THE EDGEHILL Half-Marathon attracted five Stratford Athletic Club runners, each of whom produced committed and creditable performances.
The half-marathon starts and finishes on the lawns of Compton Verney, winding its through the villages of Kineton, Little Kineton and Radway before a challenging climb of Pittern Hill after 11.5 miles.
Kate Wright added another first placed woman prize to her collection with an impressive effort.
She said: “I have competed in this race three times and happily been able to improve my time each year (2012 – 1:28.10; 2014 – 1:25.01; 2015 – 1:24.59). For me it’s not a fast course, which is strange because there is only one big hill. It’s a great, low key, local race and features nice, quiet country roads.
“I entered this event to try and get a bit of speed back into my legs after my Man v Horse race experience.”
Despite not quite hitting his pre-race target, Simon Penson was pleased with his run.
He concluded: “I was hoping to beat 1:30 but wasn’t too disappointed as it was another personal best for me. I like the course as it’s local to me and the start and finish at Compton Verney is lovely.
“I am looking forward to the Bristol Half-Marathon and then the Purbeck Marathon in September. I might try to squeeze another half into my training for the Purbeck.”
A well paced run from Charlotte Potgieter enabled her to record a highly satisfactory result. Charlotte put her renowned 10km speed to good use and was then able to dig deep in the final few miles.
Neil Robertson’s finishing time was just outside his best for this race.
He said: “I have run this half every year since it started in 2012 and this was just outside my best on the course. I have been trying to maintain my fitness after running the London Marathon earlier in the year and will now focus on shorter distances for the rest of the year to improve my speed.”
Half-marathon expert John Butler ran strongly and with intelligence as he managed to find an extra gear in the home straight, cheered on by the crowd.
The race winner was John Cheetham from Stragglers Running Club in Kingston-upon-Thames. His time was 1:16.11.
Stratford results: Kate Wright – 6th, 1:24.59 (1st woman); Simon Penson – 17th, 1:30.23; Charlotte Potgieter – 100th, 1:54.26; Neil Robertson – 129th, 2:08.00; John Butler – 148th, 2:16.52.
