Eastbourne Rovers shine at Sussex road relays… Hastings athletes enjoy Manchester marathon magic

It is a challenging yet fun event over the Easter break where U11, 13 and 15 age groups run a mile loop with U17s, 20s, seniors and masters completing two loops. All teams consisted of three athletes, except U17/20 men and senior men who had four.

For Rovers Ilya Korchev ran the fastest leg for the U15 age group in an impressive 4min 44sec. He and Thomas Petherick and Oscar Mizen held on to clinch the bronze medal by two seconds from Brighton & Hove A/C.

The strong Eastbourne U17 girls dominated their race to take the gold medal. Ellie Mclean ran the fastest leg overall in 11.39 and was well supported by Isabelle Chappell and Eleanor Strevens.

Fin Lumber-Fry set the pace by running a storming first leg and fastest lap in the U13 boys’ race in 5.14. Ben Wright and Jonah Messer pushed on for a convincing win and gold team medals, 34 seconds ahead of Brighton & Hove AC.

The Eastbourne U13 boys’ B team of Joshua Webster, Byron Roberts and George Armstrong-Smith had incredible runs and were also on the podium as bronze medallists. Webster and Roberts are only in their first year in the age group.

Evie Lennard ran joint third fastest leg in the U13 girls’ race in 5.42 and with Lexie Mclean and Elsa Ducat, they achieved bronze ahead Crawley A/C.

Fintan Pearce ran two legs in the U17 race in 10.35 and 11.32).

Results: U11 Girls – Georgia Lennard 7.21, Isla Philipson 7.30; U11 boys Charlie Davey 6.22, Jake Cooper 7.15, Fox Andrews 6.08; U13 Girls Evie Lennard 5.42, Lexie Mclean 6.07, Elsa Ducat 6.32. Alicia Stone 7.13; U13 Boys Fin Lumber – Fry 5.14, Ben Wright 5.27, Jonah Messer 5.35; U13 Boys (B) Joshua Webster 5.33, Byron Roberts 5.41, George Armstrong – Smith – 6.04; U15 Girls Raya Petrova 5.59, Katherine Brown 6.42, Freda Pearce 5.37; U15 Boys Ilya Korchev 4.44, Thomas Petherick 5.26, Oscar Mizen 5.37; U17 Girls – Ellie Mclean 11.39, Isabelle Chappell 13.43, Eleanor Strevens 11.48; U17 Boys – Fintan Pearce 10.35, Kaleb Berhaine 12.03, Benjamin Brown 11.21, Fintan Pearce 11.32.

HY RUNNERS

It’s been a busy and successful period for HY Runners. A number of members of the Hastings club took on the Manchester Marathon.

Ben McCallion was first home in 2:57 followed by Benji Symes just breaking the three-hour mark in his marathon debut in 2:59:28. This was a special occasion for Ben, not only completing the distance after withdrawing from his first marathon attempt at Brighton last year but also breaking his father Paul's marathon PB of 3:02.

A young Ben (accompanied by Benji) had supported that effort 11 years ago to the day. Benji was also delighted with his time after a mere eight weeks of training following injury. And he now has his sights set on sub 2:50 marathon.

Benji credits his team-mates at HY (including the kids) and coach and friend Terry Skelton for always motivating him to do his best – and Kwame Oko Okojie for his sound and positive advice.

Both Ben and Benji have now qualified for entry to London Marathon next year based on their times for their age. Ben needed to run under three hours and Benji needed a sub 3hr 10 run.

A last minute entry to the marathon with not much training from Ed Lofts saw him finish in an excellent 3:55:06. Lisa Buchanan also made her marathon debut finishing in 4:40:15, and Jason Johnstone in 5:15:01.

Elsewhere, Sonnii Pine made her marathon debut at the Kent Spring Marathon, finishing in 4:07 and placing as third lady. This was an exceptional run for Sonnii who, until recently, had run no further than a half marathon.

But after being drawn into keeping her team-mates company on their long training runs, she made a last-minute decision to enter a marathon herself. Meanwhile Terry Puxty finished in 1:29:59 and placed as first vet at the Ashford Half Marathon, which had a multi terrain course with a mixture of road, trails, hills and even flooding.

Jason Johnstone took part in his second ultra marathon on, a 50 mile off road race in Herne Bay, Kent. In the lead-up Jason racked a good solid block of training covering 100 miles a week. He finished 14th in a time of 11:07:54.

The race went better than expected in high winds and muddy terrain and acts as a stepping stone in Jason's training for the South Downs 100 Mile in May. Jason is enjoying the challenge of stepping up to ultras having previously specialised in half and full marathons.