Hobbs sets another club record

ATHLETICS:

Ashford Athletic Club long-distance race walker Jonathan Hobbs has won an historic race and broken another club record. Hobbs holds 14 out of the club’s 17 senior men’s race walking records. Having been building on his endurance for several months, the 24-year-old took time out to test his fitness at the Enfield 7 mile open race walk. He took an early lead but was overtaken after a mile by reigning junior world champion Callum Wilkinson, of the local Enfield & Harringey Athletic Club and looked settled for second place. Keeping his pace even, at just under 8mph, Hobbs raced to a personal best time and AAC club record of 55min 46sec. After finishing the course, he discovered that the leader and England Commonwealth Games representative had been disqualified, meaning Hobbs was the 90th winner of the race that dates back to 1920. Ashford & District Road Running Club’s Jon Wells finished second overall in the inaugural Bedgebury Forest Half Marathon, set within the pinetum. Wells recorded an impressive time of 1hr 28min 48sec in Sunday’s race. Christine Costiff finished 44th and won the female vet 55 category in 1:46.50, while Rhian Shrimplin dipped under the two-hour mark on what was a challenging course in 1:58.02 for 91st position overall. Brad Bunk finished first for the club in the Marden Half Marathon on the same day, setting a personal best of 1:40.42 and taking 31st place overall. Mark Carlton followed in 1:44.30 (36th) and Aaron Homewood in 1:45.30 (39th), both setting PBs in the process. Sandi Mortimer, in her debut at this distance, was next to cross the line in 2:01.21 in 78th, Sue Reader finished on 2:10.58 in 91st and Sophie Edmonds, also making her half marathon debut, finished in 2:11.26 and 94th position. Meanwhile, in the 10k event, run shortly after the start of the half marathon, Adrian Moody finished 19th overall in a time of 44.09. Steve Hickman travelled to Hampshire for the Gosport Half Marathon and completed the two-lap course in 1:58.32. Further afield, Neil Cloke completed the gruelling 94k Haria Extreme

Jonathan Hobbs