Marathoners Spring Into Action
Flat out (and back) on Romney Marsh in their Sunday (personal) best!
With the green shoots of spring appearing we are well into the marathon preparation season and where better to test your fitness and pace judgement than the 17th Brett Lydd 20 and Brett Lydd Half Marathon on Sunday 10 March 2024?
This year's pilgrimage to the flat, wide open spaces of Romney Marsh was undertaken by 706 faithful followers of marathon schedules, with a capacity field running in the longer race.
Both races start on the main road adjacent to Banks Sports Club in Dennes Lane, just off Lydd High Street. Runners head out to the north of town and cover a rural out-and-back route through quiet lanes before returning to Lydd to finish at the Sports Club. It is claimed the 20-mile route has only 6 metres of elevation gain!
Race management is by Nice Work and sponsored by Brett, the UK's largest independent construction and building materials company, with profits donated to the Mayor of Lydd's Charity.
The top six men were under two hours in the 20-miler, led by 2:23:23 marathoner Ben Shearer (Cambridge Harriers) whose rapid 1:51:12 was a British M45 age group record. Ben was joined on the winner's rostrum by fellow Cambridge Harrier Thomas Brooke (1:53:02 PB) and M45 Anthony Webb (Medway & Maidstone AC, 1:53:28) with an amazing improvement of 10 minutes on his previous best at Ramsgate in 2022.
Maeve Kenny (South London Harriers, 2:12:49 PB) comfortably retained her title in the women's race and must be on her way to a big improvement in her marathon best of 2:59:02 achieved in Seville last month. The top three were completed by Jennifer Ansell (Billericay Striders, 2:19:58 PB) and Sarah Shepheard (Paddock Wood AC, 2:20:54 PB).
There were 478 finishers in 4:44:38 in the 20-mile race. A further 228 opted for the half marathon, finishing in 3:24:52. Brett Lydd Half Marathon champion this year was M45 Paul Jones (Wadhurst Runners) in 1:18:01. However, runner-up Simon Ramsay (M40 Folkestone Running & AC, 1:18:05 PB) was a second faster than the winner on chip timing and George Hinkley (Ashford & District RR, 1:18:09) was just a few seconds away in third with a huge PB!
W45 Hazel Behagg (Dartford RR, 1:29:36) had a smoother passage to victory in the women's race despite the debut effort of Sarah Hall (Invicta East Kent, 1:30:42) with W40 Sarah Mooney (Larkfield AC, 1:38:16) in third place.
Full results and previous reports are at the runABC South race listing here.
Previous event photo courtesy of Nice Work Race Management