North Norfolk and Snowdonia were the destinations for members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club at the weekend. On Sunday, ten members took part in the Holt 10k, the final fixture in this year’s Leathes Prior Grand Prix series. The entries limit of 450 was reached many weeks before the race and just under 400 made the start line at Gresham’s School. In cool and very windy conditions, on an undulating country lanes course, the first over the finish line back at the school for Waveney was Wayne Freeman in 63rd place in 43:15. Next was Mike Quantrill in 86th in 44:39 with Bill Kingaby just one place and three seconds behind, in 87th in 44:42. Bill was the trophy winner for first in the M65+ age category and should finish the series as category champion when the 10-race series final table is published.
Becky Langford finished 133rd in 47:35, just a few seconds outside her best time, with Paul McCormick, in his first race for the club, apart from 5k parkruns, in 226th in 55:18. Lisa Cone and Emma Branch finished together in 291st and 292nd in 1:00.10, a personal best for Emma with Lisa just outside her fastest time. Tara Carroll, in her debut race for the club, was 321st in 1:04.28, then Donna Milner 337th in an excellent personal best 1:07.02. Jenny Green, in her debut race for Waveney, was delighted to be close to her target time of 75 mins, finishing 361st in 1:15.47.
Five members competed in the Norfolk Coastal Trail Marathon and Half Marathon on Saturday which weaved along a 27 mile section of the Norfolk Coastal Path from Morston Quay to Holme-Next-The-Sea. The 124 marathon runners set off alongside the creeks and marshes towards Stiffkey. There was some respite from the 30mph gusts by a last minute route change through the pine forests of Wells and Holkham. The route picked up the half marathon runners at Burnham Market then led to a scenic but tricky board-walk section to Brancaster Staithe. The race then included a long hill with open views before the final punishing dune section to the finish. Matt Jeffries finished very strong in the marathon in 2nd place in 3:22.38, despite an unplanned one mile detour. Chris Bradford finished a superb fourth in 3:28.15 with Richard Aukland 16th in 3:44.36. In the half marathon, Matt Plummer finished 41st in 2:07.52 out of 140 with Chris Mills 76th in 2:24.20.
In the Brooks Snowdonia Marathon on Saturday, experienced long distance runner Tim Earl finished 156th in 3:30.46 and Matt Baldry was 521st in 4:00.10, just seven minutes outside his best time, a magnificent achievement on one of Britain’s toughest races.
Club members 5k parkrun PB’s for October:- Jim Burgess 18:33, Susannah Close 22:16, Paul Brown 22:20, Stuart Smith 26:41, Kirsty Howe 29:37, Tara Carroll 30: 23, Theo Chong 22:42, Josh Smith 23:00, Phil Acton 26:57, Andy Ayers 20:09, Malcolm Huggins 22:19, James McAllen 23:16, Caroline Clamp 28:17, Emma Hollidge 30:00, Bev Hudson 33:18, Rebecca Tate 40:38, Jenny Green 37:08, Mike Illingsworth 21:22 and Dave Catchpole 26:44