Spring marathon season is in full swing and this week it was the turn of the Manchester Marathon. Over the past few years, this marathon has been very popular with Folkestone Running and Athletic Club members and this year was no exception. Many runners, who have been training hard since Christmas (quite a few running their first ever marathon) made their way the 280 miles across the country to the start line. After a tough second half, Nick Bryant was the first Folkestone runner back in a time of 3:08:47 but he just about hung on for a 44 second PB. Next in were Rob Hill 3:26:16 and Greg Dixon 3:34:10. Dave Bowerman was the next back in a time of 3:41:35, smashing his previous time by 27:19 in his second ever marathon. After targeting a sub 4 hours marathon Dave’s Fitbit died after just 10 miles so he had to run pace blind which he says “probably urged me to run faster than I planned.” Vicky Scott ran a fantastic race with a new PB in 3:43:21 followed by Jason King 3:47:41, Stuart Erskine 3:47:46 and Ron Bell who ran a 17 min PB in 3:51:04. In their first marathons Thomas Aspinall, Phil Haines and Ian Vousdan ran in 3:57:34, 4:20:01 and 4:21:57 respectively. Darren Philip ran the course in 4:26:12 and Dominic Shepherd achieved a new PB in a time of 4:34:36. Another first time marathoner, Sonia Markwell completed the course in 4:45:19 and Becky Newton 4:46:22 and Paul Hannay 4:54:27 also completed the race on a very busy, and enjoyable day for all.
While others were running around Manchester, 2 Folkestone Running and Athletic club members ran the Kent Spring Half Marathon on the country lanes between Ashford and Charing. The weather was sunny, with hardly any wind and the route definitely had its ups and its downs. There were three beastly hills – one of which the runners had to run up twice, which made Remembrance Hill seem like a walk in the park. This was Carrie Thomas’ first race since the Folkestone 10K in May 2023 and she was aiming for a 1 hour 58 minute time. All her training runs had been between 2.10-2.13, so she was elated to hit 1 hour 54 minutes and 56 seconds! Running down the final hill towards the finish, with the cheers of family and “Defying Gravity” screaming in her ears (on bone induction ear-phones so as not to break any rules), Carrie caught up with a man who she had been racing for a lot of the race. Also running the race was Martin Salmon who completed the race in a time of 1:42:11
This weeks parkruns:
Ashford parkrun
Henry Axon came in in third place overall in a time of 18:00, with Anna Thomsen the third woman in a time of 22:45. Also running were Joshua Pine 21:54, Amy Owen 29:25 and Maria Chapman 33:11
Milton Keynes parkrun
Andrew Fletcher, 20:28
Southwark parkrun
Jacob Henwood, 24:05
Pegwell Bay parkrun
Martin Salmon 20:59
Walmer and Deal Seafront parkrun
Elizabeth Tew 32:57
Squerryes Winery parkrun
Julia Henwood 33:19
Alexandra parkrun, Moss Side
Alan Randall 28:53, Ron Bell 28:54, Jane Wren 29:51
Rothay Park parkrun
Sylwia Tokarska 27:24
Zuiderpark parkrun, Den Haag
Deborah Jeffery was the third woman back in a time of 21:15
Danehy Park parkrun
Andrew Noble 23:33, Lesley Clancy 24:21
Trentham Gardens parkrun
Caroline Curtis 25:17, Brent Parker 37:36
Folkestone parkrun
Simon Ramsay was the first runner back in a time of 17:50, with Prakash Gurung coming in in second place in a time of 18:03. Nikki Goodwin was the first lady back in a time of 21:46, with Hazel Green the third lady in a time of 23:03. Also running were: Harry Wall 18:31, Krzysztof Klidzia 18:54, Tristan Bruce 19:45, Ian Merrick 19:47, Matthew Appleby 22:16, David Weekes 22:19, Darren Crew 22:25, Anh-Van Whitby 23:22, Tomas Lane 23:39, Kevin Whitby 24:07, Miles Gawthorp 24:09, Martin Murray 24:29, Jason O’Callaghan 24:30, David Botting 25:33, Anthony Scott 26:00, Philip Maull 26:07, Deirdre Coombs 26:48, Tim Warren 26:53, Anthony Leyton-Thomas 27:07, Kirsty Gardiner 27:35, Levi Atwell 27:37, Richard Fowles 29:29, Philip Bridges 29:30, Diane Parsons 29:43, Brian Davis 29:44, Julie Gibbs 30:01, Roisin Bunt 30:22, Debbie Fowles 30:25, Trudi Curd 30:25, Trevor Devooght 30:27, Neil Adams 30:27, Roy Atkins 30:29, Ben Hancox 30:36, Jody Stoakes 30:40, Rachel Smith 30:42, Linnaea Stockall 30:45, Hayley Turrell 31:36, Lisa Smith 34:49, Kate Lancefield 34:50, Angela Warren 39:21