LERC at the Virgin London Marathon
For many runners and non-runners alike, the highlight of the calendar is the Virgin London Marathon, an iconic event at which getting a place on the startline is a something of an achievement. This year’s race took place in largely excellent conditions and saw 16 LERCers make the journey to the capital to cover the 26.2 miles, while a crack support crew of Rob Allen, Nicola Bennett, Kevin Barry’s wife and sons Sally, Rian and Addison, Vicky and Sam Parker, Rachel and Mark Argent, Damian and Ellis Cowlishaw, Charlie Marcer (1st time on the tube!) and Leanne Smith also made the trip. Jane Newbold was down too, supporting LERC and her husband.
Anthony Batty (2:52:47), Paddy Fitzgerald (2:55:37) and new member Gavin Kennedy (2:57:21) all went under the magical 3 hour mark in PB times, while Alan Kay and Natalie Teece narrowly missed hitting that target. In Natalie’s case, her 3:00:27 was a PB by over 7 minutes and placed her 52nd among the women, a magnificent achievement. A place in the UK top 100 marathon runners for 2013 beckons, despite her having, in her own words, a shocking race due to cramps.
Elsewhere there were PBs or course bests for Rich Wilkinson, Phil Abbot, Simon Hardy, Mark Hudson, John Hay, Ian Grummitt, Lee Carnelley and Kevin Barry, while Eddie Mathieson and Paul Milner also ran well. Kevin, Ian, Paul and Phil all raised sums of money for charity, too.
Rich Ferguson also deserves a special mention as, having put his body through a marathon as recently as two weeks ago in Paris, he raced his second marathon in quick succession and managed to get within a couple of minutes of the PB he set in the French capital.
LERC’s marathon attention moves this coming weekend to Manchester, where another contingent of members will hope to match the performances on display in London.
This report was brought to you by deano
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