HRRL D-Day 10k and Edinburgh Marathon

HRRL D-Day 10k

Farnham Runners enjoyed a successful end to the Hampshire Road League 2015-16 series, with Sarah Hill confirmed as individual ladies’ champion and their Mens’ A team verified as taking top slot in Division Two. The men’s B and the ladies’ A and B teams stay safe in their top divisions.

There were some personal bests at the D Day 10km at Portsmouth, despite high temperatures and a twisty route, partly on gravel.

With promotion calculated to be guaranteed for the men’s A team before the last race it was James Clarke, Stuart Haig, Mike Walberton and Mike Anderson who flew the flag for the local club.

James Clarke, who has finished an impressive 32nd in the men’s individual table, led them in, with a time of 38 minutes 38seconds for 38th place, a coincidence difficult to repeat! Next a beaming Stuart Haig clocked his first sub 40 minutes, 55th of 522 finishers and 9th M40 in 39:31. Mike Walberton was pleased to be 3rd in the M55 category with a notable 40:24, while last year’s M55 category winner Mike Anderson, had to settle for 4th in 40:57. This gave them 5th of 10 teams on the day.

The B string comprised Alistair Hardaway, 43:06, Keith Marshall a pb 43:31, Neil Ambrose 43:46 and Peter Chapman 46:07. They gained 9th of 15 teams on the day for a final tally of 7th in B Division One. Chris Cramp suffered in the heat for 47:14 and was disappointed not to be supported for a C team. With insufficient numbers in the last two races this team will stay in B Division Two next season, finishing 7th of 17 teams.

With the heat also taking its toll on the ladies, Eloise Stradling had to settle for 47:24 and Jane Georghiou for 48:10 (1st W60), followed by Tara Hunt in 50:39 for 6th place on the day and 6th of 10 league teams on aggregate. Not far behind came Tina Harrison in 51:05, denied a B team place by a lack of other Farnham ladies. Over the series this team placed 6th of 14 and as some of the twelve races have been well supported the club plans to enter a C team next season.

Other Farnham Runners gaining top 100 individual placings for the series were Men: Stuart Morel 37th, Stuart Haig 61st, Mike Walberton 70th, John Phillips 86th, and Alistair Hardaway 97th. Ladies Eloise Stradling 21st, Jane Georghiou 28th, Tina Harrison 53rd and Tara Hunt 58th.

Edinburgh Marathon

A jubilant crew returned from the recent Edinburgh marathon. Rigorous training coupled with ideal temperatures, sun and no wind led to some very good times. Three gained massive personal bests while three tackled the challenging distance of 26.2 miles for the first time.

Sarah Hill led them in as 8th lady out of 2,319 in a splendid time of 2 hours 56 minutes 5 seconds. This is the ninth time she has broken three hours, a superb record. She was second in the F40 category with only former international Hayley Haining ahead.

Next came Gerald Wyatt who took a huge chunk of 23 minutes off his previous best to clock 3:14:46, while John Phillips deducted over 13 minutes for 3:16:00. Ian Marshall impressed with 3:21:49 on his debut, followed by Jeremy Skedge with a 20 minute PB of 3:28:07. Tim Farrant recorded 3:39:34 and Paul Day 3:56:02 on their first attempt at the distance.