Parkrun is popular for Hastings athletes - so are London's city sights

After more than a year of non-activity as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the popular Hastings parkrun is back.
HY Runners' top four at the town's parkrunHY Runners' top four at the town's parkrun
HY Runners' top four at the town's parkrun

Last Saturday HY Runners had eight athletes taking part in the weekly 5k, which is held at many venues throughout the country.

Hastings parkrun starts and finishes on the seafront for a good old fashioned out and back style run.

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HY Runners were the dominant club as members of their running club scooped the top four places with some incredible times.

Hastings Runners John Simcox & Susan RaeHastings Runners John Simcox & Susan Rae
Hastings Runners John Simcox & Susan Rae

Ben Mccallion was first to cross the line in a rapid time of 16:44.

Hot on his heels in second place and just one second behind in 16:45 was Jethro Atherall.

Third was Andy Edmonds who finished with a PB of 17:10 which took 1.20 off his previous best.

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Fourth was Oliver Carey with a PB of 17:30 to complete the 1-2-3-4 for the flying red arrows of HY Runners.

Gavin Bailey of Heart and SoleGavin Bailey of Heart and Sole
Gavin Bailey of Heart and Sole

Also competing on the day for Hy was Chris Castleman who was second male veteran 55 with a PB of 21:18.

Leanne Badrock was second female vet 40 with 26:36

John Badrock achieved a PB of 21:43 and is getting quicker at each race, while HY sprint coach Glenn Cooper completed his run in 23:04.

Elsewhere John Ralph of HY Runners was competing at the Storey’s Field parkrun, doing so in a very credible time of 19:35, by no means the quickest he has run over that distance but an excellent time when taking into consideration the terrain.

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Three more HY Runners took part in various events around the SouthEast region.

Lee Cacciatore produced a magnificent display at the Pentland Homes Canterbury 10-mile road race hosted by Invicta East Kent Athletics, an event to support Pilgrims hospices.

He ran a solid race to come home in a PB of 64:15 in 44th overall from a field of around 1,500 runners

Two HY ladies were competing in the London Landmarks Half marathon, renowned for its amazing views of the city.

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Amanda Bahadur and Lisa Bates Buckland did well to complete the scenic route in times of 1:53:16 and 1:53:57 respectively and Bahadur afterwards spoke of her delight at her run.

“Lisa and I absolutely loved it and it’s great to read all the messages of well done and support from the Hy members,” she said.

Reflecting on the weekend’s events HY head coach Terry Skelton said the return of parkrun felt like another step back to normality.

“For runners it is a significant weekly event, and of course we are delighted with the performance of our runners but a special mention obviously has to go to the runners who secured top four spots,” he said.

HASTINGS RUNNERS

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Susan Rae took four minutes off her half marathon PB and won the female veteran 60-64 age category in the prestigious London Landmarks Half Marathon.

The event attracted nearly 11,000 runners to the closed road event through the City of London and City of Westminster. Her chip time was 1.47.21.

Fellow club members John Simcox and Keith Goodsell recorded chip times of 2.01.04 and 2.07.27 respectively.

Matt Edmonds recorded his 20th different course victory at parkrun, winning the Squerryes Winery parkrun in Westerham, Kent in a time of 19.53.

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What was more remarkable was that he had set off from Johns Cross the previous evening, and trekked 66km throughout the night in order to reach the parkrun before the 9am start on Saturday!

Closer to home, 41 Hastings Runners tackled the Hastings parkrun which attracted a field of nearly 300 runners - 80 more than on the previous week’s restart.

They were led in by Will Withecombe, who continued his fine vein of recent form with an excellent 5th place in a PB of 17.40.

Other PBs were recorded by Fraser Hughes (20.03); Simon Linklater (20.11); Katy Matthews (22.41) and Manami Cheves (23.29). Harry Hood notched up his 50th parkrun, while Jane Hughes (FV60) and Martin Noakes (MV55) posted the third and fourth best age grading scores with 80.56% (24.26) and 80.10% (19.41) respectively.

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Club chairman Nick Brown took the highest age graded score (79.95%) at Seaford Beach parkrun with a time of 20.47.

HEART AND SOLE

Donna Gardner took on the London Landmarks half marathon and smashed her previous half marathon time, finishing in 2:44.1.

Meanwhile Gavin Bailey clocked a PB of 39.32 in the East Peckham 10k, a relatively flat road course, finishing 16th overall.

Heart & Sole recognize the financial strain the summer holidays places on families and so are offering all training session for free in August to new and existing members.