Tone Zone aces are speedy in Brighton

This year Bognor Regis Tone Zone Runners had a very large contingent at the Brighton Marathon - 29 club runners took on the 26.2-mile course. With the Brighton Marathon recently being taken over by London Marathon Events following their administration there was a lot of hope for a better and more improved day, and with a new route and better spectator spots the day was a huge success for all!

The morning was cloudy and chilly as the runners assembled in Preston Park and as the race started a lot of runners were just happy to get moving and get warm, soon enough though the sun came out and added another challenge to the runners having to battle the heat.

Christo Oosthuizen was first across the line for the club in 2:51:59, an outstanding time and it’s not long until his next marathon! Tom Howell ran a personal best of 3:17:53 improving on last years’ time. Also setting new personal bests were training partners Jess Thomson in 3:28:27 and Chris Crouch who took over 30 minutes of last years’ time finishing in 3:29:15. Nathan Bilham returned to Brighton after a few years and ran almost 45 minutes quicker than his debut marathon to clock 3:31 with Sarah Zacal just an arms’ length behind finishing well within her target in 3:39 for a huge PB.

Frazer Dean ran his first marathon in 3:48, likewise did Marlena Clark just a minute behind Frazer. Laura Williams proved to herself that she can run a great marathon finishing in 3:53. Also finishing under 4 hours were Marzena Sowinska (3:54), Cameron Coe (3:56) and Alan Coombs just sneaking in with a new personal best of 3:59:50. Jon Comins completed his first marathon in 4:01, Karen Vilday ran a super strong race to clock a new personal best time of 4:18, just ahead of Gary Griffiths (4:21) and Guy Hodgson (4:23).

Then came a flurry of the Tone Zone ladies who all trained together throughout the winter, Susi Briggs ran 4:32, Jackie Williamson and daughter Charlotte (first marathon) ran 4:39, alongside Emma Tidmarsh who smashed her personal best. Kirstee Porter and Lucy-Jayne Isitt finished together in 4:44, just 2 minutes before Lisa Wadey who beat her personal best finishing in 4:46 after a tough training block. Michael Fordsdyke (5:02) and Lousie Maddison (5:06) were next across the line, then came Tony Holcombe in 5 hours 24 minutes who also has a marathon next weekend! Sue Woodruff ran her first official marathon and finished in 5 hours 37 minutes. Beth Suter and Magda Kuczera both also ran their first marathon and finished together smiling and hand in hand in 6 hours 1 minute.

Over in Southampton was Ben Leney to fly the flag, a tough course with two laps made it challenging for Ben, but it didn’t stop him running a personal best, and breaking the 4 hour barrier, by finishing in 3 hours 59 minutes.

There was also the London Landmarks Half Marathon where Mick James finished in 2 hours 10 minutes, Dawn Thackray finished in 2 hours 54 minutes and Nic Baglee finished in 4 hours 16 minutes. Rodney Morley was at the Reading Half Marathon and finished in a time of 2 hours 5 minutes, and rounding off the weekend was Leonie Ranson running the Bournemouth Bay 10K in a time of 1:04.