Cotswold Marathon - 21st March
A glorious sunny day and perfect conditions greeted the runners at the start of the first ever Cotswolds Marathon, a tough but scenic 3 lap course starting and finishing at Temple Guiting. This event was to provide the perfect springboard for two Bourton athletes looking to hopefully achieve bigger targets at Connemara next month.
For Dennis Walmsley, another long training run and a tester as he continued his preparation for the ultra and he didn't disappoint by running a superb race to record a convincing victory over his nearest rival, clocking 2:46:44, nearly 2 minutes ahead of 2nd place. Considering the nature of the course and the heavy mileage Dennis has been running recently, this was a superb effort and stands him in good stead for the demanding 39 mile race in 3 weeks time.
For Steve Edwards, this was not only a test for his recent injury and ongoing effort to regain fitness but another marathon towards his dream of running a record breaking 500 marathons averaging sub 3:20 for each. Starting out at just under 8 minute miling, he would have been happy to dip under 3:30 again as he did at Duchy 2 weeks ago. However, after 2 laps, he decided to up the pace for the final lap reaching 20 miles in just over 2:35 and eventually clocking 3:21:45 for a very pleasing 10th place out of 85 finishers.
Both Dennis and Steve would like to say thank you for the fantastic support they received around the course by fellow Bourton club members, it was very much appreciated.
Report Highlights
Dennis Walmsley wins the inaugural Cotswold Marathon, in 2:46:22.
Steve Edwards makes 3:21 look easy; another step nearer the 500-target.
Other reports may be found on our recent race reports page.