FAST TIMES AND STEADY STRIDES

ESSEX 20

The club had a great turnout at the Essex 20, with plenty of runners taking on the challenging 20-mile course as part of their spring marathon training. The Essex 20 takes runners across an open, windy airfield. Conditions were blustery, making the 20 miles even more challenging

First home for the club was Matt Thomas, who ran an excellent 2:08:24. This was a planned and controlled training effort for Matt.

James North was next across the line in 2:16:04, taking a superb 9 minute PB from the last time he ran the race two years ago.

Luis Betancourt Canas followed with a strong 2:21:53, an incredible 18 minute course PB on last year.

The leading women’s performance came from Karen Pickering, who finished in 2:25:30, a run that also earned her County Silver in the V40.

Using the race as part of her training was Rachael Roughan who ran well in 2:35:07.

Mark Darling also treated the race as a steady training run, finishing in 2:57:09.

Ross Kemble executed his pacing plan perfectly to finish in 3:10:16, exactly on schedule.

Emily Bentley and Sam Wolton ran together, finishing in 3:15:45 and 3:15:46 respectively.

Amy Harmon crossed the line in 3:38:35 and Andrew Livermore in 3:40:58, both using the race as a step in their preparations for the Brighton Marathon.

Penny Clarke completed the course in 4:10:07.

Running on her birthday, Jenny Smith, who recently ran the Seville Marathon, was using the race as part of her build-up to the London Marathon. With a plan to run 16 miles, she was pleased to tick that off.

John Warne ran 12 of the 20 miles, his longest run so far this year, in 2:39:49.

Also at the event, Vikki Suett took part in the accompanying 10K race, running an excellent 37:41 to take 1 minute 30 seconds off her personal best and finish 2nd lady overall.

BARCELONA MARATHON

Opting for sunnier weather Paul Hinsley headed to Spain to take part in the Barcelona marathon.

Paul struggled from 19 miles but still finished with an impressive time of 3:54.