Sunday 13th February was the date for highlight of the British road-running calendar the London Marathon. This year was a little bit special as it celebrated 100th anniversary of the standardisation of the distance of 26.2miles in the 1908 London Olympics. The event that has around 45’000 applicants is always well represented by club members. This year however the squad was severely reduced through injury’s, and a couple of the club members who made the trip hampered by resent set backs. However, this did not stop the team from producing some fine performances, in changeable weather conditions.
The two stand out performance’s are Alison McDonald, who battled through recent Achilles problems to finish 79th in her age group in 3:28:19, breaking her own Vet 40 club record by over 15min. Also breaking his vet 50 club record by just under 2min was Mathew Whitfield, who produced his best performance in recent years completing the route in 3:11:47. This performance is made more impressive by the fact that Mathew only decided a few weeks ago to compete this year and ran with very little training. With a performance like this under his belt, his confidence must be high for his main target, Edinburgh Marathon in 6 weeks time.
First home for the club was Stephen Laker who was on target to set a new personal best at about 17-18mile, however at this point the weather changed and severer cramp set in. Steve completed the course in 3:03:41. Breaking the 3:30 barrier was Brian Griffiths who is clearly returning to previous form and firmly putting recent setbacks behind him. Completing the line up was Dave Nalder finishing the course in a very impressive time of 3:32:47.
The men's race was won in a sprint finish by defending champion Martin Lel from Kenya, who not only broke the course record but set a personal record in the process. The women's race was won by Irina Mikitenko from Germany, in 2:24:14.
Borders League
On Sunday 6th april, Helsby played host to Race 6 of the borders league. The 6m (approx) course produced a good solid performance from both the men's and the women's team. First home and quickly returning to form is Steven Crowe who finished in 5th place in a time of 33:17. Closely followed by Ian Cooper 35:07. Next was Chris Marshall who recorded one of his highest ever finishes in 38th place with a time of 37:30. Then came Simon Jeffs, who is just returning from injury with 37:54, followed by Dave Nalder 39:40, Tony Hyland 40:00. New recruit Paul Ashley posted a very impressive 40:02, this runner is one to watch if he continues to improve like this. Next home was Michael Burns 41:02, then Danny Legg 42:12, John Cole 42:44, Alison Hughes 43:03, Roy Traynor 43:42, John Jennings 47:00, Nigel Crierie 50:04, Madeline Bird 50:24, Completing the line with a severe Achilles problem, was Alison McDonald 51:54.
The winner was Eryri Harriers runner Alun Vaughn in 31:44, Jay Jennions from Dee striders won the ladies race in 38:57. In the team event, the men remain in 5th place in division 1 just above the drop zone, and the women remain in 3 place in division 2 just below the promotion spot.
