Overton 5, Pilgrim full and half marathons, and the Surrey Half Marathon
HRRL Overton 5
The Hampshire Road Race League began with the 5 mile race at Overton. Staged for many years, it started at the traditional time of 2pm in dry and warm conditions after some heavy showers. Fifteen Farnham Runners took part, even though it clashed with the local Pilgrim marathon and half marathon.
There was enough for full A and B teams for the men and a full A and an incomplete B team for the ladies. All the teams are now in the top divisions, each division containing 10 clubs.
Farnham Runners made a very good start to the 2024-25 season. The men’s A team came 8th and the Bs 5th while the ladies A team was 5th and the Bs 4th, even though the team was incomplete as only 3 clubs in the B table fielded a complete team.
James Robinson gave a boost to the men’s team with a great performance, placing 12th of 467 finishers in a time of 28:08. James Lyons in 33:20, Chris Raby in 34:25 (1st M65 in a competitive field) and Ivan Chunnett in 35:00 completed the A team score.
Only seconds behind, men’s captain Justin Clarke, 3rd M60, led in the B team in 35:09. Returning to racing Mike Walberton was 4th M 65 in 35:26 while Paul Keogh, 4th M60, ran a personal best 35:23 and Charles Ashby, in his first race in five years, completed the scoring in 38:28.
Louise Granell was a clear leader of the Farnham ladies finishing 16th of 167 ladies and 4th F35 in 35:29.
Next came Candy Waller who pushed hard to the line to gain a sub 40 minute time of 39:40 and be 2nd F55. Gemma Whitehouse clocked anew PB of 43:27 while Jane Georghiou, 2nd F70 in 45:39 was the final scorer for the A team.
There were three ladies for the B team. Kay Copeland was only 8 seconds from the A team in 45:57, followed by Sandra Hickey on 46:57. Then came Farnham Runners’ youngest female member in her first 5 mile race, Laylan Pointon-Berkowitz who commented:
“The first race of the 24/25 season of the HRRL done! My chip time came to 48 minutes and 44 seconds, and my gun time 49.08 that was a bit disappointing, although I took it slowly due to the hills and very unpredictable weather, but the ice cream and the medal at the end were helpful as great motivators.”
Pilgrim Marathon and Half Marathon
The scenic Farnham Pilgrim Trail Marathon began at 8:30 am over some very tough hills between Seale and Guildford. Despite the early start it wasn’t enough to avoid the heavy rain forecast. Colette Grist describes the race:
“Beautiful trails and great company. Hills, sand, mud, puddles and all of the weather possible. Torrential rain, thunder and lightning meant the second half was as wet as going for a swim and a rainwater stream / river to run through for the last 10k. Still loved it!”
After rigorous training, member Joe Collins won the marathon, first out of 144 runners. He even managed to finish before the rain arrived in an excellent time 3:15:52.
In preparation for an autumn road marathon, Stuart Taylor, 12th to finish, clocked 3:59:12.
Next was first F60, Linda Tyler in 4:41:51 in her 50th marathon or ultra.
The rest took things more steadily. They were Andrew Brown 5:21:05, Jonathan Tyler, Megan Grocott and Kelly Lincoln all in their first marathon in 5:26:07, 5:29:01 and 5:29: 58. Colette Grist recorded the same time, with Lindsay Bamford in 5:34:38.
The half marathoners were home and dry before the rain set in. They were Stephen Tarrant in 2:07:49, Bridget Naylor in 2:08:38, Sally Lawrence in 2:31:58 and Lizzie Collins in her first half marathon in 2:47:50.
Chris Gill, Craig Tate-Grimes and Gill Iffland volunteered to man a water station and they were helped by Jacquie Browne, Alison Buchanan, Debbie Moorcroft, Nicola O’Connor, Shirley Perrett, Penny Schnabel, and Carolyn Wickham.
Surrey Half Marathon
On the same day, Matt Gibbons, encouraged by Emma Dawson (1:43:28) took 12 minutes from his PB, clocking 1:43:29 in the Surrey Half Marathon.
See the Photo Gallery 2024 for further photos from these events