Athletes from local running clubs gathered at Great Hatfield last Sunday to take part in the Hornsea Third Marathon. The race was a designated handicap race for Beverley Athletic Club and the club fielded a squad of 28 runners.
It was a lovely spring day and conditions were perfect on the 8.74 mile course which follows rural roads around Great Hatfield.
Beverley’s Carla Stansfield won the ladies’ race in an impressive time of 54:42. She was the fourth Beverley runner to finish and she crossed the line in fifteenth place overall. She has concentrated on cross-country running since joining Beverley last year but she is an accomplished athlete on the road and has an excellent record in the few road races that she has run for her new club.
Tina Wardropper and Jayne Dale ran much of the race together but it was Wardropper who had the stronger finish and crossed the line one second ahead of her club mate. Dale still had an excellent run and finished more than two minutes faster than the last time she competed in this race. She was third in the FV50 category and Wardropper finished fourth in the FV45 age group.
Other notable achievements were by Pam Atkins who won first prize in the FV65 category and Tanwen Gray who was fourth in the FV35 age group. There was also a strong performance by Rachel Woolner who finished in 76:48. Cat Williamson trained hard for the race and was pleased to beat her target time by more than seven minutes to finish in 92:40.
In the men’s race Jonathan Leskiewicz was the first Beverley runner to cross the line. He finished in ninth place overall in a time of 52:45. He was followed by Mark Dalton who was the first V50 athlete to complete the course.
A number of relatively new members to the club made their debut at this distance and there were strong performances from Elliot Hakner and Philip Simmons. Club President Andy Tate had his best run at Hornsea for several years and finished in 24th place in an impressive 58:10.
Credit is due to Mark Dalton, Jeroen Pasman, Andy Tate, Jayne Dale and Rachel Woolner who all took part in the road relays in Liverpool the previous day.
The Hornsea Third was organised by the Rotary Club of Hornsea and East Riding to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care. There were 250 finishers and the winner was Carl Ryde of Doncaster AC in 45:34. The first lady was Beverley’s Carla Stansfield in 54:42.
Beverley Athletic Club finishing times:
Jonathan Leskiewicz 52:45; Mark Dalton 54:01; Elliot Hakner 54:21; Carla Stansfield 54:42; Pete Fielding-Smith 54:53; Andy Tate 58:10; Steve Evins 60:01; Philip Simmons 61:44; Daniel Hardy 61:58; Pete Watkinson 62:26; Lucas Meagor 63:58; Michael Anderson 64:08; Jody Horth 64:32; Perry Holmes 65:27; Tina Wardropper 66:31; Jayne Dale 66:32; Jeroen Pasman 68:29; Steve Hadley 69:34; John Williamson 70:03; Paul Evans 70:49; Jed Holden 70:49; Amanda Ritchie 73:24; Tanwen Gray 74:06; Rachel Woolner 76:48; Jackie Wright 79:13; Fiona Holland 79:56; Pam Atkins 80:13; Catriona Williamson 92:40.
Reported by Kay Farrow | Photos by Dave Gowans and Mike Atkins
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