Matts marvel at Martock!
AVR’s Matt Hewer in eighth and Matt Frost in tenth were among five Matts in the top ten finishers at the Martock 10k on Sunday. The early start meant good conditions for the fast, flat race all on quiet Somerset country roads leading to some good times in this 18th edition of the event.
Matt Hewer came in eighth and second M40 – the winner was also M40 – in an excellent 37:37 despite a slight niggle in the week. In tenth place was Matt Frost in 37:50. Next in for AVR and third M40 was David Cull in 38:17. Ron Seward won the M70 category with an excellent 48:24, 135th overall. Alan Morbey finished in 52:32 in 181st . A total of 455 completed the race. Full results
Giants Head half – and a bit!
On Sunday a group of AVRs travelled to Sydling St Nicholas in Dorset to run the very challenging Giants Head half marathon. It was just over the half distance coming in at 13.6 miles and with more than 1,500 feet of climb it was a tough ask. But the route, ran on country lanes and woodland trails, provided some superb views over the beautiful Dorset countryside. Fourth woman overall, despite struggling with illness, was Kerry Board in 2:02:0 and first F45. Dawn Carrah finished in 2:20:50 to take first F60 with Mandy Harris coming in in 3:08:05, happy to be back running after injury.
Army success
Debbie Whiston ran for the Army at the Inter Services 10km at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham on Wednesday in a time of 40.56, 95th overall and third F35.
Yeovilton 5k summer series
The third event in the Yeovilton 5k series took place on Wednesday starting and finishing at RNAS Yeovilton with 12 AVRs competing and looking for points for the Club Challenge.
The fast, flat course and midweek racing opportunity brings out the speedy runners but there were also age group prizes to be had!
First AVR home was Rich Hardy in 16:54, 15th place and first M40. Ryan Snell was in 21st in 17:23, third M40. Ian Kinnersley was first M60, 67th overall in 20:34; Ron Seward, first M70 in 22:48, 101st and Angela Kerr was first F65 in 27:27, 133rd.
Matt Frost was 25th in 17:41; David Cull 34th in 18:28; Adrian Strawbridge 66th in 20:28; James Ashforth 79th in 21:09; Andy West 83rd in 21:17; Nick Adams, 112th in 23:33, David Cooke, 127th in 26:08; and Fiona Seward was 143rd in 29:21.
The next event takes place on Wednesday 10 July.
Seaton parkrun and beyond
AVR’s Debbie Whiston was first female finisher in 20:33 and Eleanor Wood was first on age-grade with a brilliant 90.3% for 23:29. There were PBs for Rachel Hiscock in 29:20; Helen Boehm in 33:24 and Shirley Goy in 36:33.
But the day belonged to Matt Waters who walked the 5k including the pebbles sections, his longest walk since losing his legs to sepsis in November 2022. A fantastic achievement and true inspiration, Matt was supported on the day by friends and family and the parkrun community.
Further afield, Matt Frost took part in Severn Bridge parkrun, which crosses the Welsh border; Rebecca Eastburn completed beautiful Trelissick in Cornwall; Sarah Shepley and Kevin Feeney ran Reading parkrun; and Carolyn Nation enjoyed the coastal Minehead parkrun.
