Greenwood & Dewhurst burn rubber at VeloPark
More than 550 runners competed in Saturday's (30 March) RunThrough Lee Valley VeloPark programme of five race distances ranging from the classic mile to the testing half marathon on the ultra-smooth tarmac of the Moto GP-styled cycle racing circuit.
The most popular event was the longest, held over 13 laps of the one mile circuit. M45 Chris Greenwood (Kent AC, 1:12:29) ran just over 5:30 mile pace throughout to head 170 finishers, who were all refuelling within three hours. Alex Vidal-Hiscock (Cardiff University, 1:13:50) was always a threat if the experienced 2:26:41 marathoner from Kent was to lose his rhythm.
Hannah Dewhurst (Stevenage & North Herts, 1:36:26) took the women's race on her half marathon debut as Chloe Gibbs (1:38:22) and Phoebe Cutter (1:38:53) scrapped for the remaining podium places.
Stepping down in distance to 10 miles saw just one athlete inside 6:00 mile pace. Andrew Quigley (West End Runners, 56:51) was another M45 master in top form as he finished almost a lap clear of the pack led by Brian O'Keefe (Kent AC, 1:02:35). Katie King (Saint Edmund Pacers, 1:08:55) was an excellent fifth outright and Ellie-May Brooks (1:14:24) eighth overall in the women's contest.
The 10K race attracted a healthy field with 150 finishers inside 90 minutes. The winners were Tim Verheyden (Serpentine RC, 35:53) and the overall race runner-up Ros Ponder (W40 West 4 Harriers, 37:30).
At 5K there was another overall one-two for the gender victors as Abdullah Alhashash (20:12) had 10 seconds in hand over Katie Ekins (20:22). Finally, the one lap dash was won by Hussein Zaaiter (5:57) and Samantha Kenyon (6:35).
Visit RunThrough website here for all the race and future event details.
Image courtesy RunThrough