London Marathon - 13 April 2014
On a bright, sunny day in the capital James Oram led the Striders contingent around in a superb 2:56.58. Nicola Christian finished in a super 4:04.10, with Rachel Marlow completing the course in 4:35.29. Each year the club is allocated a couple of places in the marathon and this year’s recipients were Miranda Stewart, who dipped under 4.40 coming home in 4:39.44 and Derek Tebbs, who finished in 3:42.02. Well done all.
Meanwhile, a couple of weeks earlier, Charlotte Sugden tackled her first ever marathon down in Brighton:
“Having trained thoroughly for Brighton and having felt really good training for it i was extremely excited for my first marathon. The day was cloudy, cold and grim but dry, however in the start line it decided to pour down for 2 mins. I felt good for the first 3 miles having began with a steady incline but began to struggle with my asthma until about mile 8, where there were more inclines (despite Brighton being flat!). Miles 8 - 12 felt good and strong then the legs began to tire but I fought through until mile 20 when the end felt close but still miles away. As i got to mile 23 the legs were gone but knew i was not too far away, the support was fantastic and kept me going for the last couple of miles. At this point the enormity of what i had nearly completed as i got to the last 400m and emotions were high and as i saw the line i just wanted to get over it. I finally did and completed it in 4hours and 16mins. The time was nowhere near what i wanted but was just so happy to have completed my 1st marathon that the time did not matter i was just happy to finish. This experience has motivated me to get a better time and am applying for Bournemouth Marathon in October to put what i have learnt into practice.”
Charlotte was running in aid of Sue Ryder and you can still make donations.