Top ten finishes for Harriers Lo and Tomlinson in Hastings half

Paul Tomlinson, Tom Mullen, Andy Biggs, Paul Cousins, Kim Lo, Amanda Soper

The premier event in the county was the popular Hastings Half Marathon, the 31st staging of the event. 18 Harriers joined 3,000 runners who took on the challenging course with long uphill stretches before the descent to the seafront.

The undulations provided no rest for the legs but the Harriers made light work of the course despite the hills and the strong field.

Running her fourth half marathon this month, Kim Lo finished ninth lady with a brilliant run to clinch a course PB in 1:27.51. Paul Tomlinson had a storming run to finish tenth, quite an achievement in this field, knocking over two and a half minutes off his best time in 1:15.37.

Tom Mullen also improved his best time from Brighton only weeks prior, clocking 1:16.48. Andy Guy had his best half marathon, finishing in 1:21.51.

Full results

Paul Cousins 1:23:27; Graham Hart 1:24:18; Jack Chivers 1:28:53; Andy Biggs 1:32:53; Rob Coomber 1:38:41; Amanda Soper 1:42:55; Graham Jenner 1:44:00; Robert Clare 1:51:58; Errol Curling 1:53:43; Matt Quinton 2:00:36; Peter Cobbett 2:05:42; Natalie Chivers 2:19:29; Chris Glanfield 2:28:48; Jenny Denyer 2:56:36.

In the Reading Half Marathon, a fast and flat route culminating in a finish in the Madejski Stadium, the Harriers had four runners in Kat Barrett (1:42.16), Richard Neale (1:46.02), Sarah Banks (1:44.19) and Shaun Barrett (2:08.04).

As part of a 20 mile training run, Carl Bicknell took on the Brooklands Half Marathon, finishing in 1:40.17. The race started and finished at the test track at Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey and was Bicknell’s fifth half marathon in as many weeks.

On Saturday, the Endurance Life Coastal Trail Series offered multi-terrain races in the rolling South Downs National Park. Mountain trail lover Tim Hicks ran well in the half marathon to finish in 2:00.35.

In Saturday’s Clair parkrun, Mags Lazell was first lady home and eighth overall with her time of 21:52, also an age group club record for this 5k distance. Although a long way outside her best, it was a brilliant performance having suffered a serious illness only weeks before.

Julian Boyer was the first Harrier home in fourth in 19:53, delighted to dip under 20 minutes for the first time in nine months, pipping Ben Adams (19:55) to the line.

Harriers Paul Philpott (29:39), Sarah Heron-Smith (32:14) and Kevin Jarman (33:31) ran the parkrun course for the first time.