Sunday Summary - 13 April 2008

Cambridge Harriers shine in London Marathon

14 April 2008

Flora London Marathon
With weather conditions in complete contrast to last year’s race, over twenty Cambridge Harriers set off from Blackheath to compete in the 28th Flora London Marathon.

Celebrating 100 years of the `official` marathon distance of 26 miles 385 yards, established for the 2008 London Olympics, a huge field of 35,044 runners started in chilly but sunny conditions.

By half-way, rain and wind gave most runners their first soaking of the day with another band of rain and hail hitting those finishing around four hours. The conditions were obviously good for fast running as the first three Elite Men broke 2hrs 6mins, with the winner, Martin Lel of Kenya, recording a course record of 2hrs 5mins 15sec.

Clem Dixon was our first man home in a club vest with an excellent performance, just dipping under 2hrs 45min to achieve an Elite & Championship qualification time. Clem finished a couple of minutes ahead of Rob Jackaman, who was slightly disappointed not to break 2hr 45mins, but for a debut marathon effort, his performance was outstanding and clearly demonstrated his commitment to the distance which will lead to a sub 2hrs 30mins marathon within a couple of years.

With Matt Winn-Smith and Martin Asp also breaking 3 hours, it was one of the strongest club performances at the Flora London Marathon for a many years. Alex Hall also recorded a personal best, dipping under 3hrs 10mins for the first time.

The best club performances were set by our Senior Women with Claire Gibson, Kate Aldridge, Rebecca Hodder and Helen Perera all finishing under 3hrs 45min, the senior women’s qualification time for next year, with Claire, Kate and Helen smashing their personal best times.

However, the best performance was by Claire who started in the Elite & Championship Women’s race, alongside Geta Wami of Ethiopia and the eventual race winner, Irina Mikitenco of Germany. All the winter training and early Sunday morning runs paid off with 29th place and an excellent time of 2hrs 50mins 30secs. As Claire entered the final 200 metres she was overtaken by Martin Lel, sprinting to the finish line in the Elite Men’s race, and was seen by millions of viewers on the BBC race coverage. With several more years of distance running and even more improvements with her speed-endurance training, Claire will be knocking on the door of international selection very soon.

There were other good debut runs by Sandra Gaster, Mark Wells and Kerry Brady, although Mark Wells paid the price for his quick opening few miles (we’ve all done it) and faded in the second half. Helen Perera took 34minutes off her best time set at the Flora London Marathon in 2005 and was awarded the Bill Fisher Trophy for the most improved performance by a club runner at the London Marathon. It was nice to see the trophy go back the women, but I’m sure the guys will be out to win the trophy back next year...

Despite the rain and chilly conditions a huge number of spectators lined the marathon route giving all the runners a big lift, especially during the last few miles. After the race a group of club runners and supporters met at the Mintleaf restaurant in Haymarket (big thanks to Gerard McCann) to swap stories, have a few beers, eat some great Indian food and a get a sports massage courtesy of Paul Kent.

The clubs’ officials and many volunteers who supported the Flora London Marathon at the Green Start, Red Start and Drinks Stations at Woolwich and Greenwich did a great job once again. Many thanks to all the club members, families and supporters who managed to get around the course, despite the poor weather conditions, to give all the runners a cheer. Those who have run the marathon will know how special it is to see a friendly face in the crowd and the great feeling when you get a big cheer and encouragement in the last few miles.

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