The hours of training, physio, strength and conditioning paid off for the Mighty Greens running in this year’s London Marathon, especially for first-timers Richard King and Carol Hounsell.
Mighty Green David Knapman, who holds the club marathon record, had a very strict training timetable to adhere to as he earned a place in the Elite category. The talented chef finished in 729th place in 2:48:17, a fantastic result.
The next club runner over the finishing line was Jim Forrer in 3:35:14. MG Lynda Hawkins was the club’s first female over the line in 3:54:15, she ran her first London Marathon 10 years ago in 4:11:00 and was very happy with her finishing time.
Richard and Carol were nervous but excited and enjoyed every minute of the route. Richard was very happy to finish in 4:28:39 and Carol, running for Hospiscare, ran over the finish line in 5:12:13 and met Mr Motivator too!
Closer to home, Winding Paths’ Exe Estuary Marathon and Ultra took place, starting from Budleigh, the route took you to Exmouth, down the estuary to Topsham and back again. Mighty Green Jessica Watkins had an amazing run, finishing first overall in an impressive 3:54:27 with SRC’s Grahame Womersley-Westlake completing his first marathon in 4:43:09 and Darren Pearce completing his first marathon in 4:58:32.
MG Mark Andow had a great run in the Exe Valley Ultra finishing 16th in a field of 51 in 5:44:23, despite being a last-minute entry and having ran the hilly Chagford Challenge the previous weekend!
Niall Hawkins was very pleased to get a PB when he ran in the Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday. Niall completed the half in 1:30:07.
It was a first marathon for Hamish Spence too, as he ran the COSY marathon in aid of Exeter Dementia Action Alliance. Hamish enjoyed the scenic route, especially the view from the top of Pennsylvania Road but was horrified when he noticed Strava had stopped recording his activity. This did not stop the Mighty Green and he completed the circular route in 7:25:00, his first marathon completed.
The route was created by MG Jo Earlam and she has organised the Exeter Memory Baton relay on Sunday, October 16 with fellow MG’s Simon Hollyer and David Welsh in charge of the baton.
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