TCS London Marathon (Sun. 21st Apr.)
There were twenty-seven Cambridge Harriers in this year's London Marathon, writes Clem Dixon, that is if you count Ray Ramsay who was an official pacer rather than running the race for himself. The weather was good for distance running: cool and dry, there was a breeze but it was from the North which has less of an impact on this course.
Tom Brooke (pictured below right) and Ben Shearer (pictured below left) both had previous times that qualified them for the Championship start so were off just a few seconds after the elite on the Blue start and had the benefit of clear wide roads in front of them. Tom had about half a minute on Ben at half way but experience counts for a lot in the marathon and Ben had judged it well, his second half being only a minute slower than his first to finish in 2:27, in the top 100 and 2nd in the 45-49 age category. Meanwhile Tom faded, albeit only slightly, to finish in 2:34.Â
Here is what Ben had to say afterwards: "I started steady as I know how much these things can hurt if you get the first half wrong! Slowed a touch in the second half but not too much. Last 6 wasn’t as bad as usual, maybe because the wind wasn’t in our face for once. I think experience helps as this was my 12th London and you eventually learn how to run them through painful prior experience! Amazing support all the way around as usual."
Next up was Phil Dickens who has run this event almost as many times as Ben and who also judged things perfectly to finish in 2:36. Just one minute further back was John O'Mahony in 2:37: a massive PB by about 8 minutes.
Twenty-seven is too many to mention all by name but results are listed below. Suffice to say that Dean Lacy, Dave Worden, Alex Peet, Rob Shearer, Geoff Smith, Mattia Bernardi, Simon Foster and Paul Broadway all bettered three hours, of whom Dave, Alex, Geoff, Mattia, Simon and Paul did so in new personal bests. Also getting PBs were Martin Leat, Alex Burnett, Sophie Johnson and Maggie Illingworth. Special mention should go to Ian Miller, finishing in 3:21 just two weeks after running 3:07 at Brighton and to James Pitts who went one better: 3:13 after a 3:08 at Boston just one week earlier.
Asking for comments afterwards there were two recurring themes: firstly how gruelling the latter stages can be; as the adage goes: remember to enjoy the first half as there is no way that you will enjoy the second! And secondly, how good the Cambridge support was all the way round the course, to hear your name shouted out, or the name of your club, can give you a real lift. So well done to runners and supporters alike.
Top: Phil Dickens - John O'Mahony
Bottom: Mattia Bernardi - Lucy Foreman
Results:Â Ben Shearer 2:27:12, Tom Brooke 2:34:10, Phil Dickens 2:36:47, John O'Mahony 2:37:58, Dean Lacy 2:45:12, Dave Worden 2:45:23, Paul Broadway 2:47:45, Alex Peet 2:50:34, Rob Shearer 2:51:07, Geoff Smith 2:54:58, Mattia Bernardi 2:55:50, Simon Foster 2:55:50, Christian Poulton 3:07:46, James Pitts 3:13:20, Martin Leat 3:15:09, Alex Burnett 3:15:52, Lucy Foreman 3:16:58, Ian Miller 3:21:08, Rose Baker 3:33:25, Sophie Johnson 3:34:32, Maggie Illingworth 3:38:01, Ray Ramsay 3:43:03, Jim Collis 3:50:37, Steve Brown 4:04:01, Theresa Massey 4:07:19, Ali Vosper 4:36:24, Maria Macdonald 4:38:48.
RunThrough Chase the Sun 10k, Hyde Park (Wed. 17th Apr.)
A ninth place finish for Jonathan Sargent in a personal best of 37:11.
TCS London Mini Marathon (Sat. 20th Apr.)
Nearly 13,000 young athletes were cheered on by crowds of families and friends as they took on one-mile or 2.6k courses around St James’s Park, among them a number of our young club members.
Results: U13B: Austin Richards 9:22, Monty Brown 9:50 & Jonny Ravenscroft 10:01; U13G: Sophia-Rose Bonnar 9:53, Seren Yeatman 10:07, Miya Cook 11:09, Esther Yeatman 11:16; U15B:Â Oliver Cook 8:16, Aniket Iyengar 8:30, Joe White 9:57 & Jude Maslin 11:39; U15G:Â Celia Yeatman 9:42, Meredith Cummins 10:09, Delilah Lester 10:16 & Celia Allen 10:35. U17M: Olly Buck 7:58; U17W: Amelia Lawrence 9:36.
UK Youth Development League Lower - Southern 1B, Eltham (Sat. 20th April)
The summer league season kicked off in wintry conditions as a sunny start gave way to a cold northerly wind, reports Mick Bond. As hosts we had our work cut out organising a double fixture with 12 teams and lots of newbies competing for their clubs for the first time. Big thanks to all those who helped out officiating and organising. At the end of the day, we finished 2nd out of six in our match behind Herne Hill Harriers but ahead of Basildon, Victoria Park, HY Athletics (Hastings) and Paddock Wood.
Under 15 Boys (Annisha Thomas): What an amazing start to the season for our under 15 boys’ team! The boys commandeered both the 100m and 200m sprints with Jovani Lindsey and Zavier Brathwaite taking first place in both races. Both boys achieved personal bests – Zavier in 100m and Jovani in 200m. Ayotunde Dauda made a great debut in the 300m, winning the B-string race with a time of 42.87s. Cian Whelan gained personal bests in discus, shot and javelin, coming first in the latter with a throw of 33.56m. In the long jump, Caleb Warnke and Alex Van den Berg-Hows both triumphed taking first place in both the A- and B-string respectively. The match ended in great spirits with a win in the 4 x 100m relay – (Jovani Lindsey, Lucas Colley, Joshua-Raphael Chukwu-Ike & Zavier Brathwaite).
Joshua - Jovani - Zavier - Lucas
Under 13 Boys (Sarah Ravenscroft): The U13 team had a great start to the season ( despite the clash with the London Mini Marathon) with many of the runners competing for the first time. Our outstanding performances were by Herbie Tobin with a very convincing win in the 1200m - his first race at that distance. Our 4 x100m team also had a great win despite only having met each other that day and never having run a relay, with a time of 63.68s. Great PBs from Zakai Attram, Zion Odele in the 75m and Zakai and William Obiorah in the 150m.
Herbie Tobin - William Obiorah - Zion Odele - Rupert Scott - Zakai Attram
At the time of publication reports on the girls teams had not been received. All results are here.
Podium 5k, Dulwich Park (Sat. 20th Apr.)
Great runs by Chris Loudon (15:03), Bobby Babaker (15:49) and Holly Dixon (16:17) at the SportShoes Podium 5k held in Dulwich Park on Saturday.
Race Walking Association National 10km, Leicester Cycle Circuit (Sat. 20th Apr.)
Luc Legon won the RWA National 10km title on Saturday in 47:41, despite having sprained his left ankle, when he tripped over the kerb edging at the track during training ten days prior to he race, which was still a little tender.