Tom shares this latest report from the Ryde Harriers. Ed
April is the month of marathons and Ryde Harriers had runners in three of the biggest events.
First up Les Cupis jetted across the Channel to take part in the first of two spring marathons. His Paris run didn’t go entirely to plan with toe and quad problems, but still posted an excellent time of 3:04:50 to finish, 1,280 out of 41,000.
Brighton Marathon
Four Harriers joined a huge throng from the Island to pound the 26.2 miles of Brighton’s streets. First home for the club in a superb time of 3:30:34 was Judy McCabe whose time put her 81st woman overall.
Next came Brian Warren in 4:15:01 which was a personnel best by over six minutes. Philippa Daley was running her first ever marathon and completed the course in 4:18:31 whilst marathon veteran Ana-Maria Roman posted 4:54:20.
London Marathon
The following week it was London Marathon calling with six members running. Les Cupis was first home for the club in 2:58:31, a great time to raise his spirits after disappointment in Paris.
Next home was Tom Blackwell in 3:08:58 who was shoulder to shoulder with Cupis until cramp crept in from mile 20.
Also hit by cramp was Bryan Jones who struggled from a similar spot to finish in 3:17:33. Finest performance of the day for the club came from veteran marathon man Jonathan Norton who finish as twelfth Vet 70 in 3:52:17. New dad, Pete Still, missed his pb target, but finished with a very respectable 3:54:37 in the week his son was born, whilst sole female Harrier Sally Roberts just missed the sub 4-mark that she has claimed for the previous two races finishing on 4:03:26.
Lakeside Relay
Away from the marathon Ryde posted teams in the second Lakeside Relay event with teams of three running a 5km leg each.
Ryde’s women’s team of Julie King, Rosie Eldridge and Lauren McIntyre finished seventh overall whilst the men’s team of Sam Cleare, Nigel Eldridge and Trevor McAlister came twelfth.
Club nights
April club nights saw the Winter Series draw to a close with a variety of distances and types of race. There was a five mile nominated run with a close contest for the top points.
Samantha Fancourt claimed the win finishing exactly to the second of her stated time of 39:40 with Harry Furmidge second only four seconds out and Elaine Parry third seven seconds out.
Fastest on the night was men’s captain Trevor McAlister in 34:33 with Julie King fastest woman in 36:29. In the final 10km nominated run of the winter series points went to Peter White who was twenty one seconds inside his time of 51:51 with Kath Levrier second and Graham Maitland third. Fastest on the night was Jake Brougham in 40:18.
Alan Reed Trophy
Then came the annual Alan Reed Trophy race taking in Seaview and Nettlestone. This nominated event was won by Simon Joy who was just five seconds outside of his stated time of 36:26.
Tom Hill was second eight seconds outside of his stated time of 36 minutes and Samantha Fancourt came third fifteen seconds away from her time of 40:47.
10km championship
The final winter event was the club 10km championship.
Men’s winner Jake Brougham decided to make the contest a little more exciting by accidentally adding an extra half-mile loop on to his own route which dropped him from first to fifth with a couple miles to go. He managed to reel the leaders back in but had a close battle to the line with Trevor McAlister who had to settle for second.
Women’s winner Julie King had a simpler victory, both in distance from opponents and route finding.
