April 2015

 

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listing view the
Results Index

Featured events in April 2015:

London Marathon - 26 April

3738 Tony Bowe   3:15:21 PB
3918 Richard French   3:16:50  
5835 Mark Baker   3:28:17  
7997 Amy Burdis   3:39:22 PB
9654 Liz Pharoah   3:45:48 PB
9836 Damian Pharoah   3:46:29  
10398 Corinna O'Connor   3:48:40  
10448 Sarah McNaney   3:48:50  
10449 Claudie Combelas   3:48:50 PB
12385 Spencer Davies   3:55:33 PB
14608 Kevin Coughlan   4:02:18 PB
15851 Gemma Ross   4:07:43  
16184 Mark Dalton   4:09:02 PB
22432 Linda Richards   4:32:27 PB

 

Well, the marathon season has continued with a fabulous turnout for the Northbrook crew at yet another London marathon. This really is a whole weekend of fun, not just for the runners but for the supporters too. Most of us went down en masse on the train and landed at the expo by lunchtime on the Saturday. Here we were not disappointed by all the 'bling' that was on offer to us. 
After our registration and collection of numbers we were sensible and headed back towards our hotels and the nearest pasta restaurant for the obligatory carbo-loading.

Sunday morning started out as a bleak affair with plenty of drizzle and a slight cold breeze.  However, this did not dampen our spirits as we headed towards our respective starts. Bedecked in our tutus and matching accessories we were determined to enjoy ourselves. The sight of our heroine, Paula, milling about our starting pen certainly gave us the boost that we needed and before long we were off, pounding the streets of the city. (We did let Paula take the lead though).
The first few miles of the course were exceptionally congested but they were made all the merrier by the men warning us of speed humps along the route. The word 'hump' being shouted every 5 seconds certainly made us all chuckle!!
The crowds shouting out our names along the way helped us get to mile 12 where the Northbrook supporters were gathered and awaiting our arrival. As we passed them they lifted our spirits by shouting words of encouragement (at least that's what I think they were), and the sight of Tommy and his pom-poms will stay with me for a long time!! 
From here, we twisted and turned along a fabulous route which was marred only by the thousands of bottles lying strewn along the ground - put your foot down wrongly and you could go flying.  Luckily I had Alan (Corinna to her friends) with me to keep me upright!
Before long we were at mile 23 and there they were again - the Northbrook Massive cheering us again!!  From there on it was 'one more Parkrun to do' before we got to Buck House and those signs informing us there was only 800m....then 400m......then 200m to go. 

 

And then that was it. Hands were held (by me and Alan) as we crossed the line in jubilation.  We'd done it.  Our legs did us proud considering we had only done Brighton 2 weeks ago.  Waves of emotion swept over us all. I, Claudie and Corinna shared the most wonderful hug before heading off to collect our medals and T-shirts.
The next stage of the marathon was as just as good as the run - the annual ritual of the gathering at The Sherlock Holmes where we could hug our other halves and thank our support crew (and of course down a few glasses of something appropriate). Mark Baker especially had something to celebrate as this was his 10th London Marathon.
I can honestly say that this marathon has been a pleasurable experience. From my point of view it was always to go out and enjoy it with no particular time in mind, and I definitely achieved this, but of course only with the help of all my Northbrook budddies and our wonderful support crew!!  Thanks :-) - Sarah

Stratford Marathon - 26 April

185 Dave Halford   3:43:44

Stratford Half-Marathon - 26 April

156 Peter Kirkhope   1:36:32  
494 Claire Arden   1:50:19  
685 Tara Lambert   1:55:42 PB
1130 Gavin Lambert   2:08:16  

Manchester Marathon - 19 April

427 Martin Winch   2:58:27 PB
537 Amanda Deavy   3:01:15 PB, 4th LV35
758 John Wilson   3:08:14 PB
806 Tom Miller   3:09:42 PB
868 Scott Shepherd   3:10:50 PB
2631 Rachel Meredith   3:39:39 PB

Amanda Deavy set a new Ladies' Marathon
Club record with her time of 3:01:15

After months of training with Amanda, John, Scott and Martin we all went up on the train together and now we were going to find out if the training had paid off.
We were all pretty weary and sick of the training, but at the same time excited about the prospect of a few healthy PB's. Marathon training is gruelling, but if you manage to get a good time there is no better feeling in the world. The reality was that all of us were looking for sub 3-hour marathons, which is not easy!!!! However, the training indicated it was going to be fairly close and we did all finish within 12 minutes of each other. In the end only Martin managed a sub 3 hours but Amanda was mighty close, with John, me and Scott a little further back.
Everything went fairly smoothly and Scott and Martin went off like little whippets, whilst Amanda and I stuck with each other for about 10 miles, but then I couldn't maintain her pace. John wasn't far behind and eventually caught me half a mile from the finish line when I had nothing left. I passed Scott at 20 miles and hats off to him, as when I saw him I didn't think he was going to achieve a very impressive finish as he has had no end of injuries leading up to the event.
Amanda was just superbly consistent and Martin incredibly strong. John, well he had it all planned out and stuck to his plan, very impressive. As for me, having to pull out of this marathon 12 months ago through injury I was delighted to finish in a good time, considering my last completed marathon was London 1986. Who says you get slower with age? And not fotgetting Rachel, completing her first marathon in a really competitive time - well done, despite a tumble at the start.

Finally a massive thank you for the training plan devised by John, without which I doubt I would have gotten such a good time. Training with such great runners also helps and, judging by the times at the London, Brighton, Worcester and Stratford Marathons, great coaching by Clive and all the other coaches at Northbrook - Tom

Regency 10k - 19 April

54 James Joyce   38:58  
90 Mike Wheeler   40:07  
93 Terry Moynihan   39:54 PB
178 Richard Hodge   42:59  
183 Peter Kirkhope   43:05  
200 Tony Bowe   43:22  
207 Darron Handley   43:15  
304 Spencer Davies   45:39  
326 Amy Burdis   45:46 PB
424 Kevin Coughlan   47:17  
486 Charles Jones   48:39  
508 Mark Dalton   48:56 PB
587 Kieran Prescott   50:08  
604 Allison Smith   51:11  
609 Andrew Houston   50:33  
618 Jo Arden   50:47  
852 Julie Cozens   55:21  
1113 Hazel Cann   57:09  
1124 Emma White   58:05  
1245 Helen Hodge   59:12 PB
1338 Ros Myers   61:08  

A Coventry Way 40-Mile Multi-Terrain - 12 April

17 Sarah Booker   7:24:00 2nd lady
19 Paul Stead   7:26:00  
34 Amy Burdis   8:00:00 5th lady
57 David Storer   9:14:00  
67 Paul Robbins   9:25:00  

Belvoir Half-Marathon - 12 April

133 Tommy Demspey   1:37:41

Centurion Grand Prix 5 Mile - 12 April

31 Spencer Davies   36:43  
47 Mike Duggan   38:50  
81 Julie Cozens   48:13  
83 Helen Hodge   48:48 PB

Brighton Marathon - 12 April

  Tony Bowe   3:19:41 PB
  Corinna O'Connor   3:31:31 PB
  Sarah McNaney   3:33:05 PB, 3rd FV35
  Steve Galvin   3:36:22 PB
  Joe Kelly   3:41:29  
  Liz Pharoah   3:48:51  
  Claudie Combelas   3:49:48 PB
  Guy Bicknell   3:56:40  
  Andrew Pitt   3:59:17  
  Joanne Steele   5:28:02  

Fantastic 'Northbrook' weekend in Brighton highlighted by the fact that some of us went for a little run round the city yesterday!  Those that were running were blessed with plenty of friends and family to cheer us along the 26.2 miles of what is definitely a superb course.  Any hills are all out of the way by 9 miles, leaving you to tackle some fantastic roads along the seafront to Hove and back again.  Due to the nature of the course we were able to high-5 our own team mates as we ran, as on occasions we did double back on a couple of roads.  Just about managed to catch a glimpse of Tony Bowe as he headed for a superb time on this course.  The weather forecast turned out to be completely wrong and we were blessed with sun, sun and more sun followed by a cooling atlantic breeze.  However, the only down-side was the decision not to provide bottles or pouches of water like in previous years.  Cups were handed out at about every mile or so but only contained about an inch of water - not good in such warm conditions when hydration is a necessity.

The finish line came along fairly quickly and we all managed to meet on the pebble beach at the end for a quick dip in the ice cold sea to ease our weary muscles before retiring to the nearby public house for a celebratory drink (or two).

Great marathon.  Well organised and marshalled.  Definitely one to consider for the future (again) - Sarah

Worcester Marathon - 12 April

39 Tony Forde   3:30:09 PB

Tony's Marathon debut

Worcester Half-Marathon - 12 April

160 Mark Baker   1:43:42

Massey Ferguson Easter 5 - 5 April

37 Mike Wheeler   32:31
40 Scott Shepherd   32:38
44 James Joyce   32:52
50 Terry Moynihan   33:18
55 Richard Hodge   33:43
66 Damian Pharoah   34:35
69 Darron Handley   35:01
71 Simon Jones   35:09
75 Peter Kirkhope   35:19
78 Tony Bowe   35:23
85 Tommy Dempsey   35:40
104 Spencer Davies   36:52
117 Clare Rowntree   37:42
119 Amy Burdis   37:45
120 Sally Eason   37:49
144 Claudie Combelas   40:05
153 Rich Cawley   40:48
157 Martin Gavin   41:25
189 Fraser Barrett   45:11
212 Emma White   47:46
223 Tony French   48:45
234 Ros Myers   51:08

Broadmeadow Runs Good Friday Marathon - 3 April

  Tony Bowe   5:28:46