Newmarket Joggers well represented in Loch Ness Marathon and Vitality London 10,000, plus plenty more action in other races over the weekend.

Nine Joggers went on a club trip to Inverness, to take part in the Baxter’s Loch Ness Marathon event on Sunday, 28th September. It was a beautiful, cool, sunny day and ideal running conditions.

Leading the Joggers home was Marc Drury (3:20:56, 267th of 4,163 overall, 20th of 422 in M50-59), who put in a great performance, despite recent injury problems. He achieved a negative halfway split of 4m:36s; astonishing on this course, which drops 1,000ft in the first half but climbs a long, steep hill in the second half. His trick was to take it easy in the first 10 miles and race the last 10km. Next came Jon Brooker (3:25:08 PB, 336th, 6th of 135 in M60-69), in his 3rd marathon and first for 7 years, apart from a Zig Zag multi-lap event earlier this year. He took a massive 17 minutes off his PB, gained in this race 13 years ago, and did very well in his age category; he shows no signs of slowing with age. Not far behind was Chris Underwood (3:27:21 PB, 379th, 215th of 1,389 in MS), who was in great form and also gained a marathon PB by 17 minutes. Close together came Mark Geddie (3:56:22 PB, 1,226th, 114th of 422 in M50-59) and Jonathan Ollington (3:56:38 SB, 1,237th, 116th in M50-59), both with very good efforts. It was a 15-minute PB on Power of 10 for Mark, though he may have achieved faster times while living in South Africa. Jonathan was going really well until stomach problems slowed him down after halfway, but he managed to dig in deep. Next came Wendy Ancill (4:09:19 PB, 1,620th, 39th of 279 in F50-59), beating her PB at Edinburgh (2022) by over 18 minutes and posting her best time this year by over 50 minutes; like Mark, she may have achieved a faster marathon time while living in South Africa. Not far behind was Angela Drury (4:21:55 SB, 2,014th, 132nd of 414 in F40-49), who was unlucky to lose about 9 minutes, due to queuing for a toilet stop at about 14 miles. She then flew through the rest of the race and would have had a new PB and a 7-minute negative halfway split if it hadn’t been for the stoppage time. Rob Hawkins (4:28:34 PB, 2,214th, 63rd in M60-69) did well to earn a PB of over 5 minutes in his second marathon and will be encouraged by this result.

In the Baxter’s River Ness 10K, Chris Aylmer (1:09:00, 1,743rd of 2,209 overall, 24^th of 29 in M70+) took a while to get going but made good headway in the last 4 miles.

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Also on Sunday was the Vitality London 10,000 (10km), preceded by the Vitality Westminster Mile on Saturday, both starting and finishing right in front of Buckingham Palace. Eight Joggers were entered for the 10,000 and two of them tried out the Westminster Mile on Saturday: Charlie Spencer (04:48, 12th of 499 overall, 8th of 82 in M18-34, 78.96%) put in a huge run in the mile, representing 1st claim club St Edmund Pacers. Karl Coutts (06:20, 131st, 14th of 27 in M40-44) also did well. Due to his big effort in the mile, Charlie Spencer had to pull up in the 10,000 on Sunday but did record a very decent 5km split of 17:38.

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First Jogger home in the Vitality 10,000 on Sunday was Richard Defries (40:56 SB, 1,055th M of 8,651, 43rd of 830 in M50-54); not quite a PB but a very good result in his age group. He ran with his wife Carol Cienna Carter (40:57 SB, 92nd F of 8,473, 3^rd of 742 in F50-54), who put in a tremendous performance, just 9 seconds short of her PB and way up with the leading female runners. They were followed by Andy Fryatt (42:03 PB, M55-59) beating his previous PB time of 42:53, Karl Coutts (46:10 SB, M40-44) and Francine Dasseville (56:04 PB, F50-54), the latter beating her previous PB by over 3 minutes. Then came Sarah Kinston (1:05:27, F50-54) and Miranda McWade (1:08:50 PB, F60-64), both with very good efforts.

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ROUND UP OF OTHER RACES

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Bure Valley 10M, Sunday, near Aylsham: Mark Hayward (56:08 SB, 4th of 287 overall, 1st of 18 in M40-44) was in top form with his best time this year by 3 seconds.

Sandringham Half Marathon, Sunday, Sandringham Estate: Jeremy Reader (1:51:45 SB,186th of 924 overall, 15th of 47 in M50-54) took around 3 minutes off his best time this year. Jason Beeton (1:36:47, 34th overall, 4th of 62 in M40-44) also did well in his first half marathon this year (representing 1st claim Thetford AC).

Grantchester Charity 10K, Sunday, near Cambridge: Paul Roberts (47:03 SB, 30th of 242 overall, 7th of 24 in M40-49) was first Jogger to finish, from Martin Smith (53:12, 79th of 242 overall, 15th of 24 in M40-49), Bridget Wallwin (56:35, 37th F of 126, 4th of 27 in F50-54) and Colin Almond (1:02:53 SB, 158th, 14th in M50-59), all with big efforts.

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St Nicholas Hospice 10K, Sunday, Bury St Edmunds: Hannah Parsons (46:51 SB, 92nd of 512 overall, 9th F of 240, 1st of 40 in F50-59) was in great form, winning her age group by over 4 minutes. Then came Jo Bouttell (58:24 PB, 104th F, 3^rd of 15 F60-69) with a huge PB of nearly 9 minutes. She has improved so much this year.

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Rauceby Estate 10K, Saturday, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire: Suzanne Bailey (58:52, 36th of 75 overall, 12th F of 33, 1st of 3 in F60-64) was in excellent form and near her best time this year, which was 58:26 in the Marriott’s Way 10K (note the latter didn’t count as a PB on Power of 10 as it was an off-road race, like this race, so a bit confusing. She continues to make steady progress in running and walking events.