It's a Marathon not a sprint

This weekend saw the return of the Brighton Marathon, a popular Marathon for runners across the UK, and this year more than 11,000 runners took to the streets. On an abnormally hot day accompanied by the wind the runners had a challenge on their hands.

Bognor Regis Tone Zone Runners had 14 taking on the Marathon distance, some for the first time and others returning for another crack at it. Ryan Meager was first across the line, running his second ever marathon and finishing with a time of 3:17:26. Lee Boniface was using the marathon to build himself up for a bigger challenge later in the year and ended up running 3:30:52 a time that qualifies him for the London Marathon in the Good for Age category. After a tough experience with the marathon last time Byron Kearns wanted to redeem himself and finished in 3:32:25. Anne Enes was the first lady across the line for the club finishing in a time of 3:34:06.

Gary Griffiths ran a really strong race to finish in 3:47:09. Laura Williams pushed on from halfway to clock a time of 4:03:42 just ahead of Richard Forward in 4:11, Jon Comins in 4:14 and Guy Hodgson in 4:17. Head Coach Keith Hardwell was running his first marathon in his 60s, having now completed a marathon in his 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, Hardwell finished in 4:41.

Lee Hayward has been troubled with illness and injuries during training, with the only goal being crossing the line with a smile and Lee did just that in 4:46. Darren Crisp was running his first marathon and finished in under 5 hours with a time of 4:50. Elizabeth Bilham was aiming to join the 1% of the population to ever run a marathon and did just that in 5:09. Sue Woodruff rounded out a great turnout from the club to finish in 6:35.

Also in Brighton was Paul Hackett taking on the 10k which ran just before the marathon. Paul took on the windy seafront and finished in a time of 1:10:24.

Along the coast in Southampton was Tony Holcombe and Alan Haskell taking on the half marathon and finishing in 2:06 and 2:34 respectively.

Sam Grover was in the capital for the Landmarks Half Marathon warming himself up for the London Marathon in 2 weeks’ time and finished in 1 hour 51 minutes. Paul Wells and Karen Butcher were also running around the sights of London and finished their half marathons in 2:24 and 2:50.

The club's Jersey resident was Tony Hancock who took on the half marathon, completing the 13.1 miles in 2:23. Going further afield was Sarah Spurr and Lesley Ward who took on the Paris Marathon. Spurr finished in a time of 5:50 with Ward not too far behind finishing in 6:06.

Rodney Morley was also flying the flag abroad at the Berlin Half Marathon completing the 13.1 mile course around the sights of the German capital.