Sheffield Half Marathon: ‘I love the Steel City’ says adopted son Jamie Hall as he takes the title

Hall knows the city hills well after studying at Sheffield University before returning to his native Huntingdonshire after graduation. And after coming back to Sheffield as a research worker he revived his running career to great effect.

“I love Sheffield,” he said after coming home in a time of 1:11:16.

“It’s great to be back and especially running in such a fantastic event as this.”

Hall was made to battle hard for the win.

Always in the leading pack, he formed a breakaway group with eventual second and third runners Mohammed Saleh (Sheffield RC) and Alex Lanz (Birmingham University).

Hall was third at the top of the long climb to the halfway point but made his move on the descent to the city centre finish.

Saleh was the one who chased hardest and he came home in 1:11:37 with the gap of 21 seconds relatively small in a race of such length.

Lanz was 33 seconds further back in 1:12:10.

Second spot saw Saleh continue to show his remarkable progression and marked him out as a potential winner next year.

Arriving in Sheffield from Eritrea, he has been a regular winner in Park Runs but gave notice of his potential in the recent English Cross Country Championships where he finished 53rd.

His half marathon outings have been limited to the Sheffield race where he clocked 1:48:50 and 1:14:01 in the past two races.

Third placed Lanz is originally from North Wales but is again well versed in Sheffield running having studied biochemistry at Sheffield University and ran for the students’ team.

Phillipa Williams came home as the fastest woman in a time of 1:17:27, taking 19th place overall from 6,034 runners.

Though currently unattached, Williams has a strong running background from her schooldays in Newcastle and medical training in Bristol.

Now practicing medicine in Rotherham, she is likely to join with Sheffield Running Club, with whom she regularly trains.

Her impressive time was almost a minute faster than her previous best.

Lyndsey Eastman (Kimberworth Striders) celebrated her 32nd birthday by edging a ding-dong battle with Charlotte Ward (Hallamshire) to claim second spot by three seconds in a time of 1:19:29 – a major improvement on her previous best.

An officer with West Yorkshire Police, Eastman is currently training for the London Marathon at the end of the month.

Ward also reduced her previous best by a massive amount, which is unsurprising after a good winter of cross country results while studying a PhD in maths at Sheffield University.