On beautiful warm and sunny Sunday morning no less then 16 club members rocked up at Cranleigh to take on the 3 lap 21 mile course. With all running either Brighton or London next month this was the last chance to get some good distance training in a race environment before the big day. Spirits and confidence seemed high at the start that was to be shared with a cycling event that was taking place that same morning. As a result the road was closed to traffic for the first 2 miles as we all set off with bikes weaving alongside.
Cranleigh consists of 3 laps, the first a 9 mile anticlockwise loop through the countryside roads heading back into Cranleigh town centre and onto a hilly 6 mile lap which if running the 21 mile option you do a second time just for the hell of it. Being quite near the back of the 26.2 runners I can’t say to much of what was happening up front expect for watching in awe as the front runners came cruising past me at around 13 miles with them on 19 and heading for home. One of those was none other then Jack Holland who looked to me like he was out for a stroll as he flew past calling out encouragement to us lesser mortals. To say Jack was running well is an understatement as he went on to finish 7th overall in an extremely quick time of 2:13:32. Also running well despite never seeming to make it to training was Dave Maher, who came in 35th position in a time of 2:25:43. Also finishing in under 3 hours were Richard Goulder and Simon Gerrard both running extremely well in the warm conditions. A couple to watch, Peter Grecian, suffering the effects of a cold and Neil Parker, still very much wrapped in cotton wool both run good times and I’d expect them to flying come marathon day.
The running romances that appeared to have blossomed at Spitfire 20 the week before looked to have run their course as Natacha appeared to divorce Grant for a much younger model to push on for a strong run finishing close behind Neil and Matthew dumped Libby with only the thought of a beer and Lobsters at the Ram later that evening at the forefront of his mind. Grant again showed that this long distance lark is right up his street and I would say that the prospect of his first marathon being extremely close to 4 hours is a definite possibility.
Meanwhile further back in the pack, Sue Garnish and I were keeping each other company until she powered away at around 18 miles to put in an extremely strong finish. Greg Whiteman was keeping Kevin Furlong company for a while after being caught short and having to find a convenient tree and poor old Andrea was all on her lonesome. Greg put in a spurt late in the race when Kevin stopped with the Chang’s for a quick pit stop and managed to motor past the rest of us to make up some time and is looking good for his challenge of 3 marathons between April and June, good luck Greg.
Many thanks to Joe, Jacq and Jacob for their support at around 11 ½ point, seeing Jacobs smiling face and waves was just what we needed to put a smile on our faces and spur us on. Thanks also to Kevin Parker and Krsytal Newbury for cycling down to cheer us on, having a few people on the sidelines really makes the difference when the pain is setting in. A extra special thanks goes out to Jason Blair who also turned up to support, or was it run, or was it sunbathe, not sure, either way cheers Jason as always you made me smile and for once there are a few of us that can say we actually beat you in a race, albeit by default.
Results as follows:
1 |
407 |
WRIGHT, PAT |
SM |
Tadworth AC |
2:04:40 |
7 |
326 |
HOLLAND, JACK |
SM |
26.2 RRC |
2:13:32 |
35 |
279 |
MAHER, DAVID |
SM |
26.2 RRC |
2:25:43 |
73 |
846 |
GOULDER, RICHARD |
VM40 |
26.2 RRC |
2:38:00 |
124 |
951 |
GERRARD, SIMON |
VM40 |
26.2 RRC |
2:45:08 |
325 |
325 |
GRECIAN, PETER |
VM40 |
26.2 RRC |
3:05:39 |
329 |
890 |
PARKER, NEIL |
SM |
26.2 RRC |
3:06:19 |
338 |
487 |
GOUL-WHEEKER, NATACHA |
SW |
26.2 RRC |
3:07:40 |
357 |
737 |
PRITCHARD, MATTHEW |
SM |
26.2 RRC |
3:09:52 |
367 |
296 |
DAVISON, GRANT |
SM |
26.2 RRC |
3:11:30 |
391 |
300 |
WHITEMAN, GREG |
VM40 |
26.2 RRC |
3:15:30 |
422 |
315 |
MARCHANT, ELIZABETH |
SW |
26.2 RRC |
3:19:18 |
434 |
27 |
GARNISH, SUE |
VW35 |
26.2 RRC |
3:20:04 |
462 |
489 |
STONE, KEVIN |
VM40 |
26.2 RRC |
3:24:02 |
479 |
367 |
BENNETT, ANDREA |
VW45 |
26.2 RRC |
3:26:04 |
521 |
327 |
FURLONG, KEVIN |
VM40 |
26.2 RRC |
3:36:00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
584 |
223 |
BURFIELD, JANET |
VW45 |
Unattached |
4:10:50 |
|
|
|
|
|
|