The hottest day of the year so far saw a large contingent of Ashford and District runners head to the seaside for the Saxon Shore Half Marathon. The course was unforgiving, undulating, extremely dry, offered no shade and gave a cruel uphill finish.
Trevor Kay was the first A&D runner home with an remarkable personal best time of 1:21:49 and second place on the day. An amazing run in the conditions.
Paul Ridley continuing with his good form ran an impressive 1:25:17, finishing in 6th place.
Just outside the top 10 in 12th place and 1st V50 was Scott Lynch with strong and consistent running posted a time of 1:27:27. In 16th and 3rd V50 with 1:29:49 was Paul Moses. A solid run, as ever, saw Adrian Moody finish in 1:48:29 placing him in 97th place and 10th V50.
Hugh Scarlin continues to impress, putting a marker down with a time of 1:53:51, finishing in 131st. A reward for the hard work at the Tuesday night training sessions and the solid mileage he has been running. Not far behind Hugh was Matt Hardwick with a time of 1:56:48 and 144th place.
It was Stu Nunn’s 6th consecutive weekend of competition a determined run saw Stu finish in a time of 1:58:05 and 154th place.
Aaron Homewood made a welcome return to club colours topping up his tan with a time of 2:21:42 and 248th place.
The 4th placed lady and 3rd in her age category was distance specialist Linda-Jean Delport with a time of 1:43:28. Another top quality run from Chris Costiff placed her 9th overall and 2nd in her age category in 1:46:09.
Carrying on with her recuperation from injury, Lesley Taylor completed the course in 1:55:24, good for 20th place and impressive 3rd in age category.
Commenting on the challenge the course offered in 22nd place was Emma Hanna with a time of 1:56:54, giving Emma 9th in her age group.
Massa Cooper was running her first event for quite a while. Lack of racing did not stop Massa from finishing in a creditable 74th place with a time of 2:12:13. Lucy Johnstone’s regular trail mileage faired her well for a time of 2:25:32 and 125th place.
In conditions better suited for sitting on the beach eating ice-cream Sarah Homewood stuck to the task in hand and finished in 166th place with a time of 2:31:42. Lesley Moody was not to far behind with a time of 2:38:17 and 193rd place. Sarah Taylor keeps building on the hard work at the club training nights and finished in 231st with a time of 2:46:36.
A straightforward marathon was not enough for Rik Holden. To add to the heat the Punk Run Trail marathon also offered brambles to battle through, crouching under obstacles and low trees. This makes the time of 3:55:38 even more impressive.
Gil O’Connor took part in the Downey Lakes 10K and her time of 50:51 was good for 2nd in her age category.
Becky Hodgson competed in the Runbelievable Gothic Challenge half marathon over a mix of undulating bike paths and trails completing the event in 3:39:39.
You must be logged in to post a comment.