It’s a marathon not a sprint for Bognor athletes

Autumn marathon season includes races in places like Berlin, Dorney Lake, Loch Ness, London, New York and Chicago. And it’s been a busy one for Bognor’s Tone Zone Runners.

The club has had runners all around the UK competing at different marathons, with a few heading over to Berlin and Palma to fly the flag.

In late September was the Berlin Marathon, where Daryl Fairbrother and Sarah Zacal ventured over to run alongside Eluid Kipchoge as he broke a marathon world record in 2:01:09. In good form was Zacal, who had been training harder and smarter all summer to achieve a new PB and finish below her target in 3:48:18. Fairbrother had one goal, to get the sub four-hour marathon under his belt, Also with some smarter training throughout the summer he ran an even split race and hung on for a 3:59:23 to bag himself a personal best.

One week later was the London Marathon, Loch Ness Marathon and Dorney Lake Marathon, with a whole host of club runners taking part. In the capital 11 of the blue and orange army pounded the streets all the way from Blackheath, across Tower Bridge, through Canary Wharf, past Buckingham Palace and down The Mall.

Jack Penfold was first home for the club just sneaking under the 2:55 barrier with a sprint finish in a time of 2:54:52. Also running a sub three-hour marathon was Christo Oosthuizen. Despite having a tough end to his training with injuries, Oosthuizen continued to impress and finished in 2:59:08. Anne Kari Enes was back running London once more and finished in a time of 3:42:07, just 23 seconds ahead of Max Page who made his London debut. Kari Mack finished on the 3.50 mark just eight minutes back. Lisa Broad was running her first London Marathon and ran an extremely controlled and well-paced race to run a PB by 1hr 44 in 4:34:07. Lucy Brand ran with Lisa Wadey, who was running her first marathon, and both finished in 4:55:05. John Abell was also aiming to complete his first marathon, running with a smile for 26.2 miles, John finished in 5:55:29. Good friends Karen Butcher and Rebecca Sleet, another debut marathon runner, ran together and finished one of the best marathons in the world in a time of 6.49.

Coincidentally just 26.2 miles away at Dorney Lake were Jason Abell and Emma Tidmarsh, ready to complete four laps of the lake and claim their medal. Abell, who ran at Manchester earlier in the year, managed to finish fourth overall in a time of 2:49:21. Tidmarsh ran 10 miles with her good pal Nik, who was running the half marathon, before pushing on and running the last 16 miles very evenly to finish in a time of 5.08.

The third marathon of the day with a Tone Zone representative was the Loch Ness Marathon. Zoe Hemes had made the pilgrimage up to Scotland to run the picturesque race. Finishing in a time of 5.05, Hemes achieved a new personal best by 53 minutes.

Just a week later were the Richmond Marathon and Palma Marathon. In Richmond Marzena Stevens achieved a five-minute PB with a time of 3.53. Tony Holcombe was also running the marathon and finished just under the five-hour barrier in 4:59:22. In a slightly warmer climate Mark Williamson was running the Palma Marathon, despite the undulating course and warm weather Mark finished in an impressive time of 4.06.

The final marathon of the autumn block was the Beachy Head Marathon in East Sussex, a very tough course which takes in the Seven Sisters. Michelle Maxim was running her third Beachy Head Marathon and finished in a time of 7.14.