Runners travel the globe to compete in marathons
Local runners were among the 50,000 who pounded the streets of the capital in Sunday’s London Marathon.
Leading the 10 runners from Stainland Lions was Gavin Foster who crossed the finish line in 1,320th place with a personal best time of 2:46:24.
That improved his previous best by one minute 50 seconds and knocked four minutes 25 seconds off his previous London best.
There were also London personal best times for Clare Thomas (3:55:45), improving by five minutes 10 seconds and Manjit Ahian (4:50:27), taking one minute 43 seconds off his previous best.
Jamie Westwood ran his 27th London Marathon in a row, finishing in 2:59:56, and this was the second marathon in two weeks for Paula Statham, who finished in 4:29:01.
Lions results: Gavin Foster 2:46:24, Jamie Westwood 2:59:56, Mark Pigford 3:06:55, Clare Thomas 3:55:45, Laura Goodwin 4:04:06, Paula Statham 4:29:01, Manjit Ahiar 4:50:27, Renee Comerford 5:27:40, Donna Nettleton 5:27:50, Anne Cawdron 6:26:47.
Meanwhile, Mags Beever was among the 30,000 runners at this year’s 128th Boston Marathon where participants made the long journey from Hopkinton,
Massachusetts to the finish line on Boylston Street in Boston. Beever completed the race in a brilliant time of 3:06:04.
Four Halifax Harriers competed in the London Marathon and Lucy Quemeneur led the quartet home, finishing in 3:07:26.
London regular Angela Clarke was just outside the four hour mark in 4:00:33. David Ingle and Martin Haigh completed the 26.2 mile course in 4:33:38 and 5:44:22 respectively.
Further afield, Hanni Maeer, represented Harriers at the Leipzig Marathon in Germany on Sunday. Maeer, who was using the race as a training run for some upcoming longer distance races, finished in 4:10:18.
Harriers duo Will Carver and Rachael Beaumont both put in very strong performances at the Manchester Marathon. Carver finished in 3:12:42 while Beaumont completed in 3:33:42, setting a new club record for the F55 age group.
More running news on page 54