MEMBERS TAKE PART IN HALF MARATHON

Congratulations to the following Members who took part in the Adidas Silverstone Half Marathon on Sunday 3 March and all finished in very respectable times

Stephen Jelley 
Oliver Gavin 
Stuart Hall
Oliver Turvey
Stuart Pringle 
Charlie Hollings 
Nick Adams 
Oliver Webb 
Riki Christodoulou

Paralympic champion David Weir was part of a field of 6224 competitors taking part in the eleventh adidas Silverstone half marathon on Sunday. Iwan Thomas – Olympic silver medallist, former European and Commonwealth record holder and British record holder at 400m – dropped the chequered flag at the world famous Silverstone track then quickly joined the competitor field in his attempt to break his half marathon personal best of 1:39:01.
 
In the wheelchair race, David Weir soon took an impressive lead, going through two miles in 12:06. In the able-bodied race, defending champion Scott Overall, running for Blackheath & Bromley Harriers, went through the first mile in 4:56 with a lead of 16 seconds – ahead of his closest rival by more then 300 yards.
 
Scott Overall ran the New Orleans Half Marathon last weekend but was fresh enough to put time into the rest of the men’s field, going through three miles in 9:55. His consistent sub-five-minute miles saw him cruise through seven miles in 34:53 and continue to extend his lead to take the win in 65:41. 
 
Scott was delighted with his win, saying afterwards: “I planned to run a tempo effort as part of my build up to the London Marathon in April so today gave me a lot of confidence. The conditions were tough, but it seems to be windy everywhere I race at the moment. There were some long, hard drags but I’m pleased that everything went to plan today.”
 
The windy conditions were tough for the wheelchair athletes too, but nothing could stop David Weir in his first race since his four brilliant gold medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games. David led from the start, passing the five-mile mark in 17 minutes on his way to an impressive win of 47:32, more than five minutes ahead of second-place Simon Lawson. 
 
David said afterwards: “I found today’s conditions tougher than last year [when Weir set a new course record of 45:20], but the race went well. I feel like I’m in pretty good shape considering the amount of time I’ve had out. Today’s race revealed what I need to do in training, so I’ll knuckle down for the next seven weeks so I’m ready to give it my best shot and go for a record seven wins at this year’s London Marathon.”
 
Sarah Ivory won the women’s race by an impressive margin to finish in 72:34. “I felt great today and went for it,” she said afterwards. “The race was really well supported too, which helped to push me on. It feels really good to have won; I’ve been trying to break 75 minutes for two years, so to knock more than two minutes off my previous best is brilliant.”
 
In the women’s wheelchair race, 17-year-old Jade Jones knocked an incredible 10 minutes off the previous course record to win in 62:09. Jade is too young to take part in the full London Wheelchair Marathon this April but she’ll take part in the Virgin Money Giving Mini Marathon, which she’s won twice. “I felt great out there,” said Jones. “Winning here today has given me a huge boost before the Mini Marathon; it’s such an amazing event and the spectators really spur me on.”
 
Bringing the celebrity field home, Iwan Thomas – no stranger to the famous Silverstone track thanks to the laps he’s put in here on his motorbike – managed a personal best of 1:38:01. Like so many of the 6104 finishers, he was fine tuning his preparations for this April’s London Marathon in seven weeks time, when he hopes to go under four hours.
 
Winners of the adidas Half Marathon
 
Men
 
Scott Overall (Blackheath & Bromley Harriers) 65:43
Tom Atkinson (Leicester) 72:40
Steve Gallienne (Bideford AAC) 72:53
Daniel Allinson  (Leicester Corinthians) 73:32
Jeremy Heal 75:19
Peter Mackrell 75:53
 
 
Women
 
Sarah Ivory (Colchester Harriers) 82:34
Jessica Bloom 86:02
Susannah Evans (Wimbledon Windmilers) 86:14
Giedre Drake (Garden City Runners) 87:32
Marta Anna Jarosz 88:08
Lucy Ashe 90:07
 
 
Wheelchair – Men
 
David Weir (Kingston & Poly) 47:32
Simon Lawson (BWRA) 52:47
Phil Hogg (Kingston & Poly) 53:21
Sheikh Muhidin (Kingston & Poly) 59:09
Matthew Clarke (BWRA) 60:38
James Goddard 68:28
 
Wheelchair – Women
 
Jade Jones (BWRA) 62:09
Elizabeth McTernan (Cleethorpes) 92:55
 
 
IPC T42
 
Richard Whitehead 90:00