Andrew Brant of Beverley Athletic Club is celebrating after setting a new personal best in the Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday.
It was his sixth marathon and the first time he had run the distance in less than four hours. He completed the 26 mile course in 3:53:59 – an amazing 10 minutes faster than his time in last month’s London Marathon.
Brant has come a long way since his first marathon in 2005 in Blackpool when he took more than five hours to complete the course. He had hoped to break four hours in the London Marathon this year but suffered in the heat and missed his target by three minutes.
He was determined to break four hours before his imminent 50th birthday and succeeded despite the strong headwinds that tested everyone’s stamina for the last eight miles of the course in Edinburgh. He maintained a very steady pace throughout the race but it was not until mile 25 that he believed he could beat four hours. He said “I was both surprised and over the moon that I crossed the finish line in well under four hours.”
The race started in Edinburgh city centre and then headed out to the coast passing through Portobello, Musselbrugh and Longniddry. At the 18 mile point runners turned round and followed the same route back to the finish in Musselburgh. The westerly wind that was behind them between miles five and eighteen became a strong headwind after the turnaround point and according to David Robinson “sometimes nearly stopped you in your tracks.”
Robinson, a very experienced marathon runner, described the last few miles as “extremely hard work.” After a good start he took almost an hour and a quarter to run the last 10k.
Andy Johnson, Pete Watkinson and Debs Brant had also run the London Marathon last month and were competing in Edinburgh for the first time. Johnson was the first Beverley runner to finish. He crossed the line in 3:15:42 and in 555th position. He was followed by Pete Watkinson in 867th place in 3:23:40. Debs Brant was the sole female representative from Beverley. Although she covered the first 10k in 56 minutes she could not maintain the pace and like Robinson found the last 10k particularly tough in the wind.
There were 9660 finishers and the race was won by Phil Nicholls in 2:19:21. The first lady was Sarah Harris in 2:42:59.
Beverley Athletic Club finishing times:
Andy Johnson 3:15:42; Pete Watkinson 3:23:40; Andrew Brant 3:53:59; David Robinson 4:13:06; Debs Brant 4:18:18.
Reported by Kay Farrow
