THE TWO Castles 10k attracted a field of 3,835, which included 21 keen runners from Stratford Athletic Club.
Rich Shephard continued his run of good form with a seventh placed finish.
He is having a superb year and is making a huge impression on the local sporting scene.
There were many other excellent performances, including an eye-catching 10k debut run by 17-year-old Sam Weaving.
The race was won by Patrick Roddy of Kenilworth Runners in 33.18. The first woman to finish was Joanne McCandless (unattached) in 39.08.
Stratford AC results: Rich Shephard – 7th, 35.07 (chip time: 35:05); Tim Hutchinson – 29th, 37.17 (37.06) 1st place in age group (M45); Graham Taylor – 33rd, 37.41 (37.33); Henry Morrison – 78th, 39.30 (39.08); Sam Weaving – 89th, 39.50 (39.39); Kieran Tursner – 105th, 40.21 (40.12); David Smyth – 107th, 40.27 (40.18); Anthony Howell – 197th, 43.23 (43.01) ; James Deacon – 319th, 45.32 (45.10); David Jones – 391st, 46.28 (46.05); Dave Maundrell – 807th, 51.53 (50.42); Mike Barrie – 816th, 52:03 (50:52); Chris Whateley – 945th, 53.44 (52.33); Maureen Birch – 1031st, 54.33 (53.21); Sally Newman – 1850th, 1:02.31 (1:02.01); Michael Oliver – 2011st, 1:03.53 (59.51); Jane Fradgley – 2045, 1:04.12 (57.29); Suzanne Jones – 2057th, 1:04.17 (58.43); Gill Robinson – 2131st, 1:05.01 (1:00.10); Natasha Watkins – 2882nd, 1:11.39 (1:01.15); Christine Pastrak – 3660th, 1:26.09 (1:17.03).
STRATFORD athletes had a successful day at the Midland Masters Athletics Championships, held at the Pingles Stadium in Nuneaton.
Leading the way was Stratford thrower Peter Coote, who has diversified into sprinting and jumping this season. Peter was ecstatic to set four personal bests.
Competing in the M60 category, Peter started with the 100m. Despite having the athlete in the next lane fall right in front of him, forcing him to check stride and run around him, Peter went under 15 seconds for the first time with a new PB of 14.7.
Preparing for the British Master Pentathlon, Peter then set new PBs in the shot and long jump, before missing out on a PB in the 200m by only 0.2 seconds.
Finally, Peter won the javelin, shattering his Javelin PB by 4 metres.
David Jones competed in both the 5,000m and 1,500m. He was a little disappointed with his time of 21:15.2, having hoped to dip under 21 minutes – a time he was on course to achieve for the first nine laps – before slowing down for the last 1,500m.
Having finished the 5,000m barely 90 minutes before the start of the 1,500m, the latter race was all about beating a Sparkhill Harriers runner who he had beaten narrowly in the recent T&F fixture. By doing this he could get the gold medal.
He was determined not to set off too fast and as such ran a conservative first lap of 97 seconds, upping the pace in trademark fashion for the remainder. David always looked like he had the race at his mercy and crossed the line in a time of 5:45.2, winning his first ever gold medal.
Despite feeling the effects of the Windmill 10k the day before, Phil Brennan ran a faster 5,000m than last year (22:29) to win the M70 title and then retained his 1,500m title despite a tired and slow run (6:17).
THE MAN versus Horse Marathon is an annual race over 22 miles in which runners compete against riders on horseback. The race – a shorter distance than an official marathon road race – takes place in the Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells.
Kate Wright and Lesley Kirk like nothing better than a stern test of their endurance and they relished the opportunity to get stuck into this challenging event.
Kate clocked 3:17.21 to finish 79th, fifth lady and second in the F45 age group, while Lesley recorded 4:06.03 to finish 324th and claim a prize as second in the F55 age group.
The winner of the overall race was Geoff Allen on a horse called Leo in 2:20.46. The men’s winner was Hugh Aggleton in 2:30.35. Lucie Custance won the women’s race in 2:44.41.
HANNAH Spriggs competed in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Liverpool and clocked 3:31.05.
She said of her efforts: “I really enjoyed the race with live bands every mile along the route. My plan was just to enjoy myself, with a sub-four-hour time, having run a big PB in the Shakespeare Marathon.
“I felt good once I got into the race, kept my pace steady and pushed on at the finish. I surprised myself by running a good time!”
