7th April 2009 - A long, long way for some!!

Sorry for the delay in sending this weekend's race.

Waddies were in action at home and abroad last weekend with the Worthing 20 mile SGP race, the Paddock Wood Half Marathon and the Paris and Rotterdam Marathons.

Congratulations to all the Waddie finishers in those races.

The Worthing 20 mile race

In light winds, sunny weather and rising temperatures 6 Waddies ran the Worthing 20 mile race. this is a race of 4 laps and the results, below, indicate the chip lap times as well as the overall results.

GunPos Bib Name Gender Cat Club GunTime ChipPos ChipTime Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap3 33 390 Michael Pain M 40 Wadhurst Runners 02:19:11 33 02:19:08 00:36:09 01:10:05 01:44:14
65 417 Derek Harrison M 50 Wadhurst Runners 02:26:52 66 02:26:46 00:37:07 01:12:29 01:48:44
183 237 Shane Last M 40 Wadhurst Runners 02:51:06 187 02:50:48 00:46:32 01:26:11 02:10:42
191 189 Helen Neary F 55 Wadhurst Runners 02:52:47 194 02:52:15 00:43:20 01:24:09 02:06:49
345 202 Anthony Gates M 50 Wadhurst Runners 03:27:23 346 03:27:04 00:51:35 01:43:14 02:38:32
381 201 Kathie Gates F Wadhurst Runners 03:45:09 380 03:44:49 00:51:35 01:43:14 02:38:33

The Paris Marathon

Meanwhile, Chairman Albert was running in the Paris Marathon. I was hoping to catch up with Albert at Circuit Training tonight, but he wasn't there so I can only report on his result. No doubt Albert was hustled and jostled in true Gallic style as is customary and will circulate a graphic account shortly. Albert's result was:-

person
name KEMP, Albert (UNITED KINGDOM)
number 19470
class VH3 (1949 - 1940)
split time
5 km 00:24:22
10 km 00:49:04
15 km 01:14:11
21.1 km 01:44:43
25 km 02:04:24
30 km 02:30:37
35 km 02:56:54
total
place (M/W) 6591
place (brutto) 6869
place (net) 7414
place (ag) 83
time total (netto) 03:38:09
time total (brutto) 03:39:13

Well done, Albert.

The Rotterdam Marathon

While Albert was well en route in Paris, the Rotterdam Marathon started at 11.00am with a canon being fired at the Start outside the Town Hall. Peter Burfoot was the sole Waddie representative. After a cold cloudy day on Saturday, the fog lifted early on Sunday morning and there was clear blue sky and temperatures which rose to an official maximum of 14.8C, nothing like the 27.1C encountered in 2007 when he last ran the race. There was a light untroubling breeze and the flat fast course had been reconfigured to make it faster, by trying to avoiding prevailing headwinds. This year Kenyan Duncan Kibet broke the course record with a fantastic time of 2:04:27 just 34 seconds off the world record. Perhaps we have a future Haile in the making?

Peter, still only 8 weeks after abdominal surgery and troubled on the day by a streaming head cold could not match Duncan’s performance but achieved a respectable result, all things considered.

Although the number of individual marathon finishers is not very high at Rotterdam, there are marathon relays taking place as well as a 10k at the same time so the course is much busier than the number of finishers suggests. The city really comes alive for the event and while much of the race is run on dual carriageways in the suburbs where support can be sparse, a number of sections of the race are very well supported and there are numerous places where there are bands and music is played. Supporters can view the runners in a number of places on the figure of 8 course, by using the underground system. Rotterdam does itself proud with this event....though I did see 2 runners collide with a bicycle which a lady was pushing while crossing the course.

Peter's result:-

Bib number 11221

Name Peter Burfoot
City Ticehurst, Wadhurst
Distance Fortis Marathon Rotterdam
Category M55
Overall place 1905 / 6443
Category place 81 / 377
Speed 11,482 Km/Hour
Gross time 3:41:38
Net time 3:40:30
Net split times (difference)
5 Kilometer 23:40 (23:40)
10 Kilometer 46:59 (23:19)
15 Kilometer 1:10:22 (23:23)
20 Kilometer 1:34:33 (24:11)
Half marathon 1:40:20
25 Kilometer 2:00:41 (26:08)
30 Kilometer 2:28:02 (27:21)
35 Kilometer 2:56:43 (28:41)
40 Kilometer 3:27:30 (30:47)

The next SGP race is the Hastings 5 mile race on the 19th April.

Those wishing to enter the London Marathon 2010 should be aware that on-line entry is reported to be due to go live at 9.00am on Monday 27th April, so those members who want to apply when it opens and who don't have internet access at work had better start to arrange their annual leave for that day!