Nice weather for supporters Malcolm & Claire
ESM runners defy the heat & smash the London Marathon, writes Martin Wilson.
What a day – 22 degrees in the shade and more like 30+ in the unrelenting sun… make no mistake about it, absolutely brutal conditions. Our intrepid team of runners who had become acclimatised to seemingly permanent winter conditions in their training build-up were clearly facing up to a monumental challenge.
All our people on the day completed this hottest London Marathon ever.
Congratulations to Simon Shaw, Steve Plummer, Jav Sondh, Jane Ruhland, Shona Cowper, Bill Lonsdale, Anne Price, Sarah Holroyd and Margaret Duffy.
Simon kept his cool
Yorkshire hard man Simon (V45) despite experiencing swollen feet ran a superb 2:43, only 2 minutes off his personal best.
Steve Plummer (V50) our globetrotting marathon specialist paced himself to a very respectable 3:16 following his 3:05 in Tokyo in February.
Steve in his trademark blue vest
TV star Jav was next home in 3:57, having apparently worked out that you get on the telly if you run right behind Big Ben, Daffy the Duck etc etc.
Jane Ruhland (V50) led our women home in 4:07 and in doing so raised a superb amount of money for her chosen charity Kidney Research UK.
Shona Cowper, tri-athlete hotshot finished just a few minutes later in 4:10.
Thumbs up from Bill
Bill Lonsdale ( V65) completed in 4:22 so not too shabby for a man who had suffered a heart attack just a few months ago.
A trio of our Saturday marathon training group completed our line up: Anne Price (V60) in 4:46, Sarah Holroyd (V55) 4:47 and Margaret Duffy (V50) in 5:12.
Here is a sample of first hand experiences…
“Overall it was one of the best days in my life and I will always be grateful for all the ESM support leading up to the marathon. Great people who always have time to share their experience and advice…” Margaret
What’s a few extra yards? Anne decides to come over for a hug
“Marshals were fantastically enthusiastic and so encouraging especially at the later stages of the race when we were dropping like flies! Huge crowds which were enthusiastic and so supportive (even if they did cause queues by using the loos!!!) St John’s Ambulance were out in force really worked hard – seeing them offering Vaseline was a first for me but when I asked for salt they weren’t quite so forthcoming!! Maybe that was an unexpected request? I’m disappointed in my time but I’ll try and regain my good for age in Dublin in October”. Anne
Shona needed that water bottle
“Mainly that the heat made me really cautious of dehydrating so my constant quest for water at each station and running through the showers probably slowed me down a bit. The wall of noise throughout was quite incredible – running across Tower Bridge particularly so! I’m disappointed with my time as it wasn’t what I was aiming for but, given the conditions, I wanted to finish rather than push myself to the point of collapse before the end. Lots of lessons learnt, as there always are in these big races, and, in fact, already contemplating the next one to sign up to…I’m not giving up on this marathon malarkey just yet…” Shona
Sarah snapped just in time
ESM results summary:
Simon Shaw (V45) 2:43:27, Steve Plummer (V50) 3:16:47, Jav Sondh 3:57:43, Jane Ruhland (W50) 4:07:49, Shona Cowper 4:10:42, Bill Lonsdale (V65) 4:22:37, Anne Price (V60) 4:46:06, Sarah Holroyd (W55) 4:47:29, Margaret Duffy (W50) 5:12:54
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