Thankfully the second half of the weekend was somewhat nicer than the first giving FRC runners at least a fighting chance against the wind and rain that has blighted us for the past few weeks.
The Deal Half Marathon was a casualty of one of the previous winter storms and was rescheduled to this weekend, though taking place around Betteshanger park rather than the roads around Deal. It was worth the wait though as FRC scooped the Ladies team prize. First back was Nikki Goodwin in 19th position overall and a time of 1:34:34. Chris Addison wasn’t far behind in 22nd place and a time of 1:35:09. Clive Allon finished in 66th place in 1:48:41 ahead of Tony Scott in 76th place in 1:51:33. Next back were Diane Parsons and Marie Brazier who together with Nikki made up the winning team. Diane was 100th in 1:57:22 and Marie was 104th in 1:59:08. John O’Hara was 110th in 2:00:34.
Up in London it was the Big Half where three FRCer’s were in action. Kate Lancefield narrowly missed out on going sub 2:30 finishing in 2:30:37. Lynsey Tighy was next back in 2:31:46 while Lisa Smith, recovering from illness, crossed the line in 2:42:16.
Back at Betteshanger, it was a Saxons, Normans and Vikings Challenge that tempted Darren Crew and Jody Stoakes in to action. Muddy, puddly, windy and slippery, Jody completed four laps totalling 17.57 miles in 2:53:31. Darren ran 5 laps totalling 22 miles in 3:00:17. Julie and Malcolm Gibbs also took to the mud; Malc ran 13.1 miles in 2:45:48 and Julie ran 17.5 in 3:45:22.
Saturday morning was pretty horrendous really but quite a few of us braved the wind on the Leas. Ian McGilloway was first overall in a time of 18:09 followed by Ian Mcgilloway (18:09), Phil Hoyland (18:26), Joe Bruce (19:24), Stuart Erskine (19:57), David Gillett (20:30),Nick Steele (20:36), David Weekes (20:56), Torben Jessen (21:04), Chris Addison (21:26), Stuart Sprinks (21:49), Daren Wild (22:14),Deborah Jeffery (23:08), Caroline Curtis (23:31), Clive Allon (24:11), Catriona Watts (25:03), David Walbrook (25:59), Debbie Dunham (26:07), Marie Brazier (26:13), Liam Cumber (26:29), Deirdre Coombs (27:24), Richard Dyer (27:40),
Andrew Richardson (27:54), Gary Brazier (28:34), Pamela Allon (28:59), Maria Felicetti (29:11), Aldous Hosking (30:27), Catherine-Anne Curtis (33:01), Brian Davis (33:20) and Kayleigh Cumber (38:38).
Elsewhere, Callum Howes continued his A-Z of parkruns in Dartford where he finished 4th in a time of 19:22. Dan Voller took first finisher honours at the Walmer and Deal parkrun in 20:09. Darren Crewe and Jody Stoakes tried (and failed) to escape the weather at the cyclopark in Gravesend where Darren finished 10th in a time of 21:34 and Jody finished 40th in 25:47. Ian Merrick claims the prize for most exotic parkrun this week, running at Oakwell Hall in West Yorkshire and finishing 30th in 24:52.