The weekend of 4th/5th December saw a plethora of Romsey Road Runners in action at
various races. On the Saturday, Tam Ryan and Steve Geary travelled to Lulworth to take part
in the Endurance Life Coastal Trail marathon. This was Steve’s first marathon and he said of
the experience: “the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day; it was just the 50 mph
winds and the 6250 feet of climbing and 5676 feet of descending to contend with. We had
put the training in and I thoroughly enjoyed it to be honest. It was brutal in places but as
Tam kept telling me, no pain no gain. I finished in 5:32:58, 50th overall and 6th in age cat.
Tam finished in 5:32:59, 51st overall, 8th lady and 1st in age cat. It was never going to be a
record-setting day because of the climbing and the high winds, but I was happy to finish my
first ever marathon.”
Tim Parker was also at Lulworth doing the half marathon, where he placed an impressive
10th in 1:47. Tim described the event as “stunning and hilly in equal quantities” and was
delighted with his position.
The following day saw Elizabeth Prinsep and Nigel Hemsted take part in the Victory 5, a flat
road race in Portsmouth. On a windy and cold day, Elizabeth set a new PB of 35:19 and
Nigel, who had been unwell with a cold the previous week, nevertheless managed to finish
in 37:37.
Closer to home in Southampton, Neil and Penny Jennings did the Southampton Common
10k, which Penny described as a “lovely, low-key charity race”. Penny finished in 50:34 and
Neil in 36:50, taking 4th place.
On the same day, Dave Gardner and Lin Webb injected a shot of festive cheer into
proceedings by dressing up as Father Christmases and running the Santa Claus 5k around
Winchester, where Dave came 8th overall.
