HRRL Salisbury 10 miles, Surrey Half Marathon, Fleet Half Marathon and other races

With many members in training for spring marathons, mainly Brighton and London, Farnham Runners have been active in a number of longer distance races.

HRRL Salisbury 10 miles

Thirteen supported the club’s bid to gain promotion back to the top division in the Hampshire Road Race League by taking part in the scenic undulating Salisbury ten-miler. Surprised by the warm sunny weather, the men added to their high league placing by taking the top spot on the day and rising to top of the 2nd division for the series so far, with just four more events to go. The B team also performed well, taking first in the B second division table, which moved them up to 3rd on aggregate.

Ian Carley took the distance in his stride for a time of 1 hour 1 min 25 secs, while James Warren just behind in 1-01-31, clocked just a second shy of his personal best. Richard Lovejoy (1-03-29) and James Clarke (1-04-41) completed this high standard and compact “A” team.

Mike Walberton led in the “B”s with 1-07-13, flowed by Stuart Williamson (1-08-25), Martin Billett (1-09-19) and Steve Murphy (1-13-56). Chasing him was John Phillips who recorded a personal best by 3 minutes for 1-14 15, with Richard Frost returning to racing with 1-17-54.

Tori Shaw headed the ladies team with a new best of 1-23-49 with Vicki Clarke (1-28-24) and Catrin Petty (1-36-45) helping the club to 8th place of ten in division 2 (7th on aggregate).

Surrey Half Marathon

On the same day and in similar warm conditions seventeen Farnham Runners took part in the inaugural Surrey Half marathon, led in by Jason East in 1-27-26. First Farnham lady was newcomer Billy McCulloch in 1-50-22.

Other times: Matt Burns 1-38-28, Alistair Hardaway 1-39-35, Dave Armstrong 1-44-44, Alistair Wilson 1-43-57, Jessica Page 1-54-44, Becky Martin 1-55-56, Gill Slater 2-05-54, Jenni Rayner 2-05-54, Shirley Perrett 2-09-49, Stephen Elliot-Nicholls 2-22-41, Helen Scullard 2-25-54, Neil Ambrose 2-35-50, Helen Cathie-Nevola 2-41-33, Emma Doven 2-41-33, Rebecca Bremford 3-10-33.

Fleet Half Marathon

After last year’s “mudfest” at the finish area of Fleet Half Marathon it was back to the unseasonably warm weather of two year’s ago. Twenty-seven members took part in the very well organised race, though few gained personal bests in the heat.

Three who did were justifiably proud. First back for Farnham was a beaming Rob Gilchrist, his 1-24-49 deducting another minute from his best. Stuart Morel took 5 minutes off (1-27-35), while Paul Mackie (1-45-18) carved off an even more massive chunk of 8 minutes since joining the local club.

Other times: Jason East 1-25-21, Julian Mann 1-27-20, Mark Maxwell 1-30-01, Stuart Taylor 1-30-22, Stuart Williamson 1-31-23, Mike Taylor 1-31-43, Tim Rogers 1-35-01, Charlie Hill-Venning 1-35-29, John Hill-Venning 1-35-35, Martin Billett 1-38-14, Stephen Elliot-Nicholls 1-38-42, Doug Cackett 1-39-54, Matthew Brown 1-40-52, Jane Georghiou 1-41-52, Lindsay Bamford 1-49-50, Nick Hill 1-51-29, Alistair Wilson 1-53-45, Sue Taylor 1-58-07, Wendy Craley 1-59-22, Jane Mezzullo 1-59-52, Peter Strange 2-05-38, Catherine Bradley 2-16-47, Craig Tate-Grimes 2-26-15, Lina Haines 2-34-28.

Other races

Still more Farnham Runners have raced in the Bramley 20, the Spitfire 20 and Cranleigh 21. Sarah Hill chose the Worthing 20 for an emphatic win in the ladies’ section in an excellent 2-08-59.