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Marshall Smith leads Romney Marsh 10K

Golden Oldies Impress

Fast times at the front and among age-groupers at the Romney Marsh 10K…

runABC South news reporter Alan Newman was among the 247 finishers (in 1:33:24) at the Romney Marsh 10K on Sunday 23 July. This race is promoted by Romney Marsh Rotary Club and race management is by the industrious Nice Work team from nearby Rye, East Sussex.

The race was selected to host the Southern Counties Veterans championships, so there were additional medals on offer to members of that association, including our roving reporter.

Romney Marsh 10K is held on one of the flattest courses around and despite the narrow lanes with numerous potholes and loose surfaces, the course can produce rapid times if it's not too windy. After a few showers, Sunday dawned with warm sunshine and a few spots of rain but it was breezy on the exposed sections across the former smugglers paradise that is the sparsely populated 100 square miles of wetland area that comprises The Marsh.

This was the 14th staging of Romney Marsh 10K and a quick group soon detached itself at the front, with the 2018 and 2019 winner Marshall Smith of Ashford AC powering clear for victory in 31:14 – just seven seconds outside his PB. The runners-up were Ross Skelton (HY Runners, 31:49) and Rhys Boorman (Hastings AC, 32:20) – taking a minute off his PB.

The women's race was rather more clear cut as Darcie Hey (Cambridge & Coleridge AC, 38:39) raced home in 22nd overall, more than six minutes clear of a good battle between W40 Ailis Goddard (Ashford & District RRC, 44:58 PB) and W35 Fleur Record Smith (Hastings Runners, 45:08).

The outstanding male masters' performance was posted by M75 Michael Davies (Southern Counties Veterans AC/Winchester & District AC, 44:09). In the women's higher age groups W65 Margaret Connolly (Southern Counties Veterans AC/South Kent Harriers) ran 52:11 for her gold medal.

Perhaps the most illustrious medal winner was Andy Catton (Southern Counties Veterans AC/Ilford AC) who ran 46:57 for M70 gold. Andy has won at least 25 Essex senior titles and is a triple European Masters 10K champion with a 10K PB of 29:12. Here is a link to a fascinating interview with Andy where he describes his running career to his Ilford AC team-mates.

Results are available via the runABC South race listing here.

Photo of Marshall Smith by Nice Work on Facebook

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