THE IRREPRESSIBLE Kate Wright produced a stunning performance at the Brighton Marathon, renowned for its buzzing atmosphere and roaring crowd support against the stunning backdrop of the sea.
Stratford AC’s Kate was invited to compete as an Elite Athlete by the organisers and, as such, she said she was spoilt at all times, with the cost of her race entry and accommodation being met by race organisers.
Running a marathon is hard enough but having to run it on the hottest day of the year so far only makes it that much harder.
Not that soaring temperatures were ever going to deter Kate from running a superlative time. In completing the course in 3:08.34 she was 13th woman to finish out of 4,813 and also comfortably won her age group by almost ten minutes.
As a result of this performance, Kate has been asked to represent England in the British Masters Athletic Federation Marathon Championships at Chester in October – a richly deserved international call-up.
Two other SAC members also competed at Brighton. Karl Harris (4:17.19) can be very proud indeed of this impressive time, especially considering the hot weather.
Christopher Wilson (5:03.27) was competing in his first marathon. He started the race with the 4:15 race pacer and was doing fine until about the halfway mark when he started to experience severe cramp, which eventually forced him to stop running for a time.
However, with the help of a spectator, Christopher was able to set off again but by mile 18 and with the heat bearing down on him he slowed down.
Despite this, he very much enjoyed running with a view of the sea and also enjoyed the finish along the sea front.
The race was won by Stuart Hawkes in a time of 2:27.36 and the first lady finisher was Helen Davies in 2:42.40.
CADIE HIBBERD likes her spring half marathons in mainland Europe and, having completed the Lisbon Half Marathon just over 12 months ago, she decided to compete in this year’s Budapest Half Marathon.
Although her time of 1:58.25 was just under three minutes slower than Lisbon, she felt sure she ran more than the 13.1 miles as she took the corners wide and also zig-zagged in an attempt to find some shade in the searing heat.
Cadie absolutely loved the race and amazingly, having completed the 13.1 miles, she then ran a further seven miles to give a total of 20 miles in all.
THE 19TH staging of the challenging Chedworth Open Trail 10-Mile race in the heart of the Cotswolds started from Chedworth Village Hall near Cirencester and was run over tracks and woodland paths through the Stowell Park Estate and close to Chedworth Roman Villa.
Three Stratford ladies competed in this event, one of whom, Sarah Odell, described the race thus: “Chedworth Roman Trail race, what a lovely race. Even if it was a little warm! Not much mud this year and the stream was lovely!”
First of the three to finish was Lisa Dallisson in 1:29.05. Lisa finished 128th overall and was tenth in her age group.
Lisa was followed by Sarah (1:33.49 – 181st) and Sally Wilkinson (1:46.04 – 302nd). The race was won by Jack Turner in 1:03.13 and first lady to finish in 21st place was Holly Tugwell in 1:12.36 as 428 runners completed the course.
Reports compiled by David Jones.
