Rungaru won in 59:38 from Leonard Langat (59:41) and Dominic Kiptarus (60:07).

Jack Martin finished 14th in 63:47.

The 10km titles were claimed by athletes from the winning Great Club Challenge club – Salford Harriers. Carl Hardman won the men’s race in 30:29, while Sinead Bent won the women’s in 35:48.

NZ Track & Field Championships, Hamilton, New Zealand, March 9-11

Valerie Adams won her 15th national shot put title with 17.83m in her first competition since September 2016 and the first since the birth of her daughter in October, while she also received her 2010 World Championships gold medal.

World indoor champion Tom Walsh won the shot put title with a 21.58m throw.

Myrtle Beach, USA, March 10

European champion Tiffany Porter clocked 13.14 in the 100m hurdles.

» Further coverage and results in the March 15 edition of AW

» Check out our online news section and event reports for more of the latest from the world of the sport