And a Centurion was born!
Having caught the ultra-bug with a series of 50mile races Romsey Road Runner Tamatha Ryan vowed never to attempt the 100mile distance but on the 13th October, she toed the line to begin her first 100mile race the Centurion running Autumn 100. Centered around Goring-on-Thames the four out and back legs run along the Thames path and Ridgeway national trails. Leg 1 went well despite the heat and headwinds, the first 25miles completed in 4hrs 4mins, leg 2 was far more technical and brought stomach issues but a solid run in 9hrs 18mins took her to 50miles. Tamatha was then joined by her pacer Abi Cooke for leg 3, head torches donned the pair started the Ridgeway spur at 8pm, but an old injury was now starting to make running difficult, 75miles was completed in 15hrs 54mins. Becky Tovey had the task of pacing duties for the last 25miles. The heavens opened and at 2.25am the pair braved the elements to attempt the last spur out to Reading and back. However, running was becoming impossible due to pain and tightness and hypothermia wasn’t helping but despite the odds Tamatha made it back to finish the race in 26hrs 24mins.
Sunday the 14th was also the 14th Studland Stampede, a tough 12km along heathland and sandy beaches, Sue Sleath was first home in 1hr 3mins followed by Julia Abab and Derek Kelly in 1hr 20mins.
On the 21st October Alice Lane gained a massive personal best in the Amsterdam marathon working hard to finish in a fantastic time of 4hrs 17secs. It also proved a great day for personal bests in the Great South Run too, with perfect weather conditions Matt Brown managed to break the hour for 10miles just dipping under in 59.24mins (PB). Matt was closely followed by Alex Prinsep in 1hr 2mins (PB), Amanda Hull 1hr 6mins, Becky Tovey 1hr 10mins (PB), John Quayle 1hr 16mins (PB), Emily Gordon 1hr 19mins (PB), Liz Prinsep 1hr 20mins (PB), Keith Morris 1hr 25mins, Moira Sankey 1hr 43mins (PB), and Dorota Hatch 1hr 46mins.
