2012 London Marathon
Farnham Runners have are due to collect a record £22,000 from their efforts running in the Virgin London and Brighton marathons, many choosing to raise money in memory of relatives. A total of twenty-eight Farnham Runners, spurred on by their enthusiastic and very much appreciated supporters, have completed the gruelling distance within two weeks, another first for the club. Sarah Hill has broken her own club record with the best ever placing of 26th in the ladies race. Five runners completed their first marathon and were justifiably very proud of their medals. For others too, the months of hard training paid off with new personal best times. All are now relishing a well-deserved rest – some already thinking of the next, others saying “Never again”!
Seven Farnham Runners have been sponsored to the tune of £2,000 or more:
Mike Walberton £2,500 for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, Helen Cathie £2,300 for Macmillan Cancer Care, Claire Pengilley £2,200 for Diabetes UK, Conrad Jooste £2,200 for the Stroke Association, Martin Billett £2,000 for the National Autistic Society, Deborah Barrington £2,000 for Surrey Care Trust, Andrew Perrin £2,000 (£1,000 each) for Action on Hearing Loss and The Treolar Trust and Steve Kitney (with his sister) £2000 for the British Heart Foundation.
Steve Nicholls is due to collect at least £1750 for the Bone Cancer Research Trust while Alistair Wilson has raised £900 for Oxfam, Jessica Page £600 for Cancer Research, Emma Doven and Mark Beeson both £200 for Macmillan Cancer Care and Tori Shaw £150 for RNLI.
The star peformance was Sarah’s superb run in just 2 hours 55 minutes 24 seconds for 20th senior lady (18-39 category) and 26th lady overall. This follows her recent victories at the Worthing 20 and Bournemouth half marathon. Only one Farnham Runner was ahead of her, Ian Carley in an excellent 2-54-45, not his best but achieved with less than usual training. Andrew Ellison, still getting back to his earlier form was very pleased with his result after limited training, finishing comfortably in under three hours (2-56-54). His expert guidance and support given to a group of members less experienced in marathon running helped boost times this year.
Steve Nicholls ran his 5th marathon of the year in 3-05-33 and is on his way to his target of 12 marathons for 2012. Four members who have beaten 3 hours several times in the past were Graham Wilton, Jason East, Steve Kitney (hair and beard dyed red for the BHF!) and Richard Warner-Hoskins who had to settle for 3-02-30, 3-08-22, 3-12-36, and 3-14-36 respectively this time. Charles Ashby in 3-14-21, Mike Walberton in 3-22-21, Martin Billett 3-48-00 and Conrad Jooste (4-19-17) also recorded very good times.
Stuart Morel (3-32-41) and Tori Shaw (4-07-07) were delighted to take half an hour from their previous bests at the VLM while Mike Taylor (3-28-32), Stefan Klincewicz (3-58-38) and Mark Beeson (4-17-08) ran personal bests in Brighton.
Wendy Carley was second Farnham Runners lady home in 3-55-43, followed by Emma Doven (4-08-10), Helen Cathie (4-25-40)
Colin Pirie (4-05-32) and Jessica Page (4-06-03) were over the moon with their performances on their debut in Brighton.
Jess who ran on her birthday, has caught the “marathon bug” and has already entered for next year! Alistair Wilson (4-28-07), Claire Pengilley (4-37-06) and Deborah Barrington (4-39-56) are also to be congratulated on completing their first attempt at the distance, in London. Andrew Perrin did the double – Brighton one week (4-40-41) VLM the next (4-50-41)!
“Marathon man” John Applebee added yet another to his tally (4-49-36 at Brighton).