Leonard breaks men’s British 10km record in Valencia

Rory Leonard, the reigning champion of the European Under-23 team, broke Mo Farah’s 10km record by six seconds.

The Morpeth Harriers runner, 23, ran a time of 27 minutes 38 seconds at the Valencia 10km.

However, that did not help them to place 15th overall on a 10-kilometer course that is regarded as one of the fastest on the international road circuit.

Farah broke the previous British record in 2010 and set it at 2022, just ahead of Emile Cairess.

Fellow Briton Nick Rose clocked 27: 34 in 1984 but that time was never ratified as a record.

The track record, which is set at 10, 000 meters, is different from the track record, which only records times set in road events. Farah retains the British 10, 000m record of 26: 46.57.

Sweden’s Andreas Almgren won in Valencia in a European record time of 26: 53, while Kenya’s Hellen Lobun won the women’s event in 29: 30.

Great Britain’s Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee, who is training to run this year’s London Marathon, finished 29th in a time of 28: 07, while fellow Briton Amy-Eloise Neale was 14th in the women’s race in 31: 15.