Siggy's Speedy Shorts 7th - 13th April

“Mo” is for Motivation, Mobot and Mo Farah

This was the week of the biggest annual running event in the UK, with much excitement and speculation as to who would win the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday, 13th April.  With a strong field for both elite male and female competitors, it was always going to be a challenge for much-loved and respected British runner Mo Farah to make headlines.  On the day, Wilson Kipsang won the men’s race in 02:04:29, breaking the course record, and Edna Kiplagat won the women’s race in 02:20:21.  Mo Farah came 8th in 02:08:21 – a very respectable time for someone who has switched from being a 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion to being an elite marathon-runner – a very different kind of racing.

More about the VLM later, but first to the weekly round-up of the achievements of PWR parkrunners:

Bromley parkrun is up and running again, and with the ground firming up and the weather getting a little warmer, 7 PWRs achieved new PBs, as shown below.  In addition to this, Alan Niblock came 4th at Shorne parkrun in a PB time of 19:29 and Suzy Capella set a new PB at Great Lines parkrun, which is directly next to Medway hospital (just in case…).  Well done guys!  There was also a bit of parkrun tourism, with David Allison deciding to run somewhere unpronounceable.

Bromley parkrun:
5 Simon Dahdi 00:18:09 – New PB!
19 David Mason 00:19:35 – New PB!
20 Paul Leng 00:19:36
21 Cliff Barnett 00:19:36 – New PB!
26 Andrew Breese 00:19:44
30 Stuart Scott 00:20:15
59 George Howell 00:21:26 – New PB!
61 Robert White 00:21:29
66 Kathryn Suckling 00:21:42
70 Viral Tanna 00:21:54 – New PB!
94 Alex Neocleous 00:22:36
113 Martin Cunningham 00:23:14
118 James Roberts 00:23:20
159 Vera Simms 00:24:44 – New PB!
164 Vassilis Sakizlis 00:24:51 – New PB!
184 Ray Sievey 00:25:22
188 Mark Doyle 00:25:34
207 Chris Summers 00:26:23
231 Joe Lenane 00:27:31

Greenwich parkrun:
7 Jamie Fernandes 00:20:38
13 Rob Laing 00:21:25
50 Sonja Laing 00:24:53

Crystal Palace parkrun:
125 Anne Potter 00:34:24

Orpington parkrun:
50 Ka Sing Tung 00:26:31
59 Fiona Abiola-Musa 00:27:38
82 Wendy Tung 00:29:35

Llyn Llech Owain parkrun:
33 David Allison 00:27:10

Shorne Woods parkrun:
4 Alan Niblock 00:19:29 – New PB!

Great Lines parkrun, Medway:
122 Suzy Capella 00:34:44 – New PB!

Reigate Priory parkrun:
103 John O’Toole 00:27:50
111 Nicholas Philpot 00:28:30


Marathon madness!
OK, so more about the Virgin London Marathon.  22 PWRs spent the last 4 months or so training in pretty challenging weather conditions – rain, wind, cold – for what is arguably the most famous marathon in the world (OK, so New York and Boston marathons might also claim that accolade) – and what did they get on the day? Glorious sunshine, a gentle cooling breeze – at least to start with – and not a drop of rain.  For some, it was perfect running weather, for others possibly a tad warm, but given what we could have had, we can’t complain.

To give a flavour of the atmosphere, there was the usual buzz of excitement on Blackheath at the start.  It was quite chilly but sunny, and if you stood in the sun, you could feel its warmth.  The queues for the portaloos were massive, as ever, but time passed quickly and any pre-marathon nerves eased if you decided to chat with the person in front of or behind you.  There was a notable cooling breeze for the first few miles of the marathon, but that breeze became less noticeable the closer you got to central London.  However, for much of the marathon it was possible to find a shady patch of road to run along.  Water was plentiful en route, and if you didn’t bring enough gels, many of the thousands of supporters handed out jelly-babies to help you keep your energy levels up.  The support was unbelievable and once you came out of the underpass for the last 3 miles of the race (only a parkrun to go…), the noise from supporters was almost deafening.

22 PWRs enjoyed and suffered the ups and downs of the VLM, some achieving PBs and good for age times for next year’s event.  However, as anyone who has ever run a marathon knows, the times are very individual and depend on many factors, including age, experience, whether you’re running it to get a good time for you or just wanting to enjoy the atmosphere and vibe of the event.  Just completing a marathon is an achievement in itself, with most runners having to battle fatigue and pain at some point during it. 

The VLM would not be the amazing event it is without the supporters, and PWRs did not disappoint on that level, either.  There were shouts of support from PWRs from the beginning right to the very end, with the usual PWR flags and groupies gathered just before and on Tower Bridge.  Some PWR supporters appeared and re-appeared at various points en route, almost completing a marathon themselves.  The shouts of support were invaluable to the runners, giving a much-needed boost.  So – to runners and supporters alike: thank you and well done!

Unfortunately, one runner, 42-year-old Robert Berry, collapsed and died just after crossing the finish line.  This will be upsetting news for anyone, particularly fellow runners, and our thoughts are with Robert’s family at this time.

Below are the results of PWRs who completed the VLM, with many raising much-needed funds for several charities – again, well done, guys!

 

Men’s Results:
Brian O’Connor 02:51:49
Simon Bryant 02:52:44
Oliver Hitch 03:13:48
Steve Jeffrey 03:27:50
Johnny Gill 03:47:04
James Gibson 04:00:52
Robert Fisher 04:02:31
David Fordyce 04:08:40
James Macdonald 04:27:22
Mark Bentley 04:41:05
Richard Dunstan 04:59:04
Jonathan Hummerson 05:31:41

Ladies’ Results:
Rebecca Cawley 03:31:17
Hannah Roberts 03:36:16
Jenny Leng 03:39:13
Jane Branch 03:41:29
Sigrid Robson 03:47:34
Paula Dimond 03:53:40
Alison Macowan 04:03:56
Suzanne Croft 04:47:55
Sherry Bevan 05:33:27
Jane Thomas 05:43:49

So, again, that’s all, folks!  Sorry for the delay in getting this report out, but there were quite a few results to look up!  Happy running and happy resting if you’ve done the VLM.