A TOTAL of 21 Tavistock Athletic Club members have completed the Marathon distance in April ? a club record! Most of them took part in the recent Flora London Marathon, others ran at Taunton and Paris. Long and weary hours lapping around Burrator, pounding the streets of Tavistock and challenging cross country runs across Dartmoor all proved worthwhile as they all crossed the finish line to collect their well deserved medals and T-shirts. This was particularly true in the case of 8 of the 16 runners at London, who were all running in their first Marathons. All had shown great determination and fortitude to get to the end of their training so that, on the day, they could give their best. It is a credit to the club and the coaches that all the runners completed the course and recorded some very good times. Though most had entered on a personal basis, some of the runners had obtained places through their favourite charities and collected many, many thousands of pounds through fellow club athletes and various other sponsorship and imaginative fund raising activities. Wendy Outhwaite and Mary Bridget Flynn-Samuels overcame health problems to compete in their 1st London Marathon, Adam Holland and Simon Wakeham knocked 45 minutes off their previous times, Ann Woodhouse finished 105th in her age category; Fiona Dunn running 15 miles with a leg injury, Guy Morlock and Wally Lake posted some very good times in their first Marathons. A group of the Marathoners celebrated with a delightful meal at The Ganges in Tavistock. Thanks were expressed to the Ganges for a great evening and to Dotty Allan for organising it. Full results for the Club are: Taunton 35 Paul Sturtridge (M50) 3:20:30; 140 Ade Bower (M40) 4:00:49; 153 Phil Worth (M40) 4:12:08, Paris Fiona Dunn 3:29:24; Allan Herdman 3:53:49, London 428 Martin Exley (99th M40) 2:47:24; 625 Adam Holland (2nd M18); 717 Chris Eastaugh (M40) 2:54:29; 1152 Steve Groombridge (M50) 2:59:12; 3835 Wally Lake (M50) 3:24:32; 5112 Pete Bazley (M50) 3:31:57; 6170 Guy Morlock (M40) 3:37:56; 7211 Nicole Heryet (F30) 3:43:05; 10563 Simon Wakeham (SM) 3:56:22; 11355 Andy Smith (M40) 3:59:47; 18396 Sam Grylls (F30) 4:27:09; 19763 Wendy Outhwaite (F40) 4:32:40; 19765 Steve John (M50) 4:32:40; 22906 Kirsty Trotter (F30) 4:46:19; 26033 Mary Bridget Flynn-Samuels (F30) 5:02:19; 29265 (105 in age category) Ann Woodhouse (F60) 5:29:24. For more information about Tavistock Athletics Club visit http://www.tavistockathletics.com">www.tavistockathletics.com
