Britain’s most prolific masters record-breaker achieved 5 successive sub-six minutes miles in Battersea.
Clare Elms set a world W60 5 mile better of 29:53 on the Veterans AC Championships on Tuesday (Might 5), enhancing her mark of 30:44 within the course of.
The 62 year-old received the ladies’s race outright by over 90 seconds to grow to be the oldest ever general winner, with all over-35s eligible to compete.
Her earlier world W60 finest for 5 miles was 30:44 from Wolverton in 2024, although it is value noting US Olympian Michelle Rohl had run 29:58 for the shorter 8km distance in 2025.
Thus Elms‘ 29:53 counts as an 8km world finest too, although it’s 40 metres brief after the Briton in all probability handed 8km in round 29:44. Elms felt off color pre-race and determined to run a extra managed run than match her latest 17:45 world finest at 5km.
Operating every mile a fraction inside six minutes, she picked up within the last mile and completed 400m away from W50 European Masters medallist Lin Skinner who ran 31:26.
One other record-breaking efficiency got here from Welsh tv presenter and a pair of:38:47 marathon runner Angharad Mair, who set a world W65 5 mile better of 33:12 in her first severe race within the age-group.
W55 Anna Critchlow (32:33) completed third girl forward of main W65 Mair. The main British feminine marathon runner on the 1997 World Championships in Athens – she positioned twenty third in 2:42:31 – set a W55 British marathon finest of two:54:42 in 2017, however had solely run parkruns in recent times after a break from severe racing since 2023. She was chasing fellow Brit Claudine Benstead’s 33:21 from final 12 months and bettered that mark by 9 seconds.
It is value noting how aggressive the W65 age group is now with Fiona Matheson having simply run a world finest 5km (18:58) and UK finest at 10km of 39:19.
The lads’s race was received simply by M40 Jim Allchin in 26:41 with laps of two:59, 7:42, 7:48 and seven:48. Second was main M45 Raj Paranandi in 26:57 with fellow M44 Mohammed Ismael third in 27:41.
Andy Bond was first M50 in 28:19 with Andrew Edge the main M55 in 29:02. The highest M60 was Mike Webber (30:03) who completed simply behind W60 Elms whereas David Ogden (31:04) was the main M65. Pete Giles (38:47) was simply first M80 forward of London Marathon ever-present Invoice O’Connor.
Within the separate 5 mile stroll there have been wins for M40 Philip Bernard in 43:11 and W50 Chuck Ha Kwok (51:04). Multi world and European W65 medalist Susan Payne was second girl in 53:13.
General (5m): 1 J Allchin (M40) 26:19; 2 R Paranandi (M45) 26:57; 3 M Ismael (M45) 28:19; 4 A Bond (M40) 28:19M55: 1 A Edge 29:02; 2 J Reid 29:37M60: 1 M Webber 30:03; 2 Okay Dowson 30:15; 3 S Corfield 30:16M65: 1 D Ogden 31:04M75: 1 F Brennan 36:36M80: 1 P Giles 38:47Women: 1 C Elms (W60) 29:53 (World W60 finest) 2 L Skinner (W50) 31:26; 3 A Critchlow (W55) 32:33; 4 A Mair (W65) 33:12 (World W65 finest)W65: 2 L Tyler 36:36
5m stroll: 1 P Bernard (M40) 43:11M65: 1 C Harle 49:50Women: 1 C Ha Kwok (W50) 51:04: 2 S Payne (W65) 53:13
*Within the age-grading of the race Elms (aged 62) scored an all-time 5 mile report of any age of 103.9 per-cent to Mair (65) 97.3%, Critchlow (58) 90.8%, Corfield (64) 88.9%, Giles (81) 88.8% and Ogden (66) and Tyler (65) each 88.3%.
