Having withdrawn from York Marathon a few months earlier, Lee Dalton made
the decision to go and defend his Shaun Lee Johnstone 10 mile title instead.
The course was a lot drier than the previous year and as Lee headed out he was
accompanied by eventual winner, Ian Fisher. After the first mile Lee had to
settle for second place as Fisher surged ahead and went onto break Lee’s course
record. Phil Robinson joined Lee on the start line and finished in 83.33.
The second big marathon of the month was at York for the inaugural
Yorkshire Marathon, an oversubscribed event that attracted an international
field. First back for Nidd Valley was an old hand at marathons, Andy Todd,
crossing the line in 3:05.31. First lady back for Nidd Valley was Kathy Coates,
this being her first marathon she managed an impressive time of 3:59.20. More
first timers at the marathon distance were Dave Rushton 4:28.24 and Jillie
Townend 4:28.34, both starting running less the two years ago at parkrun and
progressing up to the iconic 26 mile event. Lizzie Medwell, another established
marathon runner, crossed the line in 4:32.00 followed by the Moorse sisters,
doing their first marathon, Phillipa recording 5:02.34 and Helen 5:11.02.
Across the valley in Bridlington Mike and Fiona Deacon tackled the popular
Bridlington Half Marathon, a well established race along the coast. Both were
pleased with their times, Mike with 1.35 and Fiona with 1.41.
Emma David has been ticking the miles off, the last of the Run Further
Series saw her complete the Rotherham 50 for 3rd lady, this gave her enough for
2nd lady overall in the series and 1st in her age catagory. Meanwhile Mark David
headed to Todmorden for the Race to the Summit and completed the 5 mile event in
41.05.
