All Out Action

The 18th March saw Ellesmere Port RC’s Tony Hyland take on the Rhayader Round The Lakes 20 as part of his London Marathon preparation.  Being the club’s lone representative at this very tough and hilly 20 mile race Tony put in a great performance and finished in 02:26:19, the 53rd finisher out of field of 362 runners, Matt Giles of Stourbridge RC won the race in a superb 02:02:59 and first lady home was Debbie Walters of Aldridge RC in 02:20:01.

The following day, Mark Dodd was at the Wilmslow Half Marathon.  Superb conditions, a great atmosphere and the appearance of boxings Olympic Silver Medallist Amir Khan set the tone and on a fast course Mark was hoping for a personal best, however after only 3 miles Mark knew this was not going to be the day and ended up trailing in, in 902nd place out of 3370 runners in a very disappointing 01:42:18. The winner was once again Andy Norman of Altrincham who continued his exceptional form posting 01:05:54. First lady home was Pauline Powell of Blackburn Runners in 01:16:15.

The same day, 5 EPRC runners ventured into Merseyside for the ever popular Liverpool Half Marathon. Once again, a huge field was assembled with nearly 4500 runners finishing the course.

The race was won by Andy Jones leading from gun to tape in a rapid 01:05:22 with Birhane Dagne of Belgrave Harriers winning the ladies race in 01:15:02.

First man home for EPRC was Denis Duret in 59th position with 01:22:16. This is a remarkable time as Denis has been under a punishing Marathon training routine for the past 3 months in preparation for the Paris Marathon on the 9th April. Looks like Denis could be on for his first sub 3 hour Marathon.

Mike Burns fought off the pain of injury to post a positive 01:28:49 for 211th place. Hopefully, he’ll be fully fit for the London Marathon.

Jon Hawker running his 2nd half marathon of the year once again broke his PB by over a minute, coming home in 01:36:03 for 539th position. Jon will now have the magical 01:30 barrier in his sights for the end of the year.

Less than 2 minutes behind Jon was the in form Alison MacDonald in 01:37:49 and 5th Lady V40 and 666th place overall.

Last runner home for the club was Alison Hughes. Alison set out at a very steady pace then realised she could be running considerably faster so ran a negative split to achieve 843rd position in a relaxed 01:39:53.

Paul Robertson was EPRC’s sole representative in the Silverstone Half Marathon. Winning the race in 01:07:08 was Newham and Essex Beagles David Mitchinson First lady home was Jude Craft in 01:20:36. 

Over 5000 competitors entered the race with Paul running his first competitive half of the year in 01:22:58 for 64th place to finish in the top 1%.