By Steven Dawson
This week has been a very busy but positive one for the club with members taking part in races across the country.
A special mention goes to Andy Talbot who represented England at the Chester Marathon on Sunday, October 2.
Andy’s journey was a long time coming due to races being cancelled due to Covid and then suffering some injury problems which hampered his training.
In fact, during the race, Andy struggled with injury but like the inspiration that he is, he kept on going, finishing the race in a time of 3:30:45 which is an amazing achievement
On the same day, a number of runners took part in the iconic London Marathon. This saw six runners take part running over 26 miles around London.
Richard Tonge like Andy over at Chester struggled with injury before and during the race. However, he pushed himself to finish the race in a time of 6:49:04.
That was amazing show of strength to continue and finish the race and everyone at the club is proud.
Others that took part include Stuart Joyce 3:18:37, Mark Bainbridge 4:27:04, Heather Morgan 5:34:15 and Helen Boyd 5:48:02
The Baxters Loch Ness Marathon took place on the same day with Sandrine Hewitt representing the club. Sandrine finished the race in a time of 5:28:48.
Sunday continued to be a busy day with four members taking part in the Penshaw 10k.
Paul Dalton decided to enter the race on the day and ended up winning in an excellent time of 44:39. Richard Campbell also took part finishing in a time of 53:08.
Richard found out after the race that he had finished first in the series of trail races which again is a fantastic achievement, especially considering the brutal nature of some of the climbs, particularly when running back up to Penshaw monument.
In two of those races. Clare Stradling 1:06:27and Kirsty Cameron 1:22:10 also took part in the race.
The Redcar Running Festival also took place on this date with two members taking part in the Zetland 10k.
Dave Blewiitt 46:36 and Yvonne Blewitt 59:14 took part with Yvonne managing to get below the 1-hour mark for the first time and a new personal best.
In the Half Marathon, 3 members took part being Dez Fielden 1:21:55 in what was anew club record for the men’s 50-54 category, Robert Young 1:35:18 and Daniel Tatham 1:45:29. This was a new personal best for Daniel for a Half Marathon.
If you have any queries about the activities of Aycliffe Running Club, or are interested in joining the club, please visit our website www.ayclifferunningclub.org.uk check out our Facebook page or contact the club’s Secretary, Donna, at [email protected].
