Sunset Marathon, Saturday 12th June: Ruth Eberhardt put in a superb effort in the Sunset Marathon, which started in Wells-next-the-Sea and followed the Norfolk Coast Path westwards, all the way to Snettisham on The Wash. In a field of 48 competitors, she came 12th overall and was 1st of 14 female finishers in a time of 4:59:11, covering well over the marathon distance at 27.8 miles, according to her watch. Ruth’s marathon PB is 3:57:34 in the VLM 2019, but this was so much harder than a road marathon. All those participants with an official road marathon PB took at least an hour longer in this race.
Starting at just after 3:30pm, Ruth had to navigate her own way and endure the full heat of the afternoon sun, running much of the way on energy draining sandy beaches, or crossing over banks of sand dunes. She soon realised she would need to slow down and pace herself very carefully in the heat to avoid severe fatigue. The fun challenge was to try to reach Snettisham before sunset, which would occur at approximately 9:15pm, with the actual race finishing at midnight. In the end, Ruth arrived at the finish by 8:30pm, so had plenty of time to spare for taking some lovely sunset photographs.
Snettisham Sunset: Above left: Going down; Above Right: Nearly gone.
City of Norwich Half Marathon, Sunday 13th June: Five Joggers took part in this popular annual road race. New member Jonathan Pye, formerly of Cambridge Triathlon Club, was first to finish in 1:29:47, 74th of 841 runners overall. His PB stands at 1:18:39 in the Cambridge Half Marathon 2018, according to Power of 10, so every chance he can build on this performance, following the unprecedented interruption by the Covid-19 pandemic. Next came Clive Purbrook (1:57:30, 386th), his best half marathon time this year, so maybe a good entry for the June multi-choice race. Unfortunately, neither age nor gender categories are shown in the official results; just time and overall positions. Clive was followed by Jeremy Reader (2:26:56) and Jan Holmes (2:36:19), both taking longer than they would normally expect. Jeremy had been running with his wife Emma until she sadly had to pull out after 5 miles. Then he completed the course on his own, while Emma courageously walked back to the start/finish area, declining any lift. Jan developed a leg injury after 3 miles but bravely managed to hold out at a slower pace until the finish.
Jeremy and Emma Reader at the City of Norwich HM
Sublime Peterborough Midsummer’s 10K, Sunday 13th June: Chris Aylmer took a chance on this 10K event as NJ Grand Prix double-points wild card, clocking 1:00:53 (607th of 892 overall, 6th of 10 in M70); not the hoped-for sub 60, but an improvement on all the virtual 10K attempts over the past year or so. The route was more or less flat apart from a couple of bumps around halfway. The weather was bright sunshine, though thankfully, a very reasonable 17°C at the 9:00am start, with some breeze and tree shade during the race. Later that day it reached 26°C.
Relaxing at the cafe after the Sublime Midsummer’s 10K race, looking out to Gunwade Lake in Nene Park.
Grand Prix Latest: After the results of the first multi-choice race in May, Ruth Bell now leads the NJ Women’s Grand Prix on 240 points from Ruth Eberhardt (188) and Helen Wass (186). The large lead is mainly due to Ruth Bell choosing her May half marathon race as her Grand Prix wild card, which gave her double points. In the NJ Men’s Grand Prix, Paul Holley still holds a solid lead on 264 points from Jimmy Smith (250) and Stuart Sowerby (218). There will be trophies for the top three places. We are expecting to receive the results of the June Kevin Henry race very soon. Please see the latest tables at the following links:
NJ Grand Prix TOP TEN 2021 Jun 5
NJ Men’s Grand Prix 2021 Jun 5th
NJ Women’s Grand Prix 2021 Jun 5