Welshman Dewi Griffiths (28:27) will face competition from Ben Connor (28:10) and Kadar Omar (28:27) at the Ogi Porthcawl 10K on Sunday 2nd July.
The women’s race will see a battle between Welsh marathoner Clara Evans (32:35) and Birchfield Harrier Lily Partridge (33:03).
The event hosts the third race in the R4W 10K Series in 2023. It will also be the third edition of the event which began back in 2019.
Griffiths will be looking to take victory at the popular seaside event for the first time and to lower Josh Griffiths’ course record of 29:55 from the inaugural edition in 2019.
The Swansea Harrier is the current Welsh Champion over 10km, Half Marathon & Marathon and is rarely beaten on Welsh soil.
Connor is the fastest in the field this time around however and was the winner of the Great South Run in 2022 with a swift 47:19 over 10 miles. His most recent outing over 10km came in second place with a time of 29:18 at the Podium 10km race in Barrowford last July.
Kadar Omar will also be looking to upset Griffiths and has the same P.B. as the Welshman. Omar won the Cardiff University Cardiff Half Marathon last March late in the year was the victor at the Admiral Swansea Bay 10k on his most recent trip to race in South Wales.
Jonathan Hopkins (29:01) finished finished ninth at last Summer’s Commonwealth Games in the steeplechase and will be looking for some ‘over distance’ work in Porthcawl.
Phil Wylie (29:30), Shaun Antell (29:34), Paul Graham (29:38) and Jon Butler (30:17) are the next quickest on the start lists.
The women’s race will see a duel between local favourite Clara Evans and fellow Great Britain & Northern Ireland International Lily Partridge.
Evans is the second fastest Welsh athlete in history over Half Marathon and Marathon and is a regular racer who has already finished fourth at the Brecon Carreg Cardiff Bay 10k and second at the ABP Newport Wales 10k, in the first two fixtures of the 2023 Run 4 Wales 10k Series.
More recently, Evans claimed the Welsh 5,000m title in Newport with a time of 16:19.
Partridge most recently raced at the Mastercard New York 10k three weeks ago, finishing in a time of 33:15. The Birchfield Harrier last raced on Welsh soil as the governing body nursed the sport back to competition with a 10,000m race at Newport where she won in a time of 32:33, beating Evans on that occasion.
Caryl Edwards (32:28) is in fact the fastest on paper and is returning to fitness so will be an athlete of interest here. Her last race was at Sutton Park in April, helping Swansea Harriers to seventh but racing as a former winner at the ERRA National Four Stage Road Relay Championships.
Welsh 10km Champion Lauren Cooper (34:46), Imogen Wood (34:16) and Alaw Evans (34:57) are next fastest in the Women’s line up.