Gary Marshall finished in 2nd place in his age category in the British Trail Championships which will see him selected to represent England later in the year.
After running a personal best in the Fleet Half Marathon a week ago, Ryde Harrier’s Gary Marshall tackled the distance again but this time running on the trails in the British Trail Running Championships in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.
This championship race also doubled as a selection race for England in age group categories, with Gary at the very top end of the 40-45 group, so competition was going to be tough.
The race started on the road but was quickly diverted onto the trails, where Gary was moving well using his technical skills on the undulating paths. With over 1000 competitors, Gary was running in a strong group in the top 20 and as the race progressed, he worked his way through to finish an excellent 13th overall in 77min 53sec which is an excellent time when running off road.
Gary finished in 2nd place in his age category, winning silver overall.
Gary will be back in action over 10 miles in Salisbury in early April.
HARRIER CHRIS NEWNHAM ACHIEVES PERSONAL BEST IN READING
Ryde Harrier Chris Newnham – who is building up to tackle his first marathon in 5 weeks’ time when he lines up for this year’s London Marathon – showed his fitness is in excellent shape by running a personal best time in the very popular Reading Half Marathon.
With over 6000 competitors taking part, Chris began very quickly in the frenetic start covering the first mile in under 5 minutes, but soon settled into his rhythm on the undulating first half of the course.
Never being far behind the leading group, Chris had to work very hard in the final 5 kilometres but was rewarded with a finishing time of 69min 07second and finished in 10th place overall, an outstanding achievement in such a large field.
In his age category of 35-39, Chris was also in an excellent 3rd place.
He will now concentrate on training long and hard in preparation for the London Marathon on April 27th where he will line up with another 56,000 athletes.
