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England Masters Marathon Challenge

Sunday 17 October saw a large group of England's best masters athletes compete at the England Masters Marathon Challenge at the ASDA Foundation Yorkshire Marathon.

The team over over 100 athletes qualified in 2019 before the pandemic hit and gathered together to compete over 26.2 miles against other athletes in their age categories and alongside athletes competing at the BMAF Marathon Championships.

The race started with light winds but with rain in the air after the athletes had met the England support team to register and collect their back numbers. As the race went on the rain cleared up and the cool calm conditions saw some fine results.

Masters Marathon 2021 Hannah RobertsAmongst the incredible performances from the England Team; M35 Tom Charles (Trafford AC) won not only the England Challenge but also the race overall in a fabulous time of 2:24:22. W40 Hannah Roberts (SCVAC) was the first home in the England Masters Challenge whilst finishing 3rd overall in a time of 2:57:05. Julia Matheson's (Newcastle Staffs Tri Club) time of 3:03:14 saw her move into the UK all time top 10 for V55 women and Shirley Gibson (Darlington Harriers and AC) moved to 5th fastest W75 on the UK all time lists with 4:32:08. Four England athletes ran inside 2:30 including M45 Carl Jones (Richmond and Zetland Harriers), and on his 80th birthday Roger Osgood (SCVAC) ran 4:36:01.

The event saw the team receive support from Regional Coaching Lead Darren Reevell and Lead Club Run coach Kerry Newell alongside Head of Club Support and Participation Emma Davenport, Partnerships & Fundraising Manager Amy Weaver-Tyler and Road Running Manager Tom Craggs.

Prizes were kindly donated by our sponsors KT Tape, Runderwear and AfterShokz. Our physio was also available for taping using KT Tape.

Results

The overall age graded winners from across the challenge were;

Women

1. Julia Matheson (Newcastle Staffs) - 93.4%
2. Samantha Ridley (Haywards Heath) - 85.8%
3. Michelle Vaughan (East Cheshire) - 84.5%

Men

1. Carl Jones (Richmond & Zetland) - 89.2%
2. Scott Harrington (Otley) - 88.4%
3. Neil Burton (Horsfroth Harriers) - 87.5%

A huge thank you goes to Peter Kennedy of British Masters Athletics Federation for managing the collation of entries and results.

Masters Marathon 2021

Photos: Darren Reevell