Samuels excels in her initial half-marathon but appears critical

The Sale Harrier became the first Briton – male or female – to earn a podium finish in the world class event, won by Valentine Kipketer in a time of one hour, 10 minutes and 12 seconds.

Kenya’s Kipketer won easily from the highly-experienced Fate Tola, who clocked 1:11.40 on a hot morning, while Samuels – who deliberately started slowly – came home in 1:12:56.

Samuels, despite being the first European to cross the finish line with a solid time, said: “I didn’t really know how fast to run so I took it steady at the start.”

The 31-year-old, who hails from the North-East but now lives in Manchester, added: “I really wanted to run quicker but I fell behind the pack of men I was running with at 18km and was running in a vacuum.

“I wish I’d pushed harder earlier but it was all so new running (the half-marathon) for the first time.”

Samuels has proved herself at the highest level of road running but insists gaining selection for the summer’s World Championships at 10,000m remains her top priority – and she has her sights set on a place in the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for Daegu.

Teenager Geoffrey Kipsang led a Kenyan sweep of the men’s race two weeks after winning the IAAF World Junior Cross Country title.

The 18-year-old pulled clear in the closing stages to win in a time of 1:00:38, beating off the challenge of Eliud Kiplagat by 14 seconds. Daniel Chebii was third in 1:00:56.

Mark Warmby won the Wakefield Hospice 10K road race for the second year in succession. Huddersfield-based Warmby, who runs for Newham and Essex Beagles, was faster than last year with 30:57. Hallamshire’s Dave Archer took second place in a personal best of 31:35.

Wakefield’s Helen Singleton repeated her win of last year in the women’s section finishing 14th overall in a field of 1,150.

Singleton clocked 35:19, more than a minute faster than she ran a year ago and not far from her best for the distance.