Victory for Bunting in the South Devon Marathon and PB's in the Thames Path 100
Despite the bleak weather on Saturday morning some tremendous performances were recorded in the Thames Path 100 by Dominc Jones finishing 13th and Lenny Martin 42nd while in the West Country Rebecca Bunting won the South Devon Costal Marathon outright with 3:57.50.
South Devon Costal Marathon, Slapton, Devon, 8.5.21
Rebecca writes “A magnificent course along the South West Coast path from Beesands to East Portlemouth and then inland along trail paths and small lanes back to Beesands. The coastal section was rocky and rugged which I found a big challenge, especially in road shoes and in the 24mph wind. The inland section had some big fun Devon hills which felt great as my feet knew what to do on them and there was no potential of falling down a rock face. I absolutely loved this race, the nature and landscape were a joy and a real challenge to run through. I had no idea of my time or position until the next morning when I found out I had finished first outright. Interestingly the 2nd and 4th finishers were also female. “ The time is even more impressive as Rebecca’s GPS registered an actual distance of 27.2 miles!
South Devon Coastal Marathon :
1st Rebecca Bunting 3:57.53
Rebecca in full flow
Centurion Thames Path 100, London to oxford 8.5.21
For those members who like endurance running as a challenge the Thames Path 100 is definately that. This weekend Dominic Jones and Lenny Martin tackled the challenge with Andy Law unable to take part due to injury. Despite heavy rain at the start most of the race was run in good conditions. Richard McDowell of Hercules Wimbledon led from start to finish to set a new course record of 13 hours 43 mins. Dominic Jones was 35th at the first checkpoint but continued to move up the field and was 15th by Clifton Hampton before overtaking another two over the closing stages. Lenny Martin was 52nd at the first stage and reached 26th place at Pangbourne (66 miles) before slipping back over the 2nd half of the race to regster a new PB of 21:07.06 and 42nd place overall.
Lenny says “It looks like you know more about the details of my race on Saturday than I do. I had no idea about those checkpoint positions. Sadly I developed a bit of a hip problem towards the final third which slowed progress significantly. I do need to give credit to Tom Bedwell and Liam Daniel Hazelton for their pacing assistance too. Tom ran a marathon of his own with me, and Liam 23 miles through the middle of the night to the finish.”
Centurion Thames Path 100, 8.5.21
1st R McDowell (Hercules Wimbledon) 13:43.42
13th Dominic Jones 17:22.11
42nd Lenny Martin 21:07.04
Elsewhere Heathsiders were busy on the streets of London:-
Olympic Park, Stratford 28.4.21
10km
1st B Powell (WG&EL) 34:11
18th Stephen Barron (V50) 37:11
108th Raphaela Papadakis (SW) 46:56 (12th Female)
Regents Park 10k, Regents Park 08.05.21
1st F Joyce (London Frontrunners) 35:30
16th Doug Rendie (V40) 40:20
Many thanks to Rebecca and Lenny.