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First off was Gail Griffiths in the Berlin Half Marathon. Conditions warm and reasonably still. A big international field. Gail set off fairly quickly setting a 10 mile pb on the way. She followed her plan which was steady (relative to recent training etc.) through to about 9 miles and then try to really push on. The result is 20th Lady overall, 2nd, over 40 and a massive PB by over 3 mins of 85.15. A well deserved performance from an athlete who has worked very hard indeed.
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Next to get through to me was Martin Malone running in the Liverpool half marathon. Martin was following a similar racing plan to Gail and had worked his way through the field to about 4t/5th by 8 miles. His aim was to push on over the last 4 but he (and everyone else) hit a very strong headwind over the last 4 miles. Even so he bettered his PB over 90 secs to run 73.37 and also to overhaul a number of runners and finish 2nd. – about 12 secs off first!!! Another fine run by an athlete who has been working very hard. I would say the conditions suggest there is more to come yet!!!
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Finally Ed Gumbley was running at Wilmslow in a usually well supported and fast race. Ed is using this race as part of his build up to the London Marathon. The wind was again very strong in places and due to the nature of the course this meant some faster miles and some into the head wind where it slowed alot. Even so Ed ran a pb by about 10 secs to record 73.25 ish. An excellent run in the wind and I am sure a time he can better once London is out of the way. It will also be interesting to see if he can better his 2 hours 36 mins in London from a couple of years ago.
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