THE MARATHON season continued on Sunday with the prestigious Brighton Marathon. The contrast with Devon’s recent weather was marked, with heat and sunshine resulting in sunburn and windburn for the three athletes from Tavistock Athletic Club who took on the challenge.

Tom Brogden ran a superb race, finishing in 2:51:32 and gaining ninth place in his M40 age category amongst a total of around 13,000 runners. Also achieving very creditable results were TAC pals Emma Webber and Sarah Prior, with Emma finishing in 4:12:34 – a personal best – and Sarah in 4:47:31 – her second-fastest marathon time.

Closer to home, Friday saw the latest City Runs’ event – the Power Run Exeter races at Powderham Castle – offering a choice of five- and 10-mile distances over a multi-terrain route. 

Ben Neale surpassed his recent excellent form by becoming the overall winner of the 10-mile run in 1:02:10. His pace was such that he would also have won the five-mile race. Also doing well were Carole Walters, who won her F60 category in 1:31:57 and was third overall female, and Mark West who finished in 1:37:40. Helen Kula-Przezwanski was third F60 runner in the five-mile event in 54:01.

Note that applications are now open for TAC’s next two Couch-to-5k courses – another Saturday morning course starting on May 4 and an extra Thursday evening course starting on May 16. See the ‘Get into Running’ tab on the TAC website.