From Nottingham to Berlin
The start of autumn brings with it a short marathon and half marathon season, and, for runners at LERC, the target race for this time of year is often the local Robin Hood marathon or half. 2012 brought with it some considerable changes to the organisation of the event, as the marathon distance was scrapped due to logistical problems, while the half marathon course was changed from previous years, becoming flatter in profile and also taking in the delights of the Boots campus in Beeston.
An incredible 43 LERC members hit the roads and were rewarded with some excellent placings and a crop of pbs and performances of which all the participants can be proud. Of the men, Andy Peat, as has become his custom in recent months, ran a superb race to record a pb of 72:39 and a 14th place overall, while Andy McNeill, now approaching top form in the M45 age group, took 23rd in 74:21, enough for a magnificent 1st in his age group.
Also performing admirably was Natalie Teece, who’s pb (yet another for this year) of 85:15 saw her finish a brilliant 5th in the women’s race. Meanwhile, Jackie Mather took 2nd in the F50 category with her superb 97:45. In truth, the number of LERC vests flying round the course was a sight to behold, with the new course allowing for an astonishing number of personal best performances. There were a total of 19 new pbs recorded, with, in addition to Andy and Natalie, Anthony Batty, Richard Howe, Mick Sharp, Anthony Carbutt, Rob Allen, Pete Webb, Chris Garratt, Ian Grummitt, John Tilling, John Oleshko, Dan Barrett, Kevin Barry, Dawn Blatherwick, Carrie Chan, Karen Preston, Leanne Smith, and Melissa Shaw all running faster over 13.1 miles than they ever had before, and by some margin in a number of cases. Of course, it’s not all about pbs, and everyone certainly looked to be ‘enjoying’ their running on the day.
Elsewhere, in the more exotic surroundings of Berlin, Jodie Smith and Sarah Kuehne took on the challenge of one of the world’s most iconic full marathons. Inspired by the German roads, Jodie ran a huge pb of 3:32:50, while Sarah, making her debut over the marathon distance as an LERC member, ran 4:30:27.
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