Roding Valley Half Marathon

It was John Franklin of the Met Police who crossed the finishing line first in a swift time of 72 mins 25 secs, but all the 910 runners who completed the half marathon will be pleased with their efforts on Sunday morning.

The pleasant conditions perhaps beguiled some into starting off too quickly, although many reported that the sunshine, the on-course support and the water stations helped them to complete the testing course. The vests of local clubs, such as Orion Harriers, Loughton AC and East London Runners, made frequent appearances among the multi-coloured throng. However, there were also runners with more distant affiliations, including fourth-placed David Thompson of Barnsley AC, Claire Shea-Simonds of Leicester Tri Club, who finished second behind Isobel Rea of West 4 Harriers in the women’s category, and Bill Adams of Aberdeen Metro, who was the winner of the M60 category. The first man home for the Club was Matt Molloy with a time of 75 mins 51 secs, and Zoe Watson, usually an 800m runner, was the first of the women in 1h 51 mins. The 80 or so members who volunteered for various duties, such as marshalling, registration, catering  and the setting up of the course, were also exhausted by the end of the race. The full results are available at the race website:www.rvhm.org.uk.

A notable finisher was our own James Wright, in around 2 hours. James has long since been a great clubman and has represented England at the decathlon. This was the first time he had run more than 5K, and he was accompanied around the course by fellow ex-England decathlete and fellow great clubman Chris Awde. James was raising money for a charity he feels strongly about, Help For Heroes: His online donation page is here.