HARLOW Running and Tri Club had four members contest the Boston(UK) Marathon on Easter Monday. Star performer on the day was Catherine Ridge, finishing in 168th place out of 618 finishers in 3hrs 29min 14sec, a PB by a fantastic 29min. She was followed by Terri Wiley 179th in 3.31.25, in her debut at the distance, Paige Bircham 314th in 3.59.56, also in her debut, and Laura Prime 354th in 4.08.31.

YH asked Catherine Ridge to tell us a little more about her training schedule which may give us a little insight into why she had made such an improvement

Catherine said: “Well firstly, since the start of this year I’ve been in a small track training group led by Pas Blackwell, where we’ve focussed on improving our 5k times. This resulted in my first sub 20 minute Parkrun a couple of weeks before the marathon!

“Also, I’ve had individual coaching from Paul Schroder (as I am a second claim member of Innovation Multisport) specifically for the marathon to help me achieve my sub 3:30 goal.

“My training plan involved increasing my running to 4 times a week, focussing on specific paces, incorporating some strength & conditioning, nutrition on longer runs and monitoring heart rate for effort and recovery.

“I achieved a 7 min half marathon PB (1:35) in February. I have been fortunate to do many of my long runs with ultra runner Sandi Rust too. I am sure that all this contributed to my marathon success & am very grateful to all these people as well as my running clubs >”

Meanwhile, at the RunThrough Easter Victoria Park Half Marathon Thomas Beales finished in 93rd place out of 262 finishers in a superb 1.43.55, a PB by 16min.

At the 10k event at the same location Louise Cootes was 88th out of 291 finishers and 3rd Female Vet 40 in 49.17.

Melanie Harris completed the Sudbury 5 Mile race in 348th place out of 436 finishers in 53.15.

At the Easter Challenge 5k at Hinchingbrooke Country Park, Huntingdon, Laura Prime finished 1st out of 14 finishers in 28.13, a new Female Course Record.

Luella Dixon once again improved her 5k PB by finishing in 124th place out of 202 finishers in 30.35 at Harlow parkrun.