That was the weekend that was!

Blimey that was some weekend.
 

Round up  – David Jones

In arguably the biggest weekend of the year for our road runners some 48 members were part of a combined total of 100,000 competitors in the London Mini Marathon, the Stratford half and full marathons at Stratford, London and Manchester. Between them they covered a combined total distance of just under 750 miles according to my maths.

On Sunday, in uncomfortably warm conditions,10 members, joined a world record marathon field of 56,640 finishers for the 45th TCS London Marathon,

The10 were a mixture of marathon debutants and experienced marathoners.

Completing a remarkable double was Andy Cox who had run the Boston Marathon just 6 days previous. His time of 2:58.04 was 4 minutes quicker than Boston despite the heat.

Two of the runners’ had got places due to being successful in the club’s own ballot. They were Gemma Smith (6:22.47), traditionally a racewalker, making her debut. Gemma had me close to tears explaining that she had ‘GEMS’ printed on her club top as an emotional tribute to her Dad, who she lost last year. Apparently it was one of the names he called her and he supported her in everything she did. Of all the cheering, it was his voice she could hear the loudest.  Ade Mason (3:14.13) also gained his place via the club ballot. He was 14 minutes quicker than when he last ran London 3 years ago. 

Rachel Fielden completed the course in 4:27.52 having run the Barcelona Marathon in March

Kendra Bell (6:04.47) was making her debut and although it didn’t go exactly as planned, she crossed the line in tears having completed the course, saying that there is nothing to compare to that feeling as a runner.
 
Marathon legend Kate Sergent was affected by the heat and had to change her plans due to this, choosing to walk some of the course in her determination to finish, something she managed in 5:24.24. 

James Morrison, the club’s partially sighted runner should be delighted with his effort, finishing in 4:29.26.

Seth Turner (2:58.00) was just a couple of minutes shy of his PB at London last year. Adam Evans ran 3:19.00. The club’s quickest runner of the day was Drew Sambridge (2:56.16) less than 2 minutes off his PB.

6 members opted for the flatter course at the Manchester Marathon. For Chris Bloomfield (4:18.13) this was his 3rd time running Manchester and he was a massive 36 minutes quicker than his first time in 2022. 

Kath Pester (5:21.51) was making her marathon debut, as was Sam Wilks who should be delighted with his time of 3:03.45.

Huw Crosweller (3:08.24) was 50 minutes quicker than his only other marathon at Langdale, which I suspect was somewhat hillier than Manchester!  Finally James Cottriall ran a lightning quick 2:48.33.

At the Stratford Marathon the in-form Jamie Hall (2:39.45) was just 65 seconds off his PB at Abingdon last year. Debut marathon runner Sue Mothershaw realised a lifetime ambition in running the marathon, completing the course in 5:18.04.  Jennifer Cockayne, having never previously run further than 10k in a competitive race, finished in 5:42.07. A truly awesome achievement.

Highlights of the 26 who ran the Stratford half included 2nd place for Ben Kruze (1:11.23), showing remarkable consistency, having recorded times of 1:11.00 last year and 1:11.19 in October’s Stratford Big Half Marathon.

In 5th place and M45 age category winner was Matt Burdus-Cook (1:17.45), a quicker time than his 2 previous halfs this year at Windsor and Warwick. The club’s other top 20 finisher was Sam Mercer(18th – 1:22.47).

For Nigel Chidgey (1:43.38 – 3rd V60), this race came just a couple of weeks after his marathon at Boston Lincs and barely a couple of months after his Tokyo Marathon. Time to rest the legs now Nigel.

There were fine age category performances from David Smyth (1:31.52) 2nd in the V55 category and Mike Barrie (2:07.05) 3rd in the V70 category

For the ladies there was a podium finish for Kate Wright (1:24.06 – 2nd lady finisher and 30th overall). Kate won her V60 age category by huge 27 minutes and her time puts her on top of the all-time UK rankings for her age category. An awesome achievement.

Helen Platts (1:43.59) won her V50 age category by over 5 minutes.

Phew, as I said at the start –  that was some weekend.

TCS London Mini Marathon

Report – David Jones

First off at the weekend were 3 of the club’s talented endurance athletes who had qualified to represent the West Midlands in the London Mini Marathon.

The Mini London Marathon is a youth event that began in 1985, just four years after the London Marathon’s inaugural run. It is a unique opportunity for youngsters to run over the 2.6k course and cross the iconic TCS London Marathon Finish Line and to receive the coveted Mini Marathon medal.

It has been a launchpad for many successful athletes, including Sir Mo Farah, David Weir, Eilish McColgan and Keely Hodgkinson. 

It was a truly wonderful experience for our 3 juniors, first catching the team coach at Alexander Stadium on Friday and then being driven to their London hotel, with a 5.30am wake up on Saturday morning.

In Lucia’s U13G race she completed the course in 9.58, just under the magic 10 minute mark. She was placed 53rd in the British Athletics Road Championships and a superb 63rd out of 221 in all of the U13 girls who competed on the day. The U13 West Midland team was places 5th overall.

Sam and Zak Lambert were placed 33rd and 56th in the British Athletics Road Championships with times of 7:40 and 8:05 respectively. The winner, in a time of 7:19, was Thomas Philip Webb from South West. 

Sam will have been delighted to pip his local XC rival Archie Lane. They both recorded the same time but Sam was rewarded with 33rd place and Lane 35th.

Sam and Zak were placed 36th and 79th out of the 204 U17Bs competing on the day.

Speaking of their experience, Sam commented “ Me and my brother had an amazing time running the London Mini Marathon! The atmosphere was incredible, with so much energy and excitement from start to finish. The start was very crowded and hectic, just like it always is but that just made it even more of an experience. Overall, it was a brilliant day and one we’ll definitely remember.”

Report – Gemma Smith

The news that I had won one of the club ballot places to run the London Marathon was met with my absolute delight.

My family had just arrived to stay over Christmas and on hearing my celebrations turned to me expecting £50 notes to be dancing from the sky with news of a life changing windfall.

The next 16 weeks was certainly life changing but did not end in early retirement!

Having spent the last few years race walking, I remember on track night commenting that it had been so long since I had run, I didn’t know if I could anymore. My subliminal messages had clearly set me up for this challenge.

Training started well for my first ever marathon, but towards the end it took a toll on my poor feet!

On one of my longer runs I was spotted by a kind lady who looped back to find me, stopping to see if I was ok and if I wanted a lift, this was at 21k and I had a further 9k to go. I insisted I was fine ‘oh no’ I thought ‘do I really look that exhausted’. Later, having completed my 30k target, I got a message on Strava, ‘saw you on the railway bridge, looking strong’, this was 26k (thanks Miranda) which counterbalanced the earlier rescue offer.

I was so excited about race day and it did not disappoint, the atmosphere was electric, the cheering deafening, the drummers, the pipers and the music were fantastically encouraging.

I was so happy to see Kate Sergent, marathon legend, at 11km, by which time the sun was beating down onto the course with no shade and we were literally melting. We exchanged a few words of encouragement, before Kate disappeared into the distance.

I realised, as I was approaching halfway, I was coming up to 21k and it was London Bridge, the mind games started, would I need rescuing, or would I be ‘looking strong over the bridge’? I was feeling tired but STILL did not need rescuing and ‘powered’ across London Bridge.

I knew at 27k my family would be waiting at ‘Mudshute’, we had visited it on the day I picked up my bib, so that I could be sure not to miss them. That was not likely to happen, I was met with the most glorious reception, it was the best feeling ever to hear my husband and two girls say how proud they were, I was doing well and to keep going.

It was getting tougher but I continued with my running and walking to get me through. As I got closer to the end more and more people were walking so there was a lot of weaving in and out, so I think my marathon was 43km for that reason!

There is a cliche, ‘I gave it 110%’ often said but mostly untrue, so I can say with confidence I gave it 102.38%! 😊

I had ‘GEMS’ printed on my club top as an emotional tribute to my Dad, who we lost last year. It was one of the names he called me, he supported me in everything I did, of all the cheering, it was his voice I could hear the loudest.

I was delighted to get over the line in 6hrs 22mins and 47 seconds.

I have had so much encouragement and kudos from club friends (Thank You!) and I really needed it.

This has been a fabulous experience and has all been made possible through the club; I have had so many good experiences and opportunities since joining nearly 9 years ago, it is one of the best decisions I have made.