Records galore in bumper weekend of half marathons!

There were records galore at two of the UK's biggest half marathons as tens of thousands took to the streets in Cardiff and Glasgow yesterday - congratulations if you were a part of the action!

In the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run 40-year-old Ethiopian legend of distance running Haile Gebrselassie crossed the line in 61:09 while newcomer Loitarakwai Lengurisi led a Kenyan 1-2-3 at the Lloyds Bank Cardiff Half Marathon - the penultimate race in the 2013 runbritain Grand Prix series - in 61:51. Both were course records!

London 2012 Olympian Chris Thompson held off Scot Andrew Lemoncello by six seconds to finish first Brit in Glasgow in 64:49 while Serpentine's Nick Torry cemented his position at the top of the runbritain Grand Prix standings, finishing as the leading Brit in Cardiff with 64:23.

Susan Partridge, based in Leeds, was the leading woman in Glasgow, ahead of fellow home favourites Freya Ross and Steph Twell who finished in 2nd and 4th respectively, with Kenya's Pauline Wanjiku third. Another Kenyan, Purity Kimetto, just held off fast finishing Tish Jones as she took the women’s title by a second from the Belgrave Harrier in 74:21.

Olympic rower Katherine Grainger set 23,000 runners on their way from George Square in Glasgow while in Cardiff day started with a moving tribute to the late, great Paralympian Chris Hallam before the 14,000 plus finishers set off in glorious conditions! 

Congratulations if you took part in an event this weekend, whether it was in Cardiff, Glasgow or anywhere in between! If you were inspired and want to begin running or prepare for your next event, you can search for your local registered running group at runengland.org/groups where you will find all the support, advice and encouragement you need!