HRRL Overton 5 and HRRL Victory 5

Overton 5

A small number of Farnham Runners gave the club very good results at the first of twelve Hampshire Road League races, the undulating Overton five miler. The A and B teams for men are both made up of four runners, while for the ladies it is only three.

The A string men came a fine 7th of 10 in the very competitive division one while their B team came 8th of 15. Last year the ladies were relegated to division 2 but have resolved to fight their way back and this determination was underlined by a fine performance that placed them top of Division two by over 120 points! Their B team was incomplete but still managed 10th of 15.

Near the front of the 441 finishers Andrew Ellison finally got the better of Ian Carley but by only five seconds, their times were 28-43 (23rd) and 28-48 (24th) respectively. They were highly placed in the M40 category (4th and 5th). Getting back to full fitness Steve Kitney clocked 31-55 (94th, 15th M40), with the improving Mike Walberton taking 10th M50 slot with 32-47. Tim Cummins led the B team (33-20) ahead of Nick Hill (33-40), Dan Smith (33-47) and Chris Cramp (35-35).

Emma Whittaker-Axon showed the benefit of her training for the Pilgrims’ marathon with an excellent time of 33-10 that placed her 8th lady. Louise James ran well for 35-40, followed by Suzanne Munton, delighted to make the A team, in 39-36. Caroline Freeman (42-29) and Emma Drinkwater (44-43) made a very worthwhile, if incomplete B team.

Victory 5

On the same day as the Pilgrims’ half and full marathons complete A teams travelled to Portsmouth for the second race, the Victory Five. The flat course was made more challenging by the wind, which slowed times on the homeward stretch.

Though still returning to full fitness Andy Eakins ran at 5-47 minute per mile pace to take 31st slot in a very competitive field of 358 men, with an excellent time of 28 minutes 56 seconds. Ian Carley hed to settle for an official place of 5th M40 in 29-22 but in fact, as he recorded on his watch, blasted round in 27-52 after being held up on the journey and sprinting to the start line 1½ minutes after the gun had gone off.

Mike Walberton was delighted with a new PB of 32-04 and an improvement of over a minute on his last year’s time. He finished ahead of Steve Murphy in 32-27 while Chris Cramp provided back up in 36-46. The team came 9th in Division One but lie 7th on aggregate after the two events.

Jane Georghiou led the ladies in 34.08 (1st W55), followed by Suzanne Munton in 39-40, Caroline Freeman with a new PB of 40-20 and Debbie Addison in 43-52. This team came 2nd in Division Two but Farnham Runners still lay claim to top position on aggregate.