The weekend of March 19th-20th was a busy one for Romsey Road Runners. Saturday saw Nikki Sparkes complete the Lulworth Marathon, a tough run with 1823m of elevation, in a solid time of 6:52:07, while Tim Parker took second place in the Maverick Hampshire trail 16k in an impressive time of 1:05.
On the Sunday, Amy and Giovanni completed the Weymouth half marathon in 2:13 and 1:40 respectively. Amy said of the race: “the course was spectacular, with the first section along the seafront then through a nature reserve, a hill fort and finishing with the harbour. We are both really happy with our results.”
Also on Sunday, James Byrne completed the 5k run, 21k cycle and second 5k run of the Buccaneer Duathlon Sprint at Buckler’s Hard in a fantastic time of 1:54. James said: “being a keen cyclist as well as a runner I was curious to try an event which combined the two. There was a strong headwind during the cycling section but the route through the New Forest was huge fun. I’d highly recommended the event for anybody who is curious about dipping a toe into a multi-sport event.” James had also completed his milestone 25th parkrun the day before.
Sunday was also Eastleigh 10k day. This local road race with PB potential attracts some of the fastest club runners from around the UK. Leading the charge for RRR was Ryan Snell who came 55th overall in a time of 33:58 which got him 7th V40 place. Next in was Neil Jennings who finished the “brutally fast but enjoyable” race in 35:07, quickly followed by Alex Prinsep who set a new PB of 35:24. Mark Stileman was the fourth RRR home, taking 10th V50 place in an impressive post-injury time of 37:23. Mark was very happy to comprehensively beat his previous Eastleigh 10k time of 37:38 set in 2013. Keith Morris (44:13) and Elizabeth Prinsep (43:43, 2nd VF55) both achieved new PBs, with Keith very pleased to “finally go under 45 minutes!”
Clem Kinsgtone completed her first 10k in five years at Eastleigh in a time of 1:01; Cliff Reeves in 54:01; Steve Geary in 42:46; Rob Gowman in 58:37; Alice Lane in 51:35; Lin Webb in 1:03 and Isabelle Prinsep in 52:58. Gemma Quarendon got herself a PB of 52:04; Dorota KH a PB of 54:19; Lin Windsor a PB of 54:58; Sam Weston a PB of 40:36; James Wardle a PB of 1:04; Gemma Ingason a PB of 1:07; Natalie Gore PB of a 1:08 and Coach Ian Ralph, who was running to support the club’s Eastleigh 10k training group, finished with Natalie in 1:08.
Dorota noted that she was “particularly impressed with our 2021 class of Couch to 5K runners who smashed their first 10k at Eastleigh, less than a year after starting running.” Lin Windsor, one of those 2021 C25Kers, said that she was “really pleased with a time of 54:58 for my first proper race,” adding her thanks to all at the club for their support and encouragement. Natalie Gore, another graduate of the club’s 2021 C25K class, was thrilled to achieve two PBs during the race: her 5k time dropped from 34:04 to 33:30, and her 10k time from 1:14 to 1:08. Sam Weston, who also did the 10k training course said it had been “great to be part of a group of people with a shared goal and a clear training plan. The support we’ve all felt over the last ten weeks and on the day has been a real boost.”
