London Marathon dominates as Hastings athletes record fine race times

HASTINGS RUNNERS

Sixteen Hastings Runners completed the London Marathon, with at least three of them achieving personal best times, and around half of them raising funds for charity.

Ashley Vora was the club’s fastest among the 48,000 entrants, crossing the line in the Mall in a PB time of two hours 58 minutes and 51 seconds – supporting Survival International.

The club’s fastest woman was Zoe Habgood running for St Michael’s Hospice in a superb time of 3:13:25. Between them Dave Turner finished in 3:01:20.

There were more fine runs achieved by Richard Towner-Roethe (3:26:53), Kevin Blowers (a PB of 3:28:44) and Danny Firth (3:29:30).

They were followed by Francesco Esposito (4:07:46), Dan Hall (4:09:20), a PB run by Lindsey Jones (4:28:40) in support of Children With Cancer.

Well done, too, to HRs Pete Heasman (4:48:26) in aid of the Sara Lee Trust, Su Sparkes (4:58:54) raising money for Scope, and Sarah Marzaioli, approaching the end of her two-year RNLI 200 challenge (5:00:09).

Darren Owen ran (5:05:24) despite doing so in fancy dress as Big Bird, Matleena Elonheimo clocked 5:09:58, Caz Hall finished in 6:01:40 supporting the Alzheimer’s Society and Lou Cavill endured more hard work than all of the above with her time of 6:16:12.

Hastings Runners salute everyone who ran, those who supported them on the day, and any who ran alongside them in the preceding months as they trained so hard.

Well done, too, to the club’s results complier Andy Knight.

Congratulations also go to HR Malcolm Smith who flew the club’s green-and-black colours at the Rathfinny Wine Estate Half Marathon near Seaford in 2:04:40, placed 35th out of 87 runners.

Hastings Runners welcome new members of all abilities aged 12 and over for fun, training and competitive running.

Visit https://hastingsrunners.co.uk

NEIL JEFFRIES

HASTINGS AC

Hastings AC were lucky to have five athletes at the London Marathon – three who gained precious places through the ‘good for age’ system and two championship places.

Grace Baker ran it for the second time and in a phenomenal 2:49 for 54th place out of 1000s of runners.

Conditions were tough – although there was sunshine it was very cold with a bitter wind which made shadowy sections and tunnels tough and the last 10 miles were agonisingly tough for her.

Baker had set herself a really ambitious goal, and although – as she described it – “falling slightly short of my aim” she said: “I am really proud to have clocked a respectable time of 2hr 49min.

"I was lucky enough to see my family and friends at various points on the course and I cannot thank them enough for the constant encouragement and motivation.”

Jenna Levett ran it for the fourth consecutive year and was happy to achieve her aim of a qualification time for Boston Marathon (3:28:50) She said: “Marathons are super tough, but made easier by seeing friends and family in the crowd, even for a fleeting moment.

“It can be a moment of eye contact or a water bottle handed over, hearing your name, or a cow bell just to know people are rooting for you to reach the end – and that makes that gruelling distance so much more bearable.

“It was a shuffle-jog by mile 24 but was determined to not stop until I had that medal around my neck.”

For HAC endurance coach Rhys Boorman, it was a first London Marathon.

He said: “If you asked me 11 weeks ago that I was going to run my second fastest marathon time in London, I would have laughed at you.

"Last year I did not have a quick enough time to run it. So when I was injured in February I was unsure whether to enter or not. I left it the night before the deadline to enter and thought I would do it for the experience.”

In fact he ran 2:27:42 and placed 107th, exercising perfect pacing and even splits. He said he could see why people were drawn to London as crowds were unlike anything he'd ever witnessed before.

That was echoed by Dave Turner. He wasn't sure whether to run after coming back from an injury early this year but felt he couldn't pass up on the opportunity.

"Luckily my run felt comfortable (except maybe for the last couple of miles!) so I was very happy to finish with a good for age time 3:01:20,” he said.

Lorna Watts also had a fantastic experience – 3:26:09 her time.

It was exciting for club members to follow their clubmates. The HAC clubhouse was opened up for the morning and a TV screened the race.

CHLOE LE FAY

HY AC

After months of gruelling training HY's athletes descended on the London Marathon.

Will Carey was first home in 2:47:12 and Barry Buchanan made his marathon debut in 2:54:32. He was followed by Dylan Bolton in 3:12:05 and Benji Symes in 3:19:15.

Ollie Lockwood ran with the British Heart Foundation in honour of his dad in 3:21:17. Nicky Stiles crossed in 3:39:30, Tom Brampton 3:43:23, Emily Sims 3:46:18, Emma Welch 3:50:23, Jamie Webb 4:10 and Will Elwood in 5:13:52. Sharon Mayhew completed her first marathon in a excellent 4:01:51.

HY AC's junior athletes attended their first Youth Development League match at Sutcliffe Park in Eltham.

For the U15 boys Aiden Larkin competed in the 200m, 800m and shotput, with Zion Okojie in the 1500m, 80m hurdles and long jump.

For the U15 girls Sophie Smith and Lily Peachment ran the 100m. Sophie Smith competed in the 200m with Antalia Cole finishing second for the B team. Antalia and Olivia Collins competed in the 300m, where Antalia came second.

In the 800m Megan Hopkins-Parry finished second in the A race and Daisy Welch won the B race. Kitty Morgan and Ava Morrissy competed in non-scoring events.

The golden girls were back with Isabella Buchanan and Florence Tewkesbury winning their respective A and B races over 1500m.

It’s a good start to the season for her Isabella after a foot injury which meant she wasn't able to qualify to compete in London Marathon's Mini Mile, which took place on the same day.

Ellen Gates and Sophie Smith finished third in their respective A and B 75m hurdles races, with Kitty Morgan and Ellen Gates competing in the high jump.

Megan Hopkins-Parry and Florence Tewkesbury took on the long jump with Layla Harmer and Daisy Welch in the shotput.

Isabella Buchanan and Kitty Morgan threw the discus with Lily Peachment and Antalia (third place) throwing the hammer.

Olivia Collins finished third in the javelin in the A team with and Ava Morrissy second in the B team.

The 4x100m relay team comprised Lily Peachment, Megan Hopkins-Parry, Layla Harmer and Sophie Smith.

The 4 x 300m relay team – Antalia Cole, Daisy Welch, Florence Tewkesbury and Isabella Buchanan – finished third.

For the U13 boys, Henry Sully and Noah Mayhew ran the 75m and 1200m with Tommy Mills and Theo Morton racing the 150m, 800m and long jump.

Henry also competed in the high hump with Noah throwing the javelin. All four took part in the 4x100m relay.

In the U13 girls events, Mia Lennard secured first place for the B team in the 75m and 800m. Jessica Wilson ran the 75m, with Alyssa Cornford and Elsie Harmer in non-scoring events.

Francesca Tarrant ran the 800m and finished third for the B team in the 150m. In the 1200m Amelia Skelton finished second in the A race and Tera Buckland won the B race.

Alissa also took on the 70m hurdles with Tera and Elsie doing the high jump. Francesca and Jessica took on the long jump, Alyssa and Elsie the shot put. Amelia and Mia threw the javelin in the penultimate event of the day.

The day finished with a 4x100m relay run by Jessica, Francesca, Alyssa and Mia.

JENNA FRENCH

HAILSHAM HARRIERS

Hailsham Harriers have taken April by storm.

Head coach Annette Feakes ran the Centurion South Downs Way 50-mile race.

Annette finished the challenging, trail route from Worthing to Eastbourne Sports Park in a time of 9:56:46.

She was supported and encouraged along the route by members from the club on a day that produced blue skies and sunshine. Annette ran to raise funds for the Essex-based mental health charity, Trust Links.

Four Harriers took the long drive to take part in the Manchester Marathon.

Men's club captain Carl Barton finished with a marathon personal best of 3:06:29 as did fellow team-mates Mick Husarz in 3:26:00 and Mark Bassett in 3:26:36, with Andrew Moore completing the Harriers quartet in 4:48:18.

Closer to home at Seaford Beach, Harriers Rob Chrystie, Graham Woolley and Steph Bassett joined 160 runners to compete in the scenic but undulating Seaford Martello Half Marathon organised by Seaford Striders and the Martello Rotary Club.

The tough route took runners along the seafront prom and up on to the South downs. Rob crossed the line in 1:29:56, Graham in 1:38:11 and Steph 2:04:06.

Further afield, Hailsham's ladies’ captain Helen O'Sullivan joined teammate and neighbouring Heathfield Road Runners member David Woollard to run the oldest and most iconic marathon in history - the Boston Marathon (USA).

Both Helen and David had to run qualifying marathon times in 2023 before being accepted.

On Patriots Day in America, they took to the start line on the third hottest marathon day in the event’s 128-year history.

With temperatures in the early 20s, David finished in 3:10:18 and Helen 3:44:13. Helen and David are supportive and encouraging members for both Hailsham and Heathfield and felt very proud on the day to represent their Sussex clubs.

While sharing an experience that will last a lifetime, they both aim to complete the six world major events, London, Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Boston and Chicago.

HELEN O’SULLIVAN