News of Members Overseas

Rachel Ross –Russell has been busy during her time in Hameln, Germany, with her husband undertaking his last posting with the Army. The opportunity to train off-road in the local woods, has allowed her to focus on cross country over the winter season and she has taken part in the local championship, achieving some excellent results. On her first attempt she won the first race outright in a time of 41.26, beating all her male opponents in the process, to become the first female winner in over 18 years. Her second outing was 5 seconds faster over the same course, but she was just pipped at the post by the athlete she beat in the first round, but still managed a fantastic result. Her third outing in the championship saw her finish third with a slightly slower time, but undeterred she took a brilliant third place overall and was promptly invited to take part in the regional competition.

London Marathon 2007 Preview

2006 competitors in action

Several Richmond and Zetland athletes are focusing their attentions on a slightly longer-term goal; the London Marathon, which takes place on Sunday 22nd April this year and is already firmly on the horizon. Six Harriers are hoping to make the start line this year, after undertaking the tough training schedule, which the event demands, if you are to do yourself justice on the day. Most athletes start building mileage and speed work from Christmas until around 3 weeks before the marathon, when a taper is induced to allow the body some recovery time, before running the full 26.2 miles across central London.

As usual, Jon Orange and Shaun Purkiss will be at the sharp end and aiming to run under 3 hours and possibly sub 2.30 in Jon’s case, as he will once again be lining up at the blue start, as part of the men’s elite AAA Championship race, hoping to better his 2003 time of 2.29.51, when he finished a fantastic 63rd overall. He entered late for the marathon, after taking time to consider whether to concentrate on breaking 4 minutes for 1500m on the track in the coming summer season. Shaun meanwhile is targeting last year’s time of 2.50.43 and hopes to better this slightly, in this, his 9th marathon. He is still the club record holder, having achieved a remarkable time of 2.27 in 1992. Training is going well for both runners and they are currently on target with times and distances.

Tony Hewson is once again juggling the commitments of marathon training with running his busy hotel in Middleham, which means plenty of long, hilly runs at all times of the day. He has bettered his marathon time at each attempt, until last year, when it dropped very slightly to 3.28.04. This year training is going according to plan, with more long runs and he feels confident in achieving a commendable target time of 3.20. Darren Cox hasn’t run the marathon for a couple of years, but has managed to get a ballot place this year and is ready for the challenge. After some solid training, he also hopes to aim for a finishing time of sub 3.30, all being well on the day.

Sarah Gregory has had preparation for the marathon hampered with injury for the last 3 years running and hopes that finally this year, she may get a chance to have a clear run through to April, so fingers are firmly crossed. Should training continue in the current trend and everything goes according to plan, then she would be extremely happy to run a sub 3.30 time, but there is still some way to go and will reassess her chances closer to race day. Team mate Ian Hepworth is training more fluidly than last year and is already up on last year’s mileage, however, he is always mindful of how his knees will stand up to the increased mileage, so is approaching the longer runs cautiously. He is yet to decide whether to run as Fred Flintstone, Ian Hepworth or even someone else this year, adding a touch of fun to the serious task of running over 26 miles and is aiming to beat last year’s time of 3.55.15.