More than 400 runners took to the roads around the villages east of Hull on Sunday to take part in the East Hull 20.
With the Hull and London marathons only a few weeks away, many runners were using the 20-mile race as part of their carefully planned training programmes. It was important for all runners to pace themselves well in the race and to learn from any mistakes.
The first Beverley lady to finish was Zoe Dale. She completed the course in an impressive 2:31:47, was the 12th lady to finish and won second prize in the LV40 category. Although she had run this race several times before it was the first time that she had competed as a member of Beverley Athletic Club. In April she will be running in both the Hull and London marathons.
Dale was followed closely by Sam Allen in a commendable 2:36:20. The pair covered the first ten miles together chatting as they ran. It was Allen’s debut in the East Hull 20 and she treated it as a training run for the London Marathon rather than a race. She finished third in the LV40 age category.
Helen Storr took the race in her stride and enjoyed the long run in the sunshine. She finished comfortably in less than three hours in 2:57:35.
Ten men from Beverley AC also completed the race and the first of them to finish was James Pearson. He crossed the line in just over two hours in 2:01:09 and in seventh place overall.
Pearson was followed by Jim McGivern who has made a welcome return to racing recently. McGivern finished in 38th place in a commendable time of 2:13:87. He will be running his first marathon for nine years when he takes part in the London Marathon next month. The last time he ran the East Hull 20 was ten years ago when he finished seventh in 2.02.46. Fourteen years ago, in 1998, he won the race in 1.55.20.
Although happy with his finishing time this year he was highly critical of his race performance. He felt that he ran the first eight miles too quickly and struggled in the latter stages of the race. “I realised after a mile that I had run it a minute faster than I should have,” he said afterwards, “ but as I was in a group getting sheltered from the wind I decided to try and stick with them rather than running into the wind on my own.” He is determined not to make the same mistake in the London Marathon and intends to keep to his race plan and run at his own pace.
Lucas Meagor was delighted to break two hours thirty for the first time in a 20-mile race. He finished in 2:29:39, twelve minutes faster than last year. He is hoping to break the elusive three hours thirty barrier in the first Hull Marathon next month.
Reported by Kay Farrow
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