There were near perfect running conditions for Stafford Half Marathon on Sunday 27th March, with spring sunshine and clear skies. As usual the race was well organised, with the start and finish in the city centre and a route taking in some of the local hills and estates, as well as the canal and park. A glance at the array of club vests on show indicated that some of the 2000 or so competitors
had travelled from far afield to take part; all were cheered on by the enthusiastic crowd, lining the route from start to finish.
19 LRC members tackled the course and several excellent PBs were recorded. First home for the club was Joe Goodwin in 39th place with a time of 1:22:47. Duncan Cooper finished 55th (1:24:16), followed by Ed Foster (69th – 1:25:07), Jimmy Pickering (83rd – 1:26:13) and Dave Sanders (84th – 1:26:14), with Jimmy acting as a pacer for Dave, and Sean Keeley (113th – 1:27:47 – PB). Tim Nicholls (267th – 1:37:00) and Ed Coppinger (268th – 1:36:58) were hard to separate, crossing the line just ahead of Phil Sutcliffe who finished in 283rd in 1:37:37, only a week after running a 50 mile ultra race. James Coombes (continuing his return from injury and looking very relaxed) finished in 308th place in1:38:33.
First LRC lady was Ute Baird (322nd – 1:39:04). John Hutchison (352nd – 1:40:02) and Keith Lowther (431st- 1:43:04 – PB) followed; then Lauren Foulds (910th – 1:55:49), Kim Leary (998th – 1:57:55 – PB), Radhika McCathie (1314th) and Hazel Moore (1315th), with an identical time of 2:07:47. Marian Lowther (1450th – 2:11:21 – PB) and Ann Schwarzenbach (1563rd – 2:15:20) completed the field.
Well done to all our runners; great performances all round!