Apologies for the delay in getting this up, it’s been a bit of a hectic week but better late then never. It’s not much of a race report I’m afriad but from my vantage point half way back in the field it’s very difficult to know what was going on.

With spring marathons approaching Cranleigh 15/21 is always popular with those looking for a last long run before their taper kicks in and this year there were 19 hardy souls wondering where last years sunshine had gone as we froze our wotsits off on the start line. Last year the weather was really hot and following the race we all stood around eating ice creams, this year we all stood around feeling as cold as ice creams. but thankfully once we got going the cold wasn’t to bad but it would have been much nicer had the tempreture been above freezing.

Cranleigh is a 2 lap course if you’re doing the 15 mile option consisting of a 9 mile loop followed by a 6 mile loop and for those running the 21 mile option the 6 mile loop is run twice. The grand prix was to be held over the 21 mile distance and with the exception of Natalie Coghlan who was easing herself back into her distance training following a short lay off everyone else was planning on the 21 miles. Unfortunatley Danny Norman had to call it a day at 15 as his back flared up during the race meaning he didn’t feel he should complete the full distance and Krystal Newbury who was suffering with the cold and a tight glute also decided to call it a day at 15 rather then do herself further injury before her big day at Brighton which probably pleased Neil Parker no end as he was out with Krystal for moral support as he has been throughout Krystal’s training so far.

For the rest of us the 21 had varying levels of exspectations and from the word go we all set about runnng our own races and tried hard not be pulled along to quick and bugger our paces up which easier said then done. I spent the first 12 or so miles running with Oliver Webb and as we chatted as the miles ticked by on more then one occasion I had to pull us back a little as were going to quick for our target times but in the end I think we just went with the flow as it felt so comfortable. Ahead of us Luke McDonagh, Mark Weight & Katherine Wilson quickly disappeared from veiw as you’d expect from our vantage point but for a long while we could see Zoe Ashcroft, Steve Ramek, Libby Marchant, Matthew Pritchard, Greg Whiteman & Peter Grecian slowly disappearing into the distance. Natalie Coghlan appeared to be having a good run having the advantage of knowing she would be finishing an hour or so before most of us and although I couldn’t quite see what was going on the results made it quite clear how well evveryone had done. A short way behind Oliver and I were the every steady Mike Gray who always seems to do so well over a distance race, Grant Davison who was running with Caroline Moy-Thomas one of our newest members who is taking on her first ever marathon at London this year. Grant has been her ever faithful training companion over the past few months and despite the fact he was probably chomping at the bit to keep tabs with me and Oliver he kept it steady to see Caroline round for her longest run so far. Just behind Grant and Caroline was Andrea Bennett who has been training so hard this year that she is odds on the beat her Brighton time from last year when she gives London her best shot next month.

Cranleigh is always a good race and this year was no exception as despite the cold the marshals were once again absolutely brilliant. The weather couldn’t quite make up it’s mind as it snowed on and off throughout the morning and I think everyone was only too pleased to get over the finish line and get themslves warmed up and have a nice hot cup of coffee.

Well done to everyone who ran and also a big thanks to all those who turned up to support. Karen Hardy was on hand from start to finish with plenty of encouragement and whilst I didn’t atually see them Chris Coghlan, Kevin Parker, James Thurston Tom Stacey were on hand stading in the cold to give some gentle encouragement after cycling over.

Results are below and have been taken from the provisional results which it seems may have been a little bit out. A few of us have mentioned that their recorded time is actually around 25-30 seconds slower then their actually time but hey ho such is life I suppose. If I have missed anyone out please let me know and we’ll get you added. Updated Grand Prix tables are available in the Downloads section.

 

Pos	Name	Age Cat	Time
	21 Mile
1	Jim Addison (winner)	VM40	2:10:12
30	Mark Weight	SM	2:26:43
31	Luke McDonagh	SM	2:26:43
58	Katherine Wilson	SW	2:33:47
120	Zoe Ashcroft	VW35	2:45:08
181	Steve Ramek	VM40	2:53:19
202	Greg Whiteman	VM40	2:55:27
222	Peter Grecian	VM40	2:58:25
231	Libby Marchant	SW	2:59:43
245	Matthew Pritchard	SM	3:01:35
342	Kevin Stone	VM40	3:10:53
460	Oliver Webb	VW40	3:23:17
465	Mike Gray	VM50	3:24:47
507	Caroline Moy-Thomas	SW	3:31:41
508	Grant Davison	SM	3:31:42
509	Andrea Bennett	VW45	3:31:59
560	Alison Martin (Last Runner)	VW45	4:10:12
	15 Mile
4	Danny Norman	SM	1:36:04
74	Natalie Coghlan	SW	2:10:57
162	Krystal Newbury	SW	2:43:37
163	Neil Parker	SM	2:43:37