With the spring marathon season now under way and thousands of runners looking forward to the London Marathon on Sunday, five athletes from Beverley Athletic Club have just returned from the Lochaber Marathon at Fort William in Scotland.
With 343 finishers it is a much smaller event than London but there was a strong field of club runners and the spectators on the roadside were friendly and very encouraging.
Months of dedicated training paid off for the Beverley athletes and they all recorded excellent times.
Andy Johnson was the first Beverley runner to finish. After an excellent first year with the club during which he achieved a succession of personal bests, he completed his first marathon in 3 hours 11 minutes and finished in the top 50.
Lucy Stamford, also competing in her first marathon, had a brilliant run. She finished in the top twenty ladies in 3 hours 29 and will be challenging club mate Julie Donald for the title of fastest female marathon runner this year. The time also gives her automatic entry to next year’s London Marathon.
Darren Rodmell has previously run marathons in London and Chicago and recorded a new personal best at Lochaber. He was on course for an even faster run but suffered badly with cramp in the last 3 miles and struggled to the finish.
David Robinson also developed cramp in the latter stages of the race and had to stop and stretch. He lost vital time and missed his target of sub-four hours by a mere 38 seconds. This was David’s first marathon and although disappointed not to have finished in less than four hours, he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He commented afterwards: “The organisation by Lochaber Athletic Club was excellent and they were a very friendly bunch.“
David Muschamp’s only previous marathon was London in 2008. At Lochaber he set a new personal best, finishing 6 minutes faster than in London.
All five Beverley runners enjoyed a great weekend in Scotland. The weather was dry with sunny periods on race day and the route offered stunning views of snow-clad Ben Nevis.
The race winner was Stuart Kerr of Kirkintilloch Olympians in 2.31.43 and the first lady to finish was Pamela Tosh of Aberdeen AAC in 22nd place overall in 2.59.13
Beverley Athletic Club finishing times:
Andy Johnson 3.11.03; Darren Rodmell 3.18.00; Lucy Stamford 3.29.37; David Robinson 4.00.37; David Muschamp 4.14.38
Photos by Rosemary Muschamp of Beverley Athletic Club
From left to right: Andy Johnson, Darren Rodmell, Lucy Stamford, David Robinson and David Muschamp