The weekend of 2nd – 3rd April was another busy one for the club, with Matthew Hammerton kicking things off at the Test Way Ultra on Saturday. Matt won the fifty-mile race, his first competitive run over that distance, in an amazing time of 6:41, a clear 40 minutes ahead of the nearest competitor. He said:
“It was a fantastic event with great conditions. The Test Way was largely dry allowing for a quick pace with minimal boggy bits! With the support of Ian Ralph as crew, I was able to achieve a long-term ambition of running the Test Way with the bonus of achieving 1st place.”
On the same day, Mark Nixon completed the Podium 5k in a fantastic time of 14:50.
On the Sunday, Alice Lane completed the 24k, 942m elevation KVK race in Cornwall in an impressive time of 3:15, despite taking a nasty fall on the route, while Andy Brown (1:08), Susie Parker (1:20 PB), James Byrne (1:22 PB), Nigel Hemsted (1:14), Rob Gowman (1:37 PB), Neil Jennings (58:49), Penny Jennings (1:24), Duncan MacDonald (1:14 PB), Alex Prinsep (58:54 PB), David Morrison (1:07) and Dorota Koschmidder-Hatch (1:34) all ran the local Salisbury ten-mile race. Penny said: “I was thrilled to finish in under 1:25 and found the event brilliantly organised”, while Nigel said:
“We had a perfect morning for running – cool and bright with no wind. The course was very attractive, following the river to the Woodfords and then back to Salisbury.”
James, who was running in his first ten-mile event, said the route went through “superb countryside with a very supportive group of runners,” and Susie noted that it was “a really lovely route, taking in some of the most picturesque scenery round Salisbury.”
Also on the Sunday, Elizabeth Prinsep took first in age in the Manchester Marathon with a brilliant new PB of 3:19. Liz said of the event:
“24,000 runners lined up in near perfect weather conditions. The day started cool but it stayed dry and there was hardly any wind. It was a flat course and there was good crowd support. I felt strong and kept a consistent pace throughout and was really pleased with my new PB.”
