Irwin and Omar win the UK 10 mile titles at the Great South Run

Blue skies on the Southsea seafront, two personal bests and a sprint finish. The UK Athletics 10 mile championships at the Great South Run on Sunday had a bit of everything, and Hannah Irwin and Kadar Omar came away with the titles.

Three seconds in it

The women's race was the one to watch. Irwin, of Cambridge & Coleridge, won in 53:34, a personal best, after a sprint finish against Verity Ockenden of Swansea Harriers. Ockenden was second in 53:37, also a personal best.

Ockenden was the defending champion, and the numbers show how much the race moved on. She won last year's title in 56:37. This year she ran three minutes faster and still had to settle for second. That's not a bad day for her, that's a great race between two athletes in form. Daisy Glover of Framlingham Flyers was third in 54:53.

Omar keeps rolling

Kadar Omar of Birchfield Harriers came into the race as the reigning Big Half and UK half marathon champion, and added another title in 47:26, holding the lead all the way to the line. Andy Butchart of Central AC, a two time Olympian making his Great South Run debut, was second in 47:50 and the only other man under 48 minutes.

Third went to Alex Durant in 48:00, two weeks after he won the England half marathon title in Manchester. That's a lovely bit of consistency, and exactly the kind of form line I'll be keeping an eye on this winter.

Paul Foster, chief executive of The Great Run Company, summed it up: there were "thrilling battles for both the men's and women's titles this year."

Next up: the mud

With the road season winding down, attention turns to cross country. The British Athletics Cross Challenge starts at Llandaff Fields in Cardiff on 8 November, and the Liverpool race on 28 November is the trial for the European Cross Country Championships team. Don't be surprised to see a few of these names on the start lists.

And if a 10 mile race sounds like your sort of challenge, a club is the best place to train for one. You can find a track near you and the clubs that run from it.

Source: British Athletics