It was hard to know where to look at the weekend with action across the country over various distances, and hard to keep up with all the news as social media was awash with stories of some impressive performances and a bag full of PBs.
We’ll start on our doorstep with the Wolverhampton 10k which started and finished inside Molineux. There was a very comfortable win for local legend Omar Ahmed who crossed the line in a rapid 29.23. James Neilson was first back for the club in 32.49, taking 1st U20, Ben Foster was 19th in 35.57, Paul Rogers was 1st V55 and 57th overall on 38.59, Lee Wright was 114th in 40.49, Simon Calrow was 294th in 43.01 taking the 2nd M65 prize, Stephen Green was 360th in 47.43, and Niamh Young was 347th in 46.14.
There was more 10k action at Fradley near Lichfield for their 2 lap road race where Alex Blair set a huge PB coming home in 8th place in 34.34, Dylan Illidge was 14thin 35.35, Alex Kelly was 19th in 36.06, Brett Robinson was 81st in 41.12, Mark Illidge placed 129th in 44.18, Emily Simmonds placed 139th in 44.20, Vanessa Landreau Barnes finished in 48.11 for 213th place and Mark Perry stopped the clock in exactly 50.00 to take 270th position.
There was some super-fast action at the Pullford 10k in Cheshire where the first fifteen men ducked under 30 minutes, and the first twelve ladies were finished under 34 minutes, absolutely top class. Tony Cheema was first back in 247th place in 37.38, Ashley Atkinson, after a mad rush to get to the start, got to the finish equally quickly in 37.58 to take 261st place, Lucie Tait-Harries was a whisker away from a sub 39 time in 39.08 taking 1st F50 and 305thoverall, Sabrina Thomas ran her 3rd fastest lifetime 10k in 40.57 in 352nd place and Dave Norman was 391st in 44.16.
There was a good crowd at the ever-popular Stafford Half Marathon where Ben Pilsbury placed 88th in 1.25.50, Sundeep Sunar was 126th in 1.28.06, two Rob Edwards were in attendance, one placing 313th in 1.38.07, and the other placing 329th in 1.38.26 and Ian Thursfield was 690th in 1.49.47. There were fun and games on the Ironbridge Half Marathon where Darren Owen-Jones donned a full Elvis suit, including quiff to run the course with his daughter Megan in memory of his father who passed away after a long illness recently. The time was irrelevant, the action was what was important. Sarah Thurley, who has recently returned to the club, was 81stand 7th female in 1.39.52.
There was action over 20 miles too as a couple put some finishing touches to their marathon training, Luke Maskew took part in the prestigious Hillingdon 20 coming home in 15th place in 1.57.45. And in the Ashby 20 Dan Turner placed a superb 4th in 1.55.35. It appears that Carl James also ran from Strava finishing in 2.22 but there is no mention of him in the results.
Finally, our younger brigade were in action at the London Mini Marathon Trials Stourport, racing for qualification to represent the area in April on the Saturday before the London Marathon takes over the streets of the capital. There was a 3rd place finish for Rocco Hawley in 8.31, Theo Ulfig was 6th in 8.35, Harry Monkton 7th in 8.36, Nahum Worrall 11th in 9.22, Seb Palmer 12th in 9.27 in the U13 boys trial race. In the U15s boys race there was a 4thplace finish for Fred Jones in 8.06, Will Hughes was 6th in 8.11, and in the girls event Grace Hendy placed 5th in 8.59. In the U17s boys race Jack Stockton placed 3rd in 7.48 and Megan White placed 4th in 8.59 in the U17 girls event.
Dave Norman
