The 2023 London Marathon was held on Sunday 23rd April 2023, returning to its traditional Spring date for the first time since 2019.
The famous cheer squad was there, joined by friends from Massey Ferguson and Sneyd running clubs, and we were proud that the club was represented by two members - Nic Baker and Gemma Archer - in the volunteer crew. You can find out more about volunteering here.
The famous cheer squad was there, joined by friends from Massey Ferguson and Sneyd running clubs, and we were proud that the club was represented by two members - Nic Baker and Gemma Archer - in the volunteer crew. You can find out more about volunteering here.
Our Superstars:
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Our first finisher was Adam Smith
Adam qualified for London with a Championship place by achieving a time of 02:39:15 at the Chester Marathon in October 2022. He more than justified his place by setting a new personal best time of 02:39:11, a new club marathon record, securing another championship place for 2024. Congratulations Adam! |
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Our next finisher was Pete Dimbleby, running his 81st marathon, his 22nd at London.
Following a 3:05:49 marathon at Manchester just the week before, Pete ran an incredible 03:07:33 in London, once again within the Good For Age qualifying time for his age group We wish him well in his quest to run 100 marathons before his 50th birthday. |
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Following Pete came Phil Brayford, in a time of 03:18:17, a perfect match of the time he ran in Amsterdam in October 2022! After running 6 marathons at home and abroad this was Phil's first time running London. He earned his Good For Age (GFA) place through his time of 03:16:22 at Berlin in September 2022, a month after becoming British Masters V60 Marathon champion at the Isle of Man. Following London, Phil will be focussing on the Chicago marathon, for which he also qualified as GFA. With a time well under the GFA qualifying time for his age group (3hrs 45 minutes) we expect to see Phil back in London in 2024. |
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Tom Neal was our next sub-4 hour finisher, in a time of 03:45:15.
This was Tom's second marathon and his first attempt at the London Marathon, where he was lucky enough to gain a ballot place. Tom says that he has found the marathon to be the biggest challenge yet but is determined to try and achieve his goals so as soon as he had completed London, his name was in the ballot for London '24!! Tom found London to be an amazing experience with the support from the crowd and huge encouragement from running clubs lining the streets, such as Aldridge, making it the most unbelievable, unrivalled event he has entered so far. |
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Michael Mason ran London for the Whizz Kidz charity that he has supported before. This was a deferred charity place from 2020.
Michael achieved a personal best marathon result, finishing in 04:44:05 and also exceeded his fundraising target. Congratulations Michael. You can still support Michael's fundraising efforts through his Just Giving page |
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This was Nicola James' second London Marathon, again raising money for the Phab Kids charity.
Like Michael, Nicola's place was carried over from 2020 Nicola also exceeded her fundraising target and achieved a significant personal best time of 05:51:38. Congratulations Nicola! You can still support Nicola's fundraising through her JustGiving page. |
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Jo Yarnall and Lynda Elmore were the lucky recipients of our two club places for 2023.
After Lynda was forced to stop training due to injury they decided to run together, taking their time and enjoying the moment, which they certainly did, finishing in 07:19:07. Well done both! |
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Also dogged by injury and other hindrances to training, Emma Preston (running for Pancreatic Cancer UK) and Jo Dulson-Cox also ran together, finishing in 07:25:05 and 07:25:08 respectively. Like Jo and Lynda, they ably demonstrated how much fun a marathon can be!
Well done both! |