Tony Letts led home the 16 Northampton Road Runners who made the trip to the capital to take part in this year’s London Marathon.
Letts clocked an impressive 3:01:01, while team-mate and London regular Andy Blaize was close in his footsteps in 3:02:25
Fundraiser Matt Brand grabbed a personal best with a 3:19:07 and Gary McDaniels recovered well from a recent injury to cross the line in 3:22:26.
Another PB star was John Fleming, who beat last year’s time by 10 minutes to finish in 3:35:48. New member Ben Mullaney made his London debut with a great follow-up to last year’s Rome Marathon with a time of 3:50:12.
Jocelyn Granger raised much-needed funds for local charity The Lowdown and finished in a PB time of 4:06:16.
Granger was seconds ahead of Wendy Parker, who also registered a PB of 4:06:44. Rob Donovan finished in 4:12:13 only minutes ahead of Michael Franks, who completed his first ever marathon in 4:17:06.
Full NRR results: Tony Letts 3:01:01, Andy Blaize 3:02:25, Matt Brand 3:19:07, Gary McDaniels 3:22:26, John Fleming 3:35:48, Ben Mullaney 3:50:12, Jocelyn granger 4:06:16, Wendy Parker 4:06:44, Rob Donovan 4:12:13, Michael Franks 4:17:06, Pauline Horne 5:00:37, Dave Solomon 5:15:59, Glen Cousner 5:22:45, Sue Thompson 5:31:30, Spike Breydin 6:35:30, Alan Hackett 7:25:02
Davies shines for R&N in London Marathon
Hywel Davies led home the Rugby & Northampton athletes in the London Marathon with a time of 2hrs 32mins 51secs and in doing so became the fastest Rugby-based runner for 30 years round the streets of the capital.
The 38-year-old triathlete had been in superb shape throughout the winter and he maintained that form to produce this brilliant run.
Paul Rigby was the next man over the line for the club in 2hrs 43mins and was closely followed by 47-year-old Greg Spellman when he recorded 2hrs 46mins 35secs in what was his last race in R&N colours.
Brendan Moen has always been a consistent performer when taking part in the 26 mile event and this was no exception with a time of 2:53.38 and also breaking the three hour barrier was Dave Rayfield in 2:55.40.
First R&N lady was Jo Pulsford with a lifetime best run of 3hrs 5mins 23secs and Neil Willsher had a good solid performance with 3:13.21.
Daisy Rigby was the second lady over the line for the club with 3:14.27 and Maree Jesson also had a good run with 3:19.45.
Ian Husband and Dean Shears followed with the former being timed at 3:34.32 and the latter 3:53.38.
After recording 3:01.42 in the previous week’s Brighton Marathon, Matt Howes took a more leisurely approach to accompany his sister Jemma and crossed the line in 4:21.25. Russ Dickerson completed the course in 4:54.54.
Wootton’s Boden clocks quick time
Lazloe Boden led a large contingent of Wootton Road Runners home in this year’s Virgin London Marathon.
Boden clocked a super quick time of 2hrs 44mins 57secs, earning him 330th overall.
He was followed home by Simon Tootell to finish in an excellent 3.01.09.
First Wootton lady to cross the line was Julie Dixon who recorded a fine personal best of 3.12.49 and next up with another personal best performance was Vicky Ayliff to finish in 3.16.11. There were excellent performances all round, together with a lot of money raised for charities.
Wootton RR results: Lazloe Boden 2.44.57, Simon Tootell 3.01.09, Julie Dixon 3.12.49, Vicky Ayliff 3.16.11, Olly Craughan 3.28.00, Mike Carrea 3.41.16, John White 3.43.34, Steve Atkinson 3.45.47, Diane Rogers 3.50.28, Colin Randle 4.10.18, Chris Fulthorpe 4.11.49, Steph Carpenter 4.17.58, Richard Baldwin 4.19.26, Hannah Groves 4.22.15, Andrew Davidson 4.34.47, James Miller 4.58.04, Scott Wellington 5.00.54, Martin Lewis 5.13.08, Mick Heap 5.14.26, Josie Steedman 5.24.31, Hefina Davies 6.20.30, Joy Swindells 7.00.09
Heighway takes 38th at Flitwick
Steve Heighway ran a time of 39mins 31 secs to finish a brilliant 38th in the recent Flitwick 10k.
Fellow Wootton Road Runner Annette Burgess also took part, crossing the line in 44.56 for 149th.