Runner Up
I distinctly remember having a conversation with this athlete in early March at the Holme Pierrepont Notts 10-mile race in which she stated then the ‘dream’ would be a sub-2-hour half…
The Heckington 10 miler prehaps starting to give thoughts that the ‘dream’ could be achieved.
Well, dear Friends – Dreams do come true…
But, You’ve got to put in the hard miles in! By golly did she.
Long runs, parkrun ‘sandwiches’, effort sessions and learned race craft throughout the summer all came together beautifully at the Great Eastern Run on a balmy October morning in Peterborough.
She met it head on. A solid start that got more aggressive, it left her elated and slightly shocked when she clocked 01:53:07. This represented an eight-minute bettering of the blistering GNR just 5 weeks prior.
Emma Duncan takes the runner up spot in a busy and competitive October!
Winner
If Emma was runner up and she is quintessentially modest/bashful of her running performances… Just imagine how bloody hard it is for me to sum this next chap up:
I caught up with him at the Wilne 10k and as his long languid stride pulled away from me then, I had an inkling he’d be up to something special!
Criminally, there was no race report for this, so allow me to paint the scenes with my clumsy brush strokes!
Staging: Chester Marathon
Date: 8th October
Atmospheric Conditions: 13°C. Light breeze. Clouds scudding the skies. Patchy sunshine later.
With almost robotic pacing from the off – honed over a tremendously executed training plan in the months leading up to the race – he clicked off mile after mile with studious concentration.
the 4:30 am starts in the height of summer, those long runs, the ridiculous hill sessions in the Vale all coming to fruition.
Such was his preparation, judgement, and execution so well managed that he only fell below his target pace for a brief section, but rallied to post the fastest marathon time of the year – in what has already been established as the deepest men’s marathon year on record!
With a time of 02:50:21 – averaging 06:30 per mile the winner of the October Member of the Month is the silent, but very nice assassin Piers Pye-Watson.
