Hastings athletes shine in races at iconic Sussex venue

The races were held on a brand-new course in laps of 5k on the smooth traffic-free tarmac circuit.

Elite athlete Ross Skelton won the half marathon in 66.48. Skleton and his coach had decided to take part only two days earlier.

The plan was to run comfortably at marathon pace as he had not tapered for the event. However, this plan changed when he arrived and saw two of the UK’s top distance runners, Paul Navesey (Crawley AC) and Kevin Moore (Brighton & Hove AC), were present – and the race became tactical.

Skelton said: “I was running behind them and covering every move, there were surges between 5.10- and 4.50 minute miling. I knew they would have to do a lot more than that to drop me.

“With two miles to go, it was just me and Paul. I knew I could beat him in a sprint finish, so as the end drew closer, I knew I had it in the bag. I have a lot of speed in my legs at the moment, from my Bushy Park sessions.”

It was certainly a race to the end as Skelton realised with two miles to go that as he had gone off in wave one, he needed to put the work in as Navesey had started 10 seconds behind in wave two.

Skelton put in an incredible 4.38 for his last mile and beat Navesey by four seconds. Skelton is next looking forward to a spring marathon.

Meanwhile, racing his way to a personal best was HY’s V45 athlete Carl Adams. He is a seasoned ultra-runner, so a marathon is short for him!

Adams has knuckled down hard this year and his aim has been to go under three hours at marathon distance.

Adams said: “Save for a serious case of imposter syndrome about 17 miles in, it was perfect. A dream realised. The marathon in under three hours – 2:55:30. I wasn’t training for this marathon. How can you train for any specific event under these circumstances?!

“But I have been training under the guidance of HY running coach Terry Skelton all through lockdown, to be ready for an opportunity at breaking three hours for the marathon distance as soon as the opportunity arose.That happened to be on Sunday at Goodwood. When I crossed the line in 2:55:30 and was in genuine shock!

“I just couldn’t have imagined this before joining HY Runners. What an incredible group of people and what a fantastic coach! Having Terry there and seeing Ross win the half marathon really spurred me on too.”