PETE’S POST – MAY 2023
The London Marathon continues to provide drama and inspiration. The 2023 version apparently saw 45 new entries into the Guinness Book of Records, from Kiptum’s new course record, to others such as new male and female records for runners dressed as aircraft (apparently they were both absolutely flying).
C&C athletes were right at the heart of the action with sub 2:30 times from Chris Darling and Adam Tapley, and a sub-3 hour marathon debut from Libby Brown. No less than seven C&C women secured championship times for next year! Also, many “Good for Age” times were achieved. Congratulations to all 28 of you that completed the 26.2 miles. Also to Andrew Shields, who broke 3 hours at the Belfast Marathon recently. Well done to all the coaching team too. All that preparation, including the discussion evenings, where marathon knowledge and experiences was shared, paid off. Another strong foundation has been built, and we can develop still further as a club, in the years ahead.
The Summer 5k league saw us off to a fantastic start with turn out of 67 runners on an evening where it would have been easy to decide to stay at home in the warm and dry. One race down, but still 5 to go, let’s keep it going, there’s a lot more running to be done yet!
On the track, the EYAL season started well too, with many top 3 positions, P.B’s, and several first competitive appearances for the club.
Jack Grey continued his amazing year of success by winning the National 5k Championships in a time of 13:58. Jack went into the race as the favorite, but confidently withstood the pressure that this can bring. He lead virtually from “Gun to Tape” and cruised away in the last mile to take the title by 80 metres. Well done to Jack, and to all those that support him too.
Last year Sullivan Smith came second in the World Masters Steeplechase championships. Recently he was competing at international level again, and once more just missed out in the gold medal, coming second in the European Age Group Duathlon Championships. Two silver medals at this level is amazing, but keep it going Sullivan, you know what they say about the third time.
From club heroes of the present, to one of the past. Just over 6 moths ago many of us attended a memorial service for popular club member Glyn Smith. In Glyn’s memory, there will be a new club award presented each year, for contributions to endurance running. I can imagine, in 20 years time, the latest recipient of the award asking, “So, who was Glyn Smith”? And another happy opportunity to recall stories about him will unfold. He’ll never be forgotten.
On other club matters, the committee has devised a “Hardship Document”, which can now be found on the website by following this link:https://www.cambridgeandcoleridge.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Hardship-policy-Apr-2023.pdf
Also, the club needs some more voluntary support to help with the club website. This would suit someone with a knowledge of “WordPress”, although that is not essential. It would probably only amount to a couple of hours of work per month, but would be really helpful in taking the load off the person currently doing it. The basics are easy to pick up, and plenty of support is available. If you think that you can help with this please let us know. Thank you. [email protected]
As mentioned previously, we need more trained officials too. Officials are club heroes, if we don’t have enough of them things come to a halt. We mustn’t let this happen, and we mustn’t over-burden those that are already doing the job. All training is paid for by the club. Please do consider this. Reply to: [email protected] Thank you.
Finally, very best of luck to all those competing in the upcoming County Championships! Lots of other T&F opportunities to compete are coming up thick and fast now. Let’s get out there and wear the club colours with pride!