The Easy Runner Blog

CLEVEDON AC’s Kate Britten finished runner-up in the Dartmoor Vale half marathon in a time of 92mins 28secs. Britten’s best time is 87:40 set in Tewkesbury last year. Britten crossed the line together with Clevedon clubmate Stuart Hancock, who was awarded the same time.
In the 10k race Alison Ramsey of Hogweed Trotters was seventh (45:19).

DAVE Wintle completed his sixth marathon of the year – and second in seven days – to finish 28th in 3:28,44 at the Dartmoor Vale race on Sunday.
The previous week 44-year-old Wintle, who competes for Hogweed Trotters, clocked 3:37.45 in the Eden Project multi terrain race. His best time this year is the personal best of 3:07.08 at the Shakespeare marathon in Stratford upon Avon.
Clubmate Lee Masters was 70th (3:57.39).

BRISTOL & West AC brothers Nathan and Kieran Young enjoyed a one-two in the Cranmore Chase 10k multi terrain race held near Shepton Mallet.
Cranmore Chase 10k multi terrain race, Shepton mallet – men; 1 Nathan Young (B&W) 34:53; 2 Kieran Young (B&W) 36:33; 3 Roger Easterbrook 36:56. Women: 1 Caroline Dawnay 40:36.

MICHAEL Johnson, who finished fourth and first Brit in yesterday’s Cardiff half marathon, has just told me that the course has been measured as 202 metres short.
“I spoke to Steve Brace this afternoon and he said a dog-leg loop was missed out in a last minute alteration to the course and that meant it was 202 metres short,” said Johnson, who lives in Bristol.
Johnson’s time of 64mins 03secs was well inside his previous PB of 66:04.
“I worked it out that at that pace I would have still run a PB of 64:40 but now it won’t count,” he added.

TEAM Bath’s Dan Jones smashed his personal best in Sunday’s Cardiff half marathon – but will it count? Jones recorded a time of 73mins 35secs to finish 36th, carving a staggering three minutes and one second off his previous best set in the Bristol half marathon last month.
But on the Power of 10 results service used for official stats there was a note stating that the course was short and Jones confirmed that by his own reckoning that is the case.
“On my GPS watch I measured the course at 13 miles dead and others had it at 12.9 miles,” said Jones. “I reckon it must have been around 300 metres short.
“It is very annoying. I was hoping to run under 73 minutes and I think I might well have done that but is is hard to tell. Now I’ll have to wait until next year to have another go.”

BEN Morley had a terrific run in yesterday’s Cardiff half marathon asa he smashed the Great Western Runners’ club record with a personal best time of 68mins 17secs.
That not only gave Morley 12th place in a quality field but was a significant improvement on the old record of 70:09 that was set in 1989.
“Obviously I’m really happy with that time,” said Morley, who is coached by Mike Hockett. “But it all just seemed a bit too easy. Unlike in Bristol, I got nicely tucked in with a group of guys so wasn’t on my own for the entire race.
“But it is going to be a tough PB to beat in future given the ideal conditions and that fact the course is as flat as a pancake! “
But even as I write this there is a fear that course may have been short. The danger was flagged up on the Power of 10 results service website which is used by Athletics Weekly so watch this space for the latest news.
If it does turn out to be the case then there are going to be a lot of disappointed runners, including not just Morley but also Westbury Harriers’ Sophie Voller who clocked a PB of 1:22.23, clipping 44 seconds off the best she had run in Bath in March.

Local results: 4 Michael Johnson 64:03; 6 Robbie Bugden (B&W) 65:46; 15 Barry Reynolds (GWR) 1:08:58; 27 John Hanley (GWR) 1:12:14.

WELL done to the North Somerset AC Under 13 girls’ squad who finished seventh of 58 teams in the National Young Athletes’ Road Relays yesterday. Contesting the event for the first time the trio of Angharad Flower, Ellie Wallace and Ellie Parker ran impressively.

YESTERDAY weekend saw the third running of the infamous Hogweed Muggles over some serious hills near Hawkesbury Upton. The 15.9 mile race was won by Justin Littlechild of the Hogweed Trotters in a record time of 1.52.25 while the first woman was Lynette Porter of Bitton Road Runners.
In this race there were also good performances from HT runners Paul Buckley (1.52.29), Pat Curtis (2.15.59), who was first veteran over 50, John Curtis (2.18.48), second over 50 veteran and Mark Offer (2.35.02).
Paul Murrin and Marianne Gittoes , both of Chepstow, won the men and women’s categories in the 10.9 mile race while in the 5.9 miles race were Anthony Glover and Caroline Baker took the honours.
Richard Finch was first Hogweed and first veteran over 40 in 46.21 with clubmates Graeme Stephenson and Ian Dickson picking up the over 50s and 60s prizes respectively.

Major Muggle – men: 1 Justin Littlechild (HT, M40) 1:52.25; 2 Ben Lang (TBAC) 1:53.35; 3 Jon Newey (Malvern, M40) 1:54.40.
Women: 1 Lynette Porter (BRR, W45) 2:09.43; 2 Helen Marshall (Aber) 2:10.19; 3 Jo Plumbley (TRC) 2:14.13.
Mimsy Muggle – men: 1 Paul Murrin Chepstow) 1:12.54; 2 Matt Marshall (Chipp) 1:13.18.
Women: 1 Marianne Gittoes (Chepstow) 1:19.56.
Minor Muggle – men: 1 Anthony Glover (HT) 34:28; 2 Richard Bashford (unatt) 35:25; 3 Alex Massey (WH, U18) 35:58.
Women: 1 Caroline Baker (unatt) 46:09; 2 Jo Bayston (HT) 48:11.

CLAIRE Hallissey has told me she was pretty happy with her 18th place at the World Half Marathon Championships in China.
The Bristol & West AC runner was Britain’s lone representative in the event and finished in 1hr 13mins 07secs to better her 25th in the same event last year.
“I think I judged the pacing pretty well but would have liked to have gone slightly faster in the last few km and think I may have been able to if I’d had someone slightly closer to me to latch on to, or if there had been more crowd support,” said Hallissey.
“Maybe I should have shipped the Bristol crowd over to help carry me to the finish! The weather had cooled off a bit since I arrived in Nanning and so it wasn’t too unpleasant for racing, plus it was cloudy so we didn’t have the sun beating down on us and warming things up too much.
“All in all, I’m very happy with how the race went and I felt pretty strong so things are looking good for New York in three weeks. I just hope that I cope OK with the doubling of race distance!”

CLAIRE Hallissey finished 18th in the World Championships in Nanning, China, yesterday. The Bristol & West AC runner clocked 73mins 07secs to improve on her 25th in Birmingham last autumn.
Hallissey was also second European home behind ten Africans, four Japanese, an Australian and just one place behind Poland’s Karolina Jarzynska (1:12.36).