Olympians claim British 10km titles in the UK capital

Andrew Butchart easily retained his British 10km title at the Vitality London 10,000 on Monday.

In near perfect conditions, the Olympic 5000m sixth-placer cruised around in 29:18 having passed halfway in 14:34. He could have run faster on the second half but spent much of it high-fiving the spectators.

Even more impressively, his win came less than 40 hours after he ran a 13:11.45 5000m in Eugene.

Butchart had been forced to change his flight from the USA because of the British Airways problems.

Eritrean-born Abel Tsegay followed up his sub-29 10,000m at the Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs with a clear second place in 29:26.

In the dust-up for third, Andy Maud won the battle in 29:45, a second ahead of Jack Rowe, who with Tsegay not eligible for a British medal, won the British bronze.

The women's race was won by Jo Pavey as she showed she can still win titles at the age of 43.

Starting fast, the five-time Olympian was clear by 5km which she passed in 16:18.

At the finish, she was timed at 32:57 and she was delighted after her disappointments in the London Marathon and Highgate 10,000m.

The previous day, Pavey had run the Westminster Mile in the company of Sebastian Coe in exactly six minutes.

Expected favourite Lily Partridge had dropped out of the 10km event and in her absence Sonia Samuels was second in a PB-equalling 33:18.

Charlotte Purdue, who said the race was the start of her London World Championships marathon build-up, was third in 33:32.

Hannah Walker was fourth in 33:50, while another London-bound marathoner Tracy Barlow completed the top five.

Louise Small, Britain's leading runner in the World Cross Country Championships, finished sixth in 34:23.

Altogether, organisers were expecting around 12,000 finishers for an event that takes in many of the main landmarks of London.

» See the June 1 edition of AW magazine for further coverage