Burgess Hill Runners prevail in Worthing and London

It was another busy and successful weekend of races for Burgess Hill Runners.

The Worthing 10k is a popular, flat and friendly run on the south coast and BHR had a big cohort of runners.

The first finisher for the club was Sam Mayes in a time of 37:37.

He was followed over the line by Oliver Day (39:34), Jamie Goodhead (40:18), Travis Golbey (41:37), Gayle Tyler (43:55), Fred Sykes (44:30), Darren Parsons (48:00), John Palmer (49:26), Carole Mills (50:05), Tshepo Mati (50:19), Mercy Dennis-Smith (52:38), Mark Craigs (52:44), Cath Beckett (53:29), Antonia Boxall (53:57), Tlou Mati (58:41), Mark Nicholls (1:02:04) and Ruth Day (1:06:27).

Kevin Cross and Yasmine Allfrey took part in another local 10k, this time in East Grinstead. They finished in 46:13 and 51:47 respectively.

In London, Oliver Dewdney took on the Richmond Half Marathon in 2:00:59, and Andrew Biggs completed the Royal Parks Half Marathon in 1:34:54.

Last but certainly not least, Simon Thompson and Nicola Saunders took on the mighty Downslink Ultra.

This is a 38-mile race from St Martha's Hill in Surrey to Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex, using the Downslink footpath and bridleway.

They finished together in 9:02:49 and 9:02:50.

Mid Sussex Triathlon Club members have been shining overseas.

Douglas MacTaggart from Hassocks achieved his life's ambition of competing with top pro and age group triathletes from around the world on ironman's main stage, the VinFAST Ironman World Championships at Kailua-Kona in Hawaii.

Doug said the 140.6 mile course was much tougher than expected but he was ecstatic about completing his dream race in 14.36.59.

Earlier, while Doug was acclimatising in Hawaii, Carol MacTaggart completed the Ironman distance swim of 2.4 miles in 1.42.

Emma and Mike Jaffe ‘only’ went as far as the rather cold Mid West of the USA for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, which attracts runners from more than 100 countries.

They both put in good performances with Mike finishing in 3.15.39 and Emma in 4.34.13.

Meanwhile Helen and Jim Graham were in a somewhat warmer Vancouver Island for the scenic Royal Victoria Marathon, which attracts about 8,000 runners and is held on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

This was the first marathon Jim has been able to complete, since he had a replacement hip – which was needed after he broke his hip whilst competing in an Ironman Competition in Italy about three years ago.

Helen finished in 5.16.39, while Jim walked and hobbled round in 5.27.02.

He said he could barely walk for the last 5km, so resorted to walking backwards and it worked a treat.

Closer to home, Stewart Conway competed in the popular Weymouth 70.3 Ironman with a 1.9km sea swim, 90km bike and 19.1km run, finishing 10th in his M50-54 age group in 4.58.16.

Zoe Rocholl and Paul Mittonette went to Brighton seafront for the sprint triathlon event with a 750m sea swim, 20km bike, and 5km run.

Zoe finished in 1.39.16 coming 11th out of 85 in her F40-44 age group, while Paul finished in 1.31.37 to place 6th out of 15 in his M55-59 age group.

Well done to all who have flown the MSTC flag in fine style.

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