It was a busy weekend for athletes from Wolverhampton & Bilston AC as races started to catch up with themselves and the club had representation across the country.
Young and old travelled to London to take part in the London Marathon and the mini (fun size?) marathon. The kids got it over with quickly covering the 2.6k course from Temple Place to The Mall in around double figures, some just under and some just over, all pulling on the West Midlands vest and claiming regional representation. Owen Ulfig was fastest over the course in the U15 races in 8.19 coming 84th, Fred Jones clocked 8.29 to come 104th in the U13s, Isobelle Jones (U15) ran 8.55 to place 47th, Samuel Thursfield (U13) clocked 9.18, Scarlett Williams (U15) 9.19, Ronni Read (U13) 10.03, Zena Asbury (U15) 10.16 and Megan White (U15) 10.25.
It was an interesting watch on the tracker app experiencing the virtual battles between athletes and the course over the marathon distance in London with Jack Pickett finishing in 295th place in 2.38.12, Pravesh Patel was on for a sub 2.30 time but went through a world of pain to finish in 2.53.49 in 1324th, Tony Cheema recorded a 20 minute PB with 3.10.45, Rob Edwards clocked 3.41.23, Chris Marshall 4.26.07 and Mary Solomon crossed the finish outside Buckingham Palace in 5.12.30.
There was more marathon action in Chester where Rob Cartwright recorded a debut 2.58.34 to take 71stplace, Dave Joynson racked up another marathon finish only 7 days after his last one with 3.08.08 in 118th place, Rob Carrington finished in 4.12.07 and Gillian Mitchell finished in 5.02.10.
And there was action closer to home in the ever popular Market Drayton 10k as their 2020 event, postponed from 18 months ago, finally took place, although this year without the huge tray of yoghurts for every finisher. Lee Pearson was first home for the club in 15th place claiming 1st MV50 in 37.24, Peter McCullagh was 103rd in 44.09, Phil Evans finished in 125th in 44.34 and Nick Beach crossed the line in 47.09 in 197th. Mark Perry finished in 47.53, Craig Buggins in 49.48, Lesley Stamps in 1.04.41, Julia Cooper in 1.04.42, Karen Evans in 1.04.46, Ed Small in 1.06.41 and Julia Condon in 1.07.24. There were rumours that Paul Clarke finished in 42.26, according to Strava, but there is no mention of him or even a 42.26 finishing time in the results. Maybe Wolves have their own ghost runner?
