Kruze celebrates half marathon glory
BRIGHT sunshine and a glorious autumnal morning greeted the 1,355 runners who competed in Sunday’s Stratford Big 10k and Half Marathon.
The weather was perfect for running and the 45 Stratford Upon Avon Athletics Club (SUAAC) athletes taking part certainly made the most of the ideal conditions.
In the half marathon, the club’s Ben Kruze held off the challenge of Northbrook AC runner Adrian McBride to win in a time of 1.11.19, just five seconds ahead of his rival and this despite the fact that he had recently been unwell.
Jamie Hall from Stratford finished third overall with a time of 1.14.25, just 12 seconds off his personal best and it came just seven days after running his first marathon.
Seth Turner (1.27.05) finished 21st and James Lake, running his first half marathon, finished in 25th place with a time of 1.28.00 despite also feeling unwell for the 48 hours leading up to the race.
The other SUAAC runners to complete the half marathon were George Gherase (1.33.47), Clare Goodwin (1.49.42), Yumiko Turner (1.52.59), Bethan Pearson (2.01.14), Ali Kirk (2.29.08) and Kate Sergent (2.29.28) who was competing in her seventh half marathon of the year.
Four of the club’s runners were in the first seven of the 10k which attracted a field of 826 competitors.
Ian Allen of Spa Striders won the event in 31.57 with Stratford’s Lambert brothers - Zak and Sam - finishing second and third place respectively. 17-year-old Zak ran a time of 33.48, over a couple of minutes quicker than his personal best set at the same race last year. Sam, his 15-year-old brother, recorded a time of 33.58 in his inaugural 10k road race. It was a superlative effort from the pair of them.
Then came a number of the SUAAC u17 athletes with William Mayes finishing fifth in a time of 35.51, some 42 seconds quicker than his time last year. His brother James finished 18th in 38.53 which was 83 seconds quicker than his time last year.
Tom Fisher was seventh in 36.48 and James Day also finished inside the top 30 in a time of 38.34. Flying the flag for the club’s senior runners was eighth-placed Adam Evans (36.49).
The outstanding performances of so many of the club’s juniors endurance runners is just reward for the hard work they have put in at the club’s coached training sessions.
