Welsh international Charlie Hulson continued his run of fine form as he backed up his second place in the Armagh 5k with a convincing win in the Brecon Carreg Cardiff Bay 10K.

Although not as quick as he ran in winning the Telford 10K in January (28:12), the Liverpool Harrier made the most of the sunshine in the Welsh capital to lead home a field of 4,683 starters to take the tape in 29:32 – 26 seconds faster than he ran in winning the Chester 10K earlier in the month.

Scott Overall ensured the early pace was hot enough to ensure a battle for the podium places, but Hulson was able to break clear at 8K to hold off Cardiff AAC’s Matt Clowes to win by five seconds. Overall was third in 29:48.

“There were a few twist and turns, but it was a really nice course. I didn’t feel amazing, but I enjoyed it,” said Hulson.

“I’m in a big block of training and I won’t be tapering until the summer. Scott gave it a really good go for 7K and that made it a good race.”

Hulson, 24, won the English National Cross Country title in 2015 and is now looking forward to carrying his good form on the roads onto the track. He is also eyeing up a trip to the Cardiff University Cardiff Half Marathon in October.

“I’m just taking it step by step at the moment. I am going to do 10 and 5Ks this year and then go up to the half marathon next year, although the Cardiff Half is definitely on the agenda for this year,” added Hulson.

“I’ve never done a 10K on the track, but I hope to get as close to 28 mins as I can at the AAA Championships at the end of May. It has been so good for me to see Dewi Griffiths doing so well because I’ve always been racing with him and his success makes me believe in myself much more.”

It was the runners-up spot for the second year in a row for Clowes, who is building towards his marathon debut in London next month. Overall is hoping to get the chance to chase a marathon PB in Berlin later in the year.

The women’s race was won in a course record time of 33:42 by Bristol & West AC runner Eleanor Davis, who ran 14 seconds faster than ever before over the distance. She had joined Hulson on top of the podium in Chester (34:53).

“Hopefully, this is the start of big things for me. I will be running 10Ks throughout the summer and I just want to get faster,” said Davis.

“It felt great out there. It was the perfect day, perfect weather and I got a PB, so it couldn’t have been any better.

“The course was fast, flat, really well marshalled and it was beautiful running around Cardiff Bay. I paced it sensibly – I wasn’t leading from the beginning, I just picked people off and everything felt right.”

Now part of the Run4Wales 10K Series, the Cardiff 10K has grown to a pre-race 6,000 sell-out and was preceded by a Family Fun Run. Next race in the series will be in Newport at the end of April.

“It was another magnificent day for the city of Cardiff with a fantastic turn-out of home-based runners. This event now sits alongside the Cardiff Half Marathon as one of the Welsh capital’s premier sporting events,” said Run4Wales chairman, Nigel Roberts.

Brecon Carreg Cardiff Bay 10K
Men: 1, C Hulson (Liverpool Harriers) 29 min, 32 sec; 2, M Clowes (Cardiff AAC) 29:37; 3, S Overall V35 (Blackheath & Bromley) 29:48; 4, C Jones V35 (Cardiff AAC) 30:39; 5, J Hunt (Cardiff AAC) 30:42; 6, T Merson (Bristol & West AC) 30:53; 7, P Matthews V35 (Swansea Harriers)30:57; 8, D Nash (Cardiff AAC) 30:58; 9, A Teweldebrhan (Newport Harriers) 31:20; 10, G Smith (Charnwood AC) 31:23; 11, D Nevins V35 (Harrow AC) 31:33; 12, M Wilsmore (Bristol & West AC) 31:43; 13, O Jones V35 (Bristol & West AC) 31:58; 14, M Rees (Bristol & West AC) 32:15; 15, L Evans (Bristol & West AC) 32:20; 16, J Rodgers (North Somerset AC) 32:26; 17, J Watson V40 (Taunton AC) 32:26; 18, M Edmonds (MMRT) 32:32; 20, D Mapp (Cardiff AAC) 32:52
V35: 1, S Overall (Blackheath & Bromley) 29:48
V40: 1, J Watson (Taunton AC) 32:26
V45: 1, R Baker (Les Croupiers) 33:53
V50: 1, C Granger (Southville RC) 39:42
V55: 1, I Lloyd (Swansea Harriers) 35:20
V60: 1, D James (Les Croupiers) 37:27
V65: 1, J Matthews 48:54
V70: 1, O Cooper (Brecon Tri Club) 50:56

Women: 1, E Davis (Bristol & West AC) 33 min, 42 sec (course record); 2, S Harris (Belgrave Harriers) 34:36; 3, R Felton V35 (Shaftesbury Barnet) 34:40; 4, K Maltby Bristol & West AC) 35:55; 5, C Taylor-Green (Bristol & West AC) 35:03; 6, N Cockram (MMRT) 35:18; 7, A Cook (Southport Waterloo) 35:50; 8, S Edwards (Swansea Harriers) 35:57; 9, F Marks (Bristol & West AC) 37:01
V35: 1, R Felton (Shaftesbury Barnet) 34:40
V40: 1, J Rees (Rhayader RC) 42:47
V45: 1, S Leech (Carmarthen Harriers) 41:04
V50: 1, A Blythe (Les Croupiers) 43:18
V55: 1, D Chick (Port Talbot Harriers) 42:28
V60: 1, G Murphy (Les Croupiers) 55:37
V65: 1, B Avery (Chepstow Harriers) 51:22
V70: 1, J Campbell (Run4All, Neath) 70:12