London-bound Dave books place with superb run in Milton Keynes
ASMALL contingent of Almost Athletes headed for Milton Keynes’ annual marathon weekend.
Over the full 26.2-mile distance on Bank Holiday Monday, Dave Mcgrath led the club home in 3:34:27, earning himself a Good for Age qualification for next year’s London Marathon.
Also running were Steve Taylor (4:16:41) and marathon man Allan Green (4:46:57); as well as Ingrid Harris, who finished second in her age category in 3:54:36.
Also in Milton Keynes, the “Rocket 5k” on Sunday saw Sam Wizard (22:24), Mark James (26:46), Natalie Wizard (30:30), and Vicki James (33:38) take part
The half marathon on Monday saw Elliot Jordan first home for the club in 1:37:07, while Steven Wood earned himself a PB in 1:42:59.
Mark and Vicki James pulled double duty for the weekend, finishing together in 2:46:06; and also doubling up were Sam and Natalie Wizard, who took on the marathon relay as part of a team of four, finishing in 3:47:58.
Further afield, Tristan and Helen Motteram continued their quest to run all of the European capital marathons, by running the Prague Marathon, in fancy dress on a hot and very humid day, in 5:41:49 and 5:41:50 respectively.
Ian Poole completed the Ellicott City 10k in Maryland, USA, finishing 12th and second in age category in 50:27.
Lizzie Renn was in Scotland competing in the Ultra X Scotland 110km event, finishing the tough two-day event, which involved 3,513m of elevation, in a time of 15:25:06, coming fourth in her age category and 27th overall.
Dave Nelson was also in Scotland, for the Run Scotland Strathclyde Spring 10km event in Strathclyde Park, Motherwell, and he overcame a stomach bug to get around the course in 1:18:59.
Victoria Willoughby and Heather Smith took part in the AJ Bell Great Birmingham Run Half Marathon, finishing in 1:57:38 and 2:33:31 respectively; while Matt Jones took part in the Marlborough Downs Challenge, finishing the 33-mile trail race in 6:43:33.
A number of club members took part in the virtual Wings For Life World Run, which involves running as far as possible before the virtual “catcher car” catches up with you.
Prashanth Sripathi completed 9.33km; while Sheila Chatterley, Pauline Bargus, Karen Gomm, Jeanette Gullick, Chaweewan Hartley, Claire Cook and Dave Davey took part as a team, raising money for spinal research.
Johnny Rea competed in the men’s doubles event at Hyrox London, finishing in 1:07:50.
Parkruns saw 31 different events with a purple presence, with notable results for Ray Pearson and Ellie Haile, who achieved course PBS at Severn Bridge (Ray) and Tamworth Castle Grounds (Ellie).
Furthest travelled were Adele Steptoe and Tim Perkins, who ran at Futakotamagawa in Tokyo, with Adele achieving first in her age category, while Chris Mcmahon ran his fastest event of the year at Gloucester City.