Great South Run 10-miler produces great times for Hastings Runners
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On the weekend that torch-bearers wearing the green-and-black of Hastings Runners got the bonfire celebrations started, 16 other club members entered the famous AJ Bell Great South Run – the 10-mile road race through Portsmouth which was enjoying its 36th iteration since launching in 1990.
Bright sunshine tempered a cold north-easterly wind as three of the club’s strongest runners all recorded superb times in a busy field of 5,224. MV40 Adam Weller was fastest in 1:03:38 (his placing of 328th indicative of the strength of the field comprising runners from all over the country). Close behind him, a stellar run by MV50 Stuart Johnstone saw him cross the line in 1:03:59 with MV45 Leo Cacciatore not much further back in 1:06:27. The club’s quickest women on the day were FV35 Lindsey Jones (1:29:31), FV50 Su Sparkes (1:45:46) and FV65 Sue Alabaster (1:46:09).
Further east, three of the 16 Hastings Runners at the Hove Prom 10k registered Personal Best times behind the club’s fastest finisher MV40 Simon Newstead who placed 49th in a fine time of 40min 13sec.
Behind Newstead in the seafront course for the penultimate Sussex Grand Prix event of the year, the other PBs among the green-and-blacks were registered by MV45 Jimmy Elford, who placed 71st of over 450 entrants in 42:08; FV35s Hannah Eyre-Weeks 46:40 and Rachel Gower 63:13.
There were also impressive finishes for MV45 Simon Linklater (42:45) and MV60 Andy Knight (48:26) as well as for FV65 Xiulan Han (50:31) and MV50 Gerard Witham (52:54).
A little closer to home up the A21, FV40 Claire Thomas was the woman to the finish in the Bedgebury 10k – placing 12th overall of 245 in a rapid time of 48:36. Meanwhile, in the Bedgebury Half Marathon, Senior Male Patrick Bermingham placed 36th of 206 in a time of 1:47:46.
One of the club’s ultra specialists, Pete Heasman, took it relatively easy by “warming up” for the Amsterdam Marathon in the city’s 7.5k race alongside Sarah Heasman the day before. Then, at the main event 24 hours later, he crossed the line in 4hr 49min. Had he not been in the Netherlands, Pete would almost certainly have joined club-mate Joe Cruttenden as he tackled the Centurion Autumn 100-miler. Sadly, Cruttenden had to withdraw injured after 60 miles...
Finally, at the Bilbao Night Run Half Marathon, Kieran Price clocked 2:02:03 and David Fletcher 2:29:29.
Hastings Runners welcomes new members of all abilities aged 12 and over for fun, training and competitive running. Visit https://hastingsrunners.co.uk