Sun Shines on Harriers at Bentley Whilst Mussett Makes Hay at Chichester
Colchester Harriers’ athletes made the most of excellent conditions at the Great Bentley Half Marathon to produce a string of personal best (PB) performances. Now firmly established as the fastest local 13.1 miler, the race attracted a top-quality field who were treated to calm, sunny conditions very different to the squally rain faced by competitors last year.
Louis Davey was first home for the club, the first of many to record a PB, crossing the line in 1:16:36 to finish 19th overall. He was followed by Jack McGuire (1:18:44 – PB) and then James Wright, making a promising return from injury with 1:20:43, Jay Waite who ran 1:21:39 to finish second MV50 and Matt Thomas who clocked 1:22:52. Wayne Cook ran 1:23:37, Jason Gunn 1:23:43 and Jerry Walder 1:25:06 (PB).
Lydia Callan was the first woman home for Harriers, running 1:25:13 to take a remarkable 21 minutes off her previous best time and finish sixth female overall with Victoria Primmer hot on her heels in seventh with a time of 1:25:43 (PB). Matt Davey finished strongly to stop the clock at 1:26:42, the evergreen Chris Stevenson continued his remarkable run of form to take the MV60 trophy with his time of 1:27:35 (PB), Simon Colclough posted 1:28:01 (PB) and Laura Shewbridge ran her best half marathon time for six years, recording 1:28:02 to finish eleventh overall and third FV40.
Gary Licence took 4 minutes off his PB to record 1:28:36, Kev Stevens posted 1:30:57, Stuart Harris ran an even paced 1:31:40 on an excellent half marathon debut for the club, Paul Neville clocked 1:31:41 (PB), and Darrel Williams 1:33:11. James Plant also showed a big improvement, his time of 1:33:20 (PB) seven minutes faster than his previous best for the distance, Kat Sims ran 1:34:20, Ellie Cumner 1:34:49 with Annette Oakman also enjoying her day in the sun to post 1:37:15 (2nd FV50) – her fastest half since 2011.
In what was a great turnout for the club Dan Macey was next home, finishing in 1:41:31, Lily Gilby recorded 1:41:33, the sprightly Katie Gibson 1:43:27 (PB) with Jonathan West running 1:45:48 and Antony McLaughlin 1:58:27.
Meanwhile Adrian Mussett was once again rolling back the years at the Chichester 10K, the MV50 athlete clocking a remarkable time of 31:49, the fastest in the UK by a V50 athlete for 9 years, finishing fourteenth overall and first MV50. Anita Mussett also enjoyed her day on the coast posting 47:51, to record her own fastest time over the distance for 8 years.
