Baker is in front of rivals by a mile
Chichester’s senior athletes have been in action in recent weeks – with no little success.
Just before Christmas the popular Portsmouth Coastal Marathon proved as popuar as ever with over 500 finishers in both the full and the half marathon, while no less that 200 went further to complete the Ultra 50k event.
With only a handful of competitors in all, the club more than pulled its weight with veteran James Baker much too good for the rest of the field in the marathon.
His time of 2hr 40min 51sec meant he fnished well over a mile – and a full seven minutes – in front of the runner-up.
Then in the ultra, Mikeey Kwoka obliterated his previous best by some margin to finish the 50k in 3.38.40, less than 30 seconds behind the runner-up and incidentally dipping under the three-hour mark for the marathon in the process for the first time.
Just over a week ago some 21 intrepid club members braved the weather to set the ball rolling in the first of the 17 races in the 2024 West Sussex Fun Run League calendar.
The Hangover 5 from Goring is the usual start for league action – and team manager Peter Anderson was happy that his squad accumulated well over 100 points out of a maximum 125 to keep the club within touching distance of the top spot, having spent the past two seasons as runners-up.
There were four top ten finishers gaining maximum 10 bonus points for the club.
Charlotte Reading and Grace Wills were second and fifth in the women’s race while Mikeey Kwoka and Wesley Adams were fifth and eighth in the men’s contest.