Following the recent period of unpredictable weather last weekend brought warm and breezy weather to the Kent coast just in time for the 10th anniversary of the Folkestone Coastal 10k. And when the sun shone, so did Ashford & District’s finest! The fast, flat course made for excellent times heading away from Folkestone but upon turning to make their way back runners were met by a challenging zephyr.
Fastest over the distance was club whippet Aiden Gorham in a blistering time of 35:55 who wasn’t to see another member until the marathoner duo of Paul Ridley and James Booth finished only 18 seconds apart in their respective times of 38:40 and 38:58. Paul Moses ran at his usual impressive pace and clocked 40:08 with Daniel Head hot on his trail, fighting through the wind in 41:57. Richard Boakes ran a solid 42:27 and was followed in by Keith Haynes whose 42:40 left him in 93rd place overall. Next home and feeling the heat was men’s captain Adrian Beresford in 45:09. Enjoying the tailwind on his way to the 5k point Adam Clegg finished in 46:44 with Stuart Nunn continuing his journey back to form with 48:33. Competing well despite the summer temperature was Matt Hardwick who ran 48:56, shortly followed over the crowded finish line by Emma Hanna whose time of 50:03 made her first female for the club. A mere 20 seconds later Ailis Goddard crossed the line after 50 minutes and 23 seconds of quality running. Sophie Edmonds produced another consistent performance with her time of 51:36 before Trevor Sparkes annihilated his previous best by 24 seconds to set a new official PB of 56:25. Peter Buckley and Sophie Cooper arrived just ten seconds apart in 57:35 and 57:45 respectively and Lesley Moody clocked 1:00:58 on the out-and-back course. Sandra Gooding completed her 10k in 1:03:55 with Sarah Taylor rounding the club’s entries off with a solid 1:04:38.
On the same day the Fidges competed in the Isle Of Wight Running Festival Duver Dash, finishing the fun run-style undulating 5k route in their incredibly exact times of 29:00 for John and 31:00 for Ann. Earlier in the week Cris Francis and Alison Waters tackled Race 2 of the floodlit 5k series at Gravesend with Alison finishing in 22:17 and Cris snapping at her heels in a crisp 22:27.
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