Another epic weekend of racing. This time it was the turn of Manchester to take centre stage and once again there were dramas. Laura was first in, with an impressive 3.36.37 (a 12-minute PB), closely followed by Richard (3.39.38). In both cases, that should be GFA entries for London 2023 sorted. Haseeb was attempting a London/Manchester double but there were a few bumps along the way. Harry, who was guiding, developed a painful foot and then started to feel unwell at about 18 miles. After spending some time in the medical tent, he was advised not to continue. Having assured himself that his guide was going to be OK, Haseeb demonstrated his trademark resourcefulness by ‘hitching a ride’ with a passing runner and managed to finish in 4.51.54.
More info here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-58888780
Chris and Cath both set PB’s (5.16.32 and 5.16.33, respectively); that’s two Marathons in two weeks for Cath, too. Brian, who has been battling injury this year, was our final finisher in 7.06.56.

Matt Langtree ran the Manchester HM in a scorching 10-minute PB of 1.18.08 and Vijay did the Royal Parks HM in 2.50.55. While we’re on the theme of Manchester, I have just found out that Liz did the Manchester 10K in 1.08.53 a couple of weeks ago.

Mohammed made his parkrun debut on Saturday and despite a couple of wrong turns, managed to bag P1 in an amazing 16.32. Gurmit followed him in P2 (17.39).