Greg Roberts and Natalie Zara were crowned Herne Hill Harriers’ men’s and women’s club champions following superb runs at the London Marathon.
Roberts was 14th in the mass field, clocking two hours, 24 minutes, five seconds, which was still three minutes shy of a 2.21.18 personal best set at Dublin in 2010. Zara was an impressive 183rd in the women’s race, clocking a lifetime best of 3.07.31.
Further back from Roberts, a pack of Harriers’ men finished in under three hours, with the charge led by Robin Jones (262nd) whose personal best time of 2.38.49 represented a major breakthrough. Fast-improving Sean Fitzpatrick (405th) clocked 2.43.20, while a week after racing at the Manchester Marathon, Jonathan Ratcliffe was 36th in his M45-49 age category and 414th overall in 2.43.30. Tim Elsey (554th) and triathlete Ross Macdonald (621st) clocked 2.46.27 and 2.47.44 respectively. Tom Kingham was 903rd in 2.51.47 and Andrew Grigg 1146th in 2.54.49. Richard Wonnacott (1386th) posted a time of 2.57.05. Rob Edwards (1483rd) ended an injury-ravaged 12 months with a respectable 2.57.48, marginally ahead of Ed Barrow (1494th), who breached three hours for the first time in 2.57.52.
Another sub-three marathoner was Matt Munro who posted a debut time of 2.57.33 in the Hamburg Marathon.
Zara’s nearest challengers were Ruth Chalmers 3.18.27 (412th woman), Sam Whiting (1668th woman in 3.42.56) and Sian Rilstone (4524th woman in 4.15.44).
The standout performance of the Mini London Marathon, which is run over the final three miles of the marathon route, was Lucy Olsen who was third in the U15G London boroughs event and 14th overall in the British Road Race Challenge.
Oscar Millard (fourth in the U13B boroughs race) and Maisie Collis (fourth in the U13G race) and Turkay Korkmaz (fourth in the U15B race) also impressed at the top-end of their respective fields. Further top-10 positions included Jaden Kennedy (seventh U13B), Clarissa Nicholls (eighth U13G), Lulu King (10th U13G), Ella Newton (sixth U15G), Mohamed Mohamud (sixth U15B) and Kate Brown (ninth U17W).
Away from the marathon, Herne Hill Harriers’ women’s team started their track season with a fifth place finish in their Southern Women’s League match at Eton, despite having a number of gaps in the senior hurdles and jump events, and the inevitable absence of several younger girls in the distance events due to the Mini London Marathon.
The U15G scored well with double-string wins in the 100m, with Latiesha Owusu-Junior clocking 12.8 and Olivia Sinclair 12.9, while high jumpers Ella Dennis and Jess Collins both cleared 1.50m. Ore Adamson won the long jump with 5.16m. The U15G 4 x 100m relay team recorded 51.9 in winning the relay, which was faster than any time they recorded last season
In the senior events, Steph Mitchell won the B string 800m in 2.21.9 and was second in the 1500m with a battling 5.04.5, while 15-year-old Maddie Shaw was second in the senior 800m in 2.21.4. Mel Edwards was third in the 3000m and second in the B string 1500m. In the senior sprints, U17 Natasha Alfred was second in the 100m and 200m in speedy times of 12.3 and 25.9. In the field events Briony Phillips threw well in competitive throwing events, finishing second in the shot with 10.54m, third in the javelin and hammer, and fourth in the discus