89 runners contested our 10 mile inter club road race with Harwich Runners this weekend, our biggest turnout since the race was introduced in 2016.
The first male runner home was our very own Doug McGillivray, who pipped last year’s winner, Ram Osman, to the finish line by the closest of margins. Doug crossed the line in 59 minutes exactly, with Ram just one second behind him in 59:01. The first male runner home for Harwich Runners was Mark Lloyd in 1:01:32, who finished in fifth place overall. For the women, Magdalena Komorowska was the first Great Bentley runner to finish in 1:15:47, whilst Harwich Runner’s Karen Stapleton crossed the line in 1:17:43.
However, this race isn’t just about the faster runners and every single person who completed the course contributed to the points total for their teams. In the end, a strong turnout from Great Bentley meant that we retained the coveted winner’s trophy with a total of 2412 points compared to Harwich’s 1608. Well done to everyone who took part and a massive thank you to all the volunteers from both clubs who made this race possible.
Take a look at the full results.
On Saturday, five blues ran the Essex Cross Country Championships at a very hilly Gloucester Park. Lisa Briggs and Meera Rajoo-Oakley ran in the Ladies 8k event, and both ran very strongly to finish within the top 50 with Lisa crossing the line in 37th place and Meera in 49th. Running the 12k Men’s event were Robin Oakley (123rd), Paul Davison (132nd) and Tomasz Komorowska (157th).
Elsewhere, Caroline Searle was on the tourist trail at Crosby parkrun on Merseyside. This challenging route, which comprises a mile of sand, a mile of promenade and a mile of grass, was made even harder by a strong headwind, but Caroline didn’t let that put her off as she completed the course in 30:20. Also taking on the windy conditions, but a bit closer to home, was Martin Owen who finished in fifteenth place at Harwich parkrun in a time of 25:10. At Clacton Seafront parkrun twelve Bentley runners took on the blustery conditions, including the ever-strong Mark Jasper, who claimed the first finishers token for the 39th time.
See the full consolidated club report for all our parkrun results.
Great Bentley Running Club 