Sunday 26th April was an important date in the running calendar with over 38,000 runnners competing in the 35th anniversary race of the London Marathon. Ivanhoe Runners were out in force in the capital with some 21 members participating in the event and many more out supporting their team-mates.

Fastest for the club with an excellent run just outside his best time was Ramzi Sidani who finished in 2:56:19 (1247th place). Next came Ian Bolton with a great run to beat his previous personal best time and cross in 3:04:34 (2337th) a few minutes ahead of Alistair Chambers who ran well despite having his training interrupted by injury, finishing in 3:09:34 (2900th). Next came one of the performances of the day by Clare Fowell who smashed her personal best time to finish in an excellent 3:16:54 which brought her home 374th lady overall and 37th in her age group.

Men’s captain Nick Rowles was next with another very impressive run finishing his debut marathon in 3:19:29 (4275th) just ahead of super veteran Andy Jeyes who showed his class by finishing an amazing 10th in age group in 3:22:54 (4784th overall). Barry Alldread was next, also beating his previous fastest time with a very strong run finishing in 3:26:31 (5431st) followed by yet another personal best performance by Andy Lindley who paced the race perfectly to cross in 3:29:21 (6086th). Becca Hallam suffered a stress fracture in the run up to the event yet recovered enough to post a very fast 3:39:44 finish (1438th lady). Matthew Joyce was next, knocking 17 minutes of his previous time as he completed in 3:43:16 (8949th) ahead of Lynda Revill who also competed despite recent injury and ran very well to a 3:49:50 finish (2172nd lady). Gabby Smith looked comfortable all the way to smash her personal best, finishing in 3:56:04 (2722nd lady) just ahead of Ruth Green who was delighted to finish sub four hours in a new best time of 3:57:52 (2889th lady). Karen Hartland had a brilliant debut marathon completing the race in an impressive 3:58:22 (2959th lady) ahead of Heather Swan who also set an excellent new personal fastest time of 4:02:32 (3353th lady). Amanda Bradbury had a strong run, next, to finish well up the field in 4:08:02 (3812th). Next came Teresa Talbott who smashed her previous best time crossing in 4:20:38 (5036th lady). Jackie Williams was running her first ever marathon and had a fabulous race to cross the line in 4:28:24 (5915th lady) with another marathon debutant, Sarah Sanganee, next in an excellent 4:39:05 (7096th lady). Diane Brocklesby was next running well to break the five hour mark, completing in 4:58:42 ( 9186th lady) and marathon veteran Elaine Moulton, who has taken part in this event many times over the years, completed the team with a great run of 6:20:59 (13523rd lady).

Heather even got on the telly!!

Written by Ruth Green - last updated on 30/04/2015