News
Injury woe for Hepples opens door
KENYANS dominated
yesterday's 26th Redcar Half
Marathon after a shock pre-race
injury ruled out their main
challenger.
Redcar-based Stephen
Hepples suffered a calf injury in
his training build-up,
preventing him from
attempting a fourth victory and
Midlands-based Zak Kihara
romped home ahead of stablemate
Raymond Tonui to collect
a £500 first prize.
It was left to Yorkshireman
Matthew Watson to provide the
only threat top the African pair,
but the Bingley Harrier was
dropped after three miles.
Kihara - beaten into third place
by Hepples in last year's
Middlesbrough 10K - went on to
win in a modest 67 mins 1 sec,
beating Tonui by a comfortable
32 seconds.
Kihara, winner of last year's
Edinburgh and Loch Ness
Marathons, enjoyed the support
of bystanders who applauded
his efforts along the wind-swept
route.
He said: "The spectators were
very supportive and I enjoyed
their encouragement so much I
would like to come back again
next year.
"It was sometimes difficult
running alone into the wind
and considering the conditions I
was pleased with my time."
Watson, who decided to travel
to Redcar after a successful
cross country season in which
he gained two England vests,
was going well until the two
Kenyans started putting in
surges after three miles. "They
worked together putting in
surges and I lost contact," he
said after clocking 77 mins 59
secs.
The next runner, Claremont's
Peter Newton, finished two
minutes away in 70 mins 20
secs, but his fourth placing was
enough to give him the North-
East half marathon
championship.
The women's race turned up a
surprise when another Kenyan
runner, Joyce Kandia, was
beaten into third place by
runners from outside the
region.
Blackburn Harrier Pauline
Powell took the £400 first prize
and a £50 prime bonus for
winning in a personal-best 75
mins 17 secs, beating
Charnwood's Jane Potter by
exactly a minute. The 34-yearold,
a former winner of the
Manchester and Blackpool
marathons and a cross country
international said: "I managed
to leave the Kenyan runner
after five miles and I was able to
break clear against the wind
after 6 miles."
Kandia, troubled by a muscle
spasm in her side after four
miles, finished in 69 mins 9 secs.
Elswick Harrier Judith Nutt
finished fourth in 82 mins 15
secs to win the North-East title,
beating Sunderland Harrier and
defending champion Louise
Noble, by 81 seconds.
■ More pictures and a list of
Redcar Half Marathon entrants
will appear in a four-page
souvenir supplement in The
Northern Echo on Wednesday.
10:15am Monday 21st April 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
