Romsey Advertiser's Articles

No less than eight athletes from Romsey Road Runners completed the Flora London Marathon on Sunday. The warm sunshine may have been more welcome to the crowds watching than those taking part, but some impressive times were achieved nonetheless.

Clive Hearn, running for Mencap, was first home from the club in 3 hours 22m followed 10 minutes later by Tom Brunner running for Headway. Tamatha Ryan, who had secured her place through her excellent time last year ran for the National Autistic Society and finished in 3 hours 37, with club coach Jane Field finishing in 3 hours 41 for the MS Society. Lynda Brown was next home running for Sense in 4 hours 9 minutes, followed by Andrea Markham and Charlotte Maslen, both who received places through the club, finishing in 4 hours 45 and 4 hours 29 respectively. Gill Callous ran her marathon for the Special Care Baby Unit and Princess Anne Hospital and finished in 5 hours 39 minutes. Their sense of achievement at completing this infamous race was clear as they showed off their medals at the club meeting on Monday, their tales of the day inspiring others to think ahead to 2010.

Romsey Road Runners also boasted a fantastic turn out at the first fixture of the RR10 league last Wednesday. The RR10’s are a series of 4-5 mile off-road races organised by running clubs in south-west Hampshire with the first race taking place at the Royal Victoria Country Park. Romsey turned out 31 runners with the first 5 men home in the top 60 including Matt Hammerton finishing 4th, Nick Berryman finishing 21st – his best result yet – and Ali Longworth coming in 38th, beating his previous best placing from 122nd. Leading the ladies team home, Amanda Hull finished an outstanding 4th in her first ever RR10. The series continues on 6th May.

While others from the club were running the London Marathon, ten Romsey Road Runners enjoyed the picturesque scenery of the Test Valley. The Houghton 11k lived up to its reputation of being a very friendly and well organised event. Ali Longworth, Wendy Couper, Anna Duignan, Di Cross, Ruth and David Page, Wendy George, Hazel Smith, Karen Keane and Tony Peelo were joined by friends and family for a tour of the local countryside. After a couple of long uphill drags it was downhill to the Test which was followed all the way back to Houghton. Everyone ran exceptionally well but it was the enjoyment of the event that they were all talking about at the end. This was helped by some excellent tea and cakes in the village hall after the race. For a runner there could be few better ways of spending a Sunday morning.