With not a great deal on the calendar during the quiet few weeks between the end of the cross-country season and the start of the road relays there was little action from athletes from Wolverhampton & Bilston AC, but not a weekend goes by without someone pulling on the vest.
Five runners went out to the four points of the compass to compete and returned home with some impressive times and some medals and t shirts to show for it.
Chris Apperley went east to take part in the Cambridge Half Marathon, as a Cambridge University graduate it was back to his old stomping ground and a chance to re-tread familiar roads. Unfortunately, a tweaked adductor at mile 6 meant the later part of the race wasn’t as swift as he had hoped and he finished by limiting the damage to record a time of 1.49.19 in 3683rd place.
Tony Cheema travelled south to take part in the Warwick Half Marathon as part of his Boston Marathon build up. On a relatively flat course around the racecourse he was able to cross the line in 1.28.48 to take 81st position and come away confident that the marathon training is going to plan.
Dave Joynson and Gillian Mitchell ventured west to Telford to take part in the Groundhog Marathon, named as it is always held on the closest Sunday to the 2nd February, Groundhog Day in the USA. Rather than the usual 26 mile tour around the streets this involved traversing 106 laps of the track, and potentially going dizzy. Dave finished in a time of 3.16.10 to take 6th place with Gill crossing the line in 5.22.40 in 37th position.
And Ben Pilsbury travelled north to Oulton Park in Cheshire to compete in a half marathon around the motor racing circuit. Not quite as quick as the touring cars or the formula 3 beasts that usually race around the track, Ben still managed the fastest half of the weekend finishing in 1.24.25 to take the 3rd V40 place and place12th overall.
