Race summary 22nd and 23rd May

Race summary 22nd and 23rd May

Those of us of a certain age can remember the long, hot summer of 1976. Endless months without rain, parched grass, searing heat, cats trapped in melted road tar and beer less than 20p a pint. Halcyon days. And so a touch of that maddening heat affected racing in the middle of May this year. In the Matlock AC organised White Peak Half and Full Marathons held on the former Peak District railway lines and now the Tissington and High Peak Trails, temperatures approached 30 C in the cuttings as the heat reflected off the limestone trail. Duncan Gedge, relieved only to be running the half distance was a 114th in a fine 1:59:54. Meanwhile in the Full Marathon, Dicky Wilkinson struggled to match recent race performances despite leading the race between 6 and 19 miles with over a minute lead before succumbing to cramp but rallied in the last 4 miles to finish in 3:21:58 and 5th place and 1st V50.

In similar heat, Sharon Orridge was back in racing form in the Coventry Half Marathon with a superb win and an overall position of 24th in 1:26:33.

Brothers Darren and Steven Pyefinch added an international race to the clubs results by making their debut over 26.2 miles by travelling to Latvia and tackling the Riga Marathon. In temperatures close to 30 C the boys ran together for 262nd and 263rd positions for a superb 3:54:23 in extreme conditions. Well done, fellas.



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