Athletics
Lancaster & Morecambe AC’s marathon runners have been in action recently, with months of hard training culminating in the Windermere and Edinburgh marathons.
At Windermere the first Lancaster runner was experienced marathoner John Carr. John ran superbly over the tough course, with a fantastic time of 2h.54.23 placing him a well deserved fifth place overall out of 770 finishers and first in the veteran 50 category. In next was John Spooner, with an excellent run of 3h.37.43 placing him 108th and he was followed by Ian Mercer with a cracking effort of 3h.44.21 in 147th position. First Lancaster female was Nikki Kay, running extremely well with a good time of 3h.50.16.
Other finishers: Peter Sariwee 3h.59.42, Gregory Lambert 4h.10.10, Katie Lawson 4h.57.41.
In Edinburgh the course was less undulating but very warm weather made for tough running conditions. However, this didn't stop Lancaster’s Fiona Hawkins from running under three hours for the first time. Fiona ran an incredible personal best time of 2h.55.55, placing her fourth female overall and 82nd out of 2000 runners, a great achievement.
On the same day runners could also choose to take part in the Hairy Haggis Team Relay. Lancaster & Morecambe AC fielded four teams in the event, which had relay teams of four athletes running the marathon distance between them over legs ranging from 4.5 to 8.5 miles. First back were the Cruise Missiles in 51st position; Paul Gardner, Christine Gardner, Tony Jeffery and Marie Jeffery posted a speedy cumulative time of 3h.29.50. In 70th were the LAMAC Swifts; Ruth Bartlett, Julie Shanley, Adrian Bruce and Christina Mcguire with a swift 3h.33.36. Following were Team 60624; Robin Bartlett, Billy Gardner, Andrew Shanley and Michelle Whitton in 3h.39.58. The Lancaster Bombers came in 231st; Nigel Beeson, Laure Van Tatenhove, Tracey Bruce and Alistair Menzies ran 3h.58.41.
