Brighton and Manchester Marathons

No fewer than eleven Farnham Runners took on the challenging marathon distance on the same day, nine of them at Brighton and one at Manchester, raising over £4,500 for charity.

Conditions at Brighton were perfect for running – about 12 degrees with very little wind. The sun came out through hazy cloud for the latter part of the race.

There were some smiling if weary faces at the end, as most were very pleased with their times.

Fastest was Sean Smith, back running for the Farnham club again, with a splendid time of 2 hours fifty-seven minutes 46 seconds.

The next two took massive chunks from their previous bests.

In Manchester Rob Gilchrist was promisingly close to his future 3hour target in 3:02:40 (a PB by 25 mins) while Stuart Morel in Brighton recorded a fine 3:07:19 (a PB by 15 mins).

Mike Taylor in 3:22:57 was delighted to deduct a huge 6 minutes.

Alistair Hardaway battled injury for 3:49:26.

Coached by Farnham Runners coach Steve Gillingham, Paul Mackie very nearly dipped under 4 hours at his first attempt at the distance (4:00:53), raising almost £1,000 for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham.

Becky Martin clocked a PB 4:08:34, sponsored £500 for Parkinson’s UK and hoping to add to this total.

Jane Mezzullo was also raising money (over £1500) for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice and was coached by Steve Gillingham for her first marathon, recording 4:26:07.

Seasoned marathoner Peter Strange was pleased with 4:43:29.

Richard Adolph, who went well till 17 miles in his second 26 miler and plans to do more training next time, followed in 4:51:43 and collected at least £1700 for the Rainbow Trust.

Mary Denise Fitzgerald, in her third marathon after two in Dublin, had to settle for 4:53:21. She appreciated seeing so many supporters out on the course and was proud to run in Farnham colours.