For many a British based runner, the Beast from the East I / Beast from the East II made March 2018 a month maybe best forgotten. You may be forgiven for thinking March 2018 MOM had succumbed to the Beast too but, like many a March race, the announcement had merely been postponed and not cancelled entirely…
For those fortunate enough to have a race that escaped the elements, there were some fine performances that caught the eye: Dean Riggall ran a superb 1:27:37 PB at the Cambridge Half Marathon – a preparation race for this weekend’s London Marathon; Tony Johnson showed a welcome return to form after an injury affected conclusion to 2017 at the Retford Half Marathon; and Peter Bonner, the club’s most prolific racer, continued his upward trend with an impressive 50 second improvement of his 10K PB (40:43) at the Dishforth Dash. The voting panel also acknowledged the performances of Amanda Hubbard and Zoe Hodson, 2017 Couch to 5K graduates who successfully completed The Big Half Marathon in London.
With this weekend’s London Marathon there will be many a tale told of the debut marathon runner completing the ‘hardest thing they’ve ever done’ and even seasoned campaigners proclaiming ‘Never again!’ With this in mind it is perhaps apt that the March 2018 GRC Member of the Month goes to Nick Payne who, in finishing the Cambridge Boundary Run, notched up his 50th race of marathon distance or longer, of which 26 had been completed in the past 12 months! With this performance he is now eligible to enter the prestigious ‘100 Marathon Club’, although he plans to wait until next year when he has completed exactly 100, culminating with 10 marathons in 10 days!
Congratulations to Nick and best of luck with those ultra races planned!