Silver Stampede at Leicester Marathon

Local running club, Hermitage Harriers, were out in force at last weekend’s Leicester Marathon event with 25 intrepid runners taking up the challenge of the full or half marathon races on offer.

The club, nicknamed the ‘Silver Donkeys’, romped home in the half marathon with three men finishing inside the top ten. Tony Woodward was first to finish in second place with a time of 1 hour, 15 minutes and 41 seconds. Next home was Gavin McDermott in 5th place with a time of 1 hour, 19 minutes and 6 seconds. Shaun Coulton completed the hat-trick with a time of 1 hour, 19 minutes and 15 seconds in 6th place.

In the full marathon event, speedy Harrier Matt Adcock stormed home in first place after flying round the 26.2 mile course in 2 hours, 35 minutes and 18 seconds. Team mates James Willoughby and Mark Perry also put in notable performances, both finishing just seconds outside the 3 ½ hour mark. Craig Johnson and Caroline Scrimshaw clocked up another marathon in preparation of their 2015 ‘10 in 10 Brathay Challenge’ in 4 hours, 3 minutes and 40 seconds and 4 hours, 55 minutes and 11 seconds respectively.

Amongst the club’s runners at the event were three half marathon first-timers: Karen Preston, Tracey Richardson-Lyne and Lisa Collins, as well as Edward Quinn who ran his first ever full marathon in 5 hours, 14 minutes and 7 seconds.

The Leicester Marathon Event follows much success by the Harriers so far in 2014. The club has seen both its women’s teams promoted to division one in the Leicestershire Road Running League (LRRL) as well as the senior men’s team scooping the LRRL division one champions trophy. Chairman Andy Buck said "our club has been going from strength to strength this year. Our structured sessions on a Tuesday have allowed all our members to push themselves and really see progress in their running. That progress has been further enhanced by healthy competition within our various pace groups. This year has been fantastic for us in so many ways - and we still have the cross country season yet to begin!