Uttoxeter sure is a challenging half marathon but that means it’s super rewarding to have conquered those beasty hills. 11 Ivanhoes certainly agreed it was worth a trip to the racecourse for a 13.1 adventure hosted by Uttoxeter Road Runners.

We’ll start with our first lady back for Ivanhoe, really doing it for the girls at the Burton League fixture. Our fabulous Andrea Trickett tested out for post marathon legs after a great run in Manchester earlier in the month putting a great 1:52:29 on the board for 23rd placing.

Onto the boys and we begin with Matt Pleass who didn’t let the climbs phase him. He managed to score a 15 second personal best in 1:23:58 and comfortably sits on the leaderboard in 14th place. We always know Shaun Coulton can be counted on to do his thing at these annual events and this year was no different. Shaun had an amazing run, across the finish line in 1:25:07 for 19th place.

Absolutely on fire this season is Paul Woods. It’ll be exciting to see what he do can on a fast course given that he managed a 2 minute 15 second personal best improving on his 2019 Bosworth Half time for 1:25:07 and securing himself in 22nd place. Daniel Bladon and Jordan Cope both made it into the top 50, superb times for the both of them in 1:34:27 and 1:35:48 respectively.

Patrick Horn, king of the half marathons, wouldn’t be seen missing out on this one and collected himself a new course personal best in 1:37:34. The third Manchester marathoner from the club to grace the course was Matthew Joyce, a nice 1:40:59 confirmed the legs are working well and ready for a solid summer season with the 26.2 in the bank.

James Ogilvie stopped the clock dead on 1:45, his first road race of 2023 with previous outings all been on the trails. Andy Cole made it two for two of the BDSL fixtures so far running 1:50:054 over the longer distance and rounding up the troops was none other than Martin Yeomans, completing the course in 2:15:50.

Written by Mark Parker - last updated by Mark Parker on 26/06/2023