Masters magic on the streets of Manchester
The Adidas Manchester Marathon played host to the first Masters International representative race of the season - and what a race it turned out to be as England, Wales, and Northern Ireland battled for supremacy on the streets of Manchester.
Women's races
Leading the way was Louise Flynn (Wales), the defending Masters International Marathon Champion, having won the title in Abingdon last October. Not only did Louise show her class by retaining both her overall Masters International marathon title and her W40 age group, she judged her race to perfection to finish third overall in 2:44:21. Katie King (Saint Edmund Pacers, England) won the W35 title in 2:49:16, and such was the strength of running that the top three athletes in both the W35 and W40 ran sub three hours.
The W50 race saw Sarah Shedden (Winchester Running Club, England) take first place in 2:55:22, followed by Sue Atkinson (Dronfield RC, England) in 3:02:37, and Joanne Gallagher (North Somerset AC, England) in 3:08:53. It was a close race in the W55 category, with 23 seconds separating first-placed Teresa Medley (Border Harriers, England) from Jeanette Johnson (Launceston Road Runners, England). Meanwhile it was a storming run for Nora Haggart (Bedford Harriers AC, England) in the W65 category, taking the title in a time of 3:30:52.
Results
F35
Katie King (Saint Edmund Pacers, England): 02:49:16
Alia Braithwaite (Bury Athletic Club, England): 02:54:54
Amanda Kelly (City of Stoke AC, England): 02:55:30
F40
Louise Flynn (Les Croupiers, Wales): 02:44:21
Josie Hinton (London Heathside, England): 02:53:51
Katy Roy (Bristol and West AC, Wales): 02:54:55
F45
Lisa Hirst (Northowram Pumas Running Club, England): 03:01:57
Louise Mcdonnell (Wymondham AC, England): 03:03:04
Hannah Roberts (Dartford Harriers AC, England): 03:05:20
F50
Sarah Shedden (Winchester Running Club, England): 02:55:22
Sue Atkinson (Dronfield RC, England): 03:02:37
Joanne Gallagher (North Somerset AC, England): 03:08:53
F55
Teresa Medley (Border Harriers & AC, England): 03:08:08
Jeanette Johnson (Launceston Road Runners, England): 03:08:31
Ceri Nicholas (Buckley RC, Wales): 03:24:26
F60
Janet Smith (Ely Runners, England): 03:26:35
Lynn Chislett (Arena 80 AC, England): 03:29:04
Lorraine Clements (Bideford AAC, England): 03:32:37
F65
Nora Haggart (Bedford Harriers AC, England): 03:30:52
Judi Rhys (Les Croupiers, Wales): 03:53:21
Mandy Jackson (Dacorum Athletics Club, England): 04:03:20
F70
Angela Kerr (Axe Valley Runners, England): 04:48:52
Kate Waddicor (Steel City Striders RC, England): 05:01:52
Men's races
The first male home was M40 Thomas Cornthwaite (Salford Harriers & AC, England) in a time of 2:24:15, closely followed by M35 Rob Corney (Reading Road Runners, England) in 2:24:44. The depth of the Masters men's field was clear to see, with the first three in both the M35 and M40 categories all running sub 2:30. For England debutant Jack Kelly (Lonely Goat Running Club) it was a dream come true, finishing third in the M35 in 2:29:09 and walking away with a trophy.
In the M50 category, debutants Northern Ireland won their first trophy as Chris Denton stormed to victory in 2:38:09, hotly pursued by Stuart Tucker (Swinton RC, England) in 2:40:05, and David Robinson (City of Plymouth, England) in 2:40:28. In the M55 category it was a clean sweep for England, with Leeds City club mates split by 18 seconds, as Jonathan Walton took first in 2:38:10 and David Parkin second in 2:38:28. The M55 category also saw the Midlands Masters AC Williams twins representing England, with David joining his brother John on the start line.
Results
M35
Rob Corney (Newbury AC, England): 02:24:44
Daegan Beaumont (Brighton Phoenix, England): 02:29:05
Jack Kelly (Lonely Goat RC, England): 02:29:09
M40
Thomas Cornthwaite (Salford Harriers & AC, England): 02:24:15
Matthew Thackwray (Ilkley Harriers AC, England): 02:26:41
Christopher Patterson (Mansfield Harriers, England): 02:29:46
M45
Simon Cole (GOG Triathlon Club, Wales): 02:33:20
Nick Reynolds (Twemlow Track Club, England): 02:36:46
Patrick Hayes (St Albans Striders, England): 02:37:23
M50
Chris Denton (Springwell Running Club, Northern Ireland): 02:38:09
Stuart Tucker (Swinton Running Club, England): 02:40:05
David Robinson (City Of Plymouth AC, England): 02:40:28
M55
Jonathan Walton (Leeds City Athletic Club, England): 02:38:10
David Parkin (Leeds City Athletic Club, England): 02:38:28
David Mcdonough (Kirkby Milers AC, England): 02:46:28
M60
Rob Mcgrath (Northern Masters AC, England): 02:51:26
Peter Norris (Wadebridge Running Club, Wales): 02:52:09
Ian Middlebrook (Egdon Heath Harriers, England): 02:53:38
M65
David Warren (Cardigan RC, Wales): 03:01:52
Chris Phelan (South London Harriers, England): 03:09:04
Jack De Bokx (Daventry Road Runners, England): 03:10:02
M70
David Gibson (Tri Hard Harriers, Wales): 03:24:28
Malc Gonnella (Builth & District, Wales): 03:41:08
Robert Langley (Halstead RRC, England): 03:45:17
Next up
It is a quick turnaround for the England Masters team staff as all roads lead to Bideford in North Devon for the representative 10k on 10 May.
Go to our Masters web page to find out more about being involved in the England Athletics Masters programme and how you can gain England selection.
Photos by Chris Hollinshead. More photos on Flickr.