Flora London Marathon
The hot and sunny conditions though good for spectators, were not the best for the long distance running over the marathon distance, although some good times were posted by some of the 19 Long Eaton runners who took part.
By far the best result was by Neil Renault in his first marathon crossed the line in 2:23:44 to finish 19th overall and was also the 6th British finisher!
Another good time was set by veteran Andy McNeil who was in the top 100 with a time of 2:36:50 as when you consider most of the best men and women marathoners from around the world were taking part his position of 97th is a fantastic result.
Runners who were also below 3 hours were Clive Alison (2:57:11), Ian Adkin set a new PB of 2:57:16 and Sean Matthews who sprinted to the line to record 2:59:59! (This sounds better than 3 hours).
First timers for the 26.2 miles were John Hay, Phil Abbott, Jodie Smith and Catherine Rowe, John getting around in 4:02 which with his injury problems before the race was a very good effort. Phil set a very good time of 3:25:42 which is good reward for all the training he has done. Jodie was pleased with her 3:46:50 as it beats her dad's time set a few years ago of 3:57. Catherine set 4:35:11 in her first marathon.
Sarah Graves and Zoe Styring were not only running their first Marathon but also their first races in Long Eaton colours, both set 5:23. Debbie Parker set 4:09 and Barbra Bostock 5:12.
Oldest of the Long Eatoners in the race was Pete Fowles who came home in 6709th place and 74th in his age category of M60 with a time of 3:48:53. Ian Chant (3:09:29) finished before Glen Coleman (3:13:50) and was happy just to finish the marathon as he had suffered many set backs with injuries and had lengthy spells not being able to run.
Andy Colegate (3:12:31) was 1779th, vastly experienced Colin Bostock set 4:14:26, whilst Ultra distance runners John Hammond (4:22:04) and Phil Wallis (3:59:54) decided to do just 26.2 miles rather than the 30-35 mile distance they have been used to recently. Bill Shepherd completed the course in a time only 2 minutes outside his best.
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