Months of preparation came to a climax for many FRCers this weekend as the day of the Manchester and Paris Marathons finally dawned. Unfortunately, Covid and injuries had taken their toll on quite a few of us, but there were still a fantastic 22 runners donning the Folkestone vest and heading for the start lines.
First back for club was Dave Tyler in a (paced to perfection) time of 2:40:24, well inside his 2:45 target. Next was newcomer Andy Wright in his first marathon who broke the 2:45 barrier in 2:44:06.
Krzysztof Klidzia was a superb 14th in his age category finishing in 2:53:01. Next, Torben Jessen ran 3:11:53, three minutes faster than his target time and a 30 minute improvement on his time at London last year. He also now qualifies for a good for age place at London.
Nick Bryant crossed the line in 3:26:21, an enormous 47 minute PB! Followed by Greg Dixon in 3:39:25. First FRC lady Kirsty Wilson ran 3:44:42, an 8 minute PB and beat her 2:45 target as well as being inside the London GFA time, ahead of Anh-Van Whitby who ran a 12 minute PB of 3:49:44.
Thomo Murray 3:53:43 and Martin Murray 3:55:11 were the next to finish, both running their first marathon and both achieving their sub 4 hour target.
Richard Fowles finished in 3:58:29 followed by Kate Clipstone who ran a massive 25 minute PB of 4:05:04. Ron Bell completed the course in 4:08:31, followed by Karla Larnder in 4:09:58 and Andy Hadlow in 4:12:41.
Our next two runners to finish both overcame injuries but both persevered and made it to the finish. Diane Parsons ran 4:15:11 while Tony Scott ran 4:44:17.
Debbie Dunham ran a new PB of 4:53:50 while Becky Newton completed her first marathon in a time of 4:53:59.
Gary and Marie Brazier opted to switch to running the marathon as a relay with Gary running the first half and Marie the second. Gary completed the first half in 2:00:51 while Marie crossed the line to complete the marathon distance in 4:02:35.
Over in France, Paul Hannay was taking part in the Paris marathon. Despite a tough second half, Paul still managed to knock a fantastic 22 minutes off his PB to record a time of 4:26:57.
It wasn’t just marathons this weekend, Catriona Watts took part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon and completed it in a time of 1:59:32.
Up in Cumbria, Lisa and Andy Smith ran the 3 Village 10. A 10 mile 2 lap undulating race round the beautiful villages of Wetheral, Scotby and Cumwhinton near Carlisle. Andy finished in 1:30:12 while Lisa knocked 10 minutes off her PB to run 1:37:10.
As a result of all the marathon shenanigans there were slightly fewer runners than usual for the parkrun on Saturday. Well done to Phil Maull and Silvan Birra who both set new PBs. John O’Hara wins the ‘furthest travelled for a parkrun’ prize as he ran in Tasmania.
Folkestone:
| Daniel Voller | 17:04 |
| Joe Bruce | 17:28 |
| Tristan Bruce | 18:27 |
| Ian Merrick | 19:48 |
| Henry Axon | 19:49 |
| Andrew Fletcher | 21:08 |
| Silvan Birra | 21:56 |
| Ian Mcgilloway | 21:59 |
| Philip Maull | 22:20 |
| Vicky Scott | 22:21 |
| Deborah Jeffery | 22:27 |
| Louisa Eede | 22:31 |
| Hazel Green | 23:26 |
| Stuart Erskine | 24:17 |
| Sylwia Tokarska | 25:36 |
| Deirdre Coombs | 25:49 |
| Jason Herridge | 25:54 |
| Liam Cumber | 25:57 |
| Brian Davis | 27:43 |
| Richard Dyer | 28:26 |
| Kevin Whitby | 28:27 |
| Trudi Curd | 37:44 |
Ashford:
Jane Wren – 24:05
Alan Randall – 24:45
Reigate Priory
Beth Jago – 27:52
Dartford Heath
Caroline Curtis – 25:24
Kingston Park
John O’Hara – 25:46