Eight members of Aycliffe Running Club travelled down to York last Sunday to take part in the Brass Monkey Half Marathon, which attracted a field of nearly 1500 entries.
It was a bright and sunny day but very cold and there were some icy patches on the roads where the runners had to take care. In spite of this there were some outstanding performances and a few PBs were achieved.
John and Tracey Surtees are both newcomers to the club but their times reflect the fact they are not new to running, with John finishing in 1:27:39 and 1st home for the club and Tracy 1:34:44 and 1st lady home for the club.
Graham Atkins was 2nd finisher for Aycliffe in 1:33:05 followed closely by Justin Hindmarch, who smashed his previous best time by over 4 minutes to finish in 1:34:12, followed by Sandra Collins 1:44:23.
Trish Kay was pleased with her run knocking nearly a minute off her time for last year despite slipping and sliding on the ice. Her time was 1:47:40
Last but not least, Angela Barrett and Judith Porter both achieved PBs finishing in 1:49:30 and 1:58:48 respectively.
In sharp contrast, Aycliffe runners who chose to compete in the Sedgefield Winter Handicap had to cope with much more bleak conditions. No sunshine here, just grey skies and mud that had turned to ice sheets and towards the end of the race, snow.
This is a multi-terrain event over 10k and follows trails around Fishburn and Bishop Middleham. Sue Milburn was first home for the club, 37th in 50:19, followed by Mark Wade, 57th in 39:33, Matt Heron, 65th in 44:52, Peter Milburn, 77th in 42:33 and Kevin Greenall, 83rd in 52:05.
Why not join us in our circuit training sessions every Tuesday from 6-7pm.For more information about the Club and their training visit ayclifferunningclub.org.uk
