Gallagher and Cooper shine in Silverstone Half Marathon
Kirsty Gallagher produced another brilliant run in the ladies race of the adidas Silverstone Half Marathon last weekend.
The Wootton Road Runner was in fine form again, clocking 1hr 25mins 15secs to take fourth place in the ladies race.
Rugby & Northampton AC's Alison Cooper was not far behind Gallagher in ninth place, coming home in 1hr 26mins 16secs.
And while a large number of Silson Joggers runners were the on-course marshals for the race, the club still had seven taking part.
Leading the way for Silson was Mark Armstrong who finished in 36th place in 1hr 20mins 20secs with Andrew Taylor in 282nd place in 1hr 31mins 5secs.
New member Jenny Dicks is building up to run the Edinburgh marathon and finished strongly in 1,033rd place in 1hr 42mins 33secs.
Peter Morris, in his first half marathon since knee surgery, can be delighted with his time of 1hr 47mins 4secs (1,547th place) and was followed by Stewart Shears (1:50:33 - 1,959th), Trevor Ray (1:56:00 - 2,736th) and Stuart Branch (2:08:42 - 4,350th).
Meanwhile, Northants Police's Dave Rayfield produced a personal best performance.
Rayfield was 40th place in 1hr 21mins 19secs and now heads to the London Marathon aiming to beat last years best time of 2hrs 57mins.
Northants Police took a team of 10 runners to the Police Sport UK National Championship held at Penrith, Cumbria. Despite some notable performances, they were unable to defend the men's Minor Forces title that they won in dramatic fashion a year ago.
Dave Rayfield led the team home, mastering the challenging three-lap, 6.5-mile course in 43mins 44secs for 35th position overall and an impressive sixth place in the Minor Forces competition.
He was followed by Sean Bunn, 45mins 48secs for 63rd (13th MF) and Andy Blaize, 48mins 35secs for 106th (23rd MF), both runners who have struggled for form following injuries.
Completing the team's four runners to count was the ever-consistent Ken Willis, 49mins 18secs for 118th (30th MF).
These results gave the team, fourth place in a competition won by 2008 runners-up Norfolk.
Northants' only debutant at the meeting was Richard Clapham, who was not only having his first run for the force, but his first cross country race.
The talented local cyclist known to many as 'Clappers' produced a fine run, pacing himself steadily before unleashing a fast finish that raised many cheers for a time of 54mins 25secs for 193rd (50th MF).
With the appropriate training he is likely to be soon challenging the more experieced members of the squad.
Force regulars Mark Stirmey, 55mins 13secs for 200th (55th MF) and vet 60 Graham Bayes, 60mins 12secs for 252nd (76th MF) produced solid runs, while marathon training is paying off for Andy Canning, who broke the hour in 59mins 50secs for 250th (75th MF), despite recent heavy mileage.
Mark Lee completed the men's squad in 60mins 48secs for 253rd (77th MF) with daughter Joanne Lee the only representative in the ladies' race.
Joanne is enjoying a fine run of PB runs after staying clear of the injuries that has hampered her performances.
The triathlete completed the two-lap course in 42mins 42secs, giving her 91st, an improvement on her 2008 placing.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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