ANOTHER PACKED week saw several club records being broken, runners taking part in an iconic marathon and the Quaker flag being flown, not only abroad but on national radio too!

A dozen runners headed down to the capital for this year’s London Marathon, which saw runners setting new personal bests and claiming good for age places. First home for the club over the 26.2 mile distance was Marc Ellis in 3:07:00 (PB), followed by Katherine Hackett (3:17:19), Brian Martin (3:22:15), Billy Harris (3:33:08), Dave Thompson (3:42:29), Rob Gillham (3:55:10), Wendy Colling (3:59:36), Bridget Stewart (4:00:00), April Corbett (4:02:11), Michael Oliver (4:11:09, PB), Sandra Martin (4:39:19) and Gillian Harris (5:38:23).

Easter Monday had seen Quakers running in two different places called Boston. Across the Atlantic, Diane Vaughan completed the marathon in the American city, held in some very warm conditions, in 4:22:03.

Nearer to home in the Lincolnshire town of the same name, Ty Hankinson took part in the half marathon race there, finishing in 1:40:45.

There was plenty of track action early on in the week, which saw Michael Joyeux claiming third place in the North East 10K Championships at Jarrow, finishing the 25 laps of the track in 32:53 to set a new club record for the distance.

Down at Eastbourne Sports Complex, the first meeting of the NYSD Track and Field series took place, where several club records ended up being set. In the 1500m, Gary Read finished in 4.54 to break his own club record, followed by Rob Dent (5.04), Chris Minto (5.13), Lou Trainer (5.35, CR), Paul Roberts (6.04, CR), Ian Hammond (6.42), David Ledgerwood (6.57, CR) and Michelle Scruby (7.17, CR). Out on the field Paul Roberts threw 20.93m in the javelin, with Rob Dent breaking his own club record with a throw of 11.09m. Gary Read also broke his own club record in the triple jump too, landing 8.07m.

The first of the Tees Trail Summer 5K races took place at the new venue of Newham Grange Farm. Gary Read finished the off-road route in 18:11 along with Dan Rowlands (19:20), Louise Trainor (20:01), Steven Major (21:02), Olly Moore (23:49), Jamie Pratt (24:07), Michelle Boshier (25:18), Lewis Boshier (25:19), Danny Gordon (25:50), Barbra Barker (30:01), Gemma Marshall (30:30), Sarah Bayles (31:10), Sharon Carr (32:59), Lisa Alderson (33:00), Claire Hewitt (33:22) and Sally Watson (33:22, PB).

At the Chase the Kite 10K, held around the Derwent Country Park, Paul Dalton came home in second place in 36:23, with Clare Stradling finishing in 54:10.

Four headed up to Hamsterley Forest for the 10K race held there. Gareth Kyle completed the woodland route in 43:56 (PB) along with Ronald Murray (53:45), Barbra Barker (53:51) and Andy Whittam (57:42, PB).

Up at Wallsend, Steve Snook completed the Terry O'Gara Memorial 5K race, finishing the fairly flat course around the park in 21:08.

Over in Keswick there was the rare sight of Nick Watson giving the black and white vest an airing at the Anniversary Waltz fell race. On course covering 11.5 miles and taking in 3600 feet of climb, he finished the very hilly route in 2:22:11.

Those who fancied more than just running headed over to Tees Barrage for the Stockton duathlon. In the standard race, which comprised a 10K run, 40K cycle and 5K run, Iain Clyde completed the gruelling distance in 2:30:53 along with Jeff Marriott (3:06:00) and Helen Whiting (3:30:01). In the sprint race, which covered half the distance in each of the three legs, Ian Readman finished in 1:04:36 with Louise Trainor in 1:09:42, Ty Hankinson  in 1:15:01 and Alec Cinamon in 1:30:51.

An honourable mention must also go to Lee Morris, who although not running, did manage to get the Quaker name mentioned across the airwaves of Radio 2!

In the Saturday morning parkruns, Dave Jones finished at South Park in 18:16 followed by Rob Dent (18:49), Adrian Cottam (20:28), Gary Read (20:42), Dale Chapman (20:57), Ed Griffiths (21:07), David Whittle (22:02), Phil Clarke (22:45), Jamie Pratt (23:24), Paul Roberts (23:30), Stuart Masterman (24:00), Shaune Eland (24:12), Rebecca Bowes (25:00), Peter Rowley (25:02), Julie Whinn (25:32), Juliette Mclaren (25:36), David Ptak (26:14), Gemma Hammond (26:30), Ian Hamond (27:19), Brian Dixon (27:30), Sarah Watson (27:52), Sue New (27:56), Michelle Scruby (27:57), Wendy Noble (29:12), Charlie Johnson (29:15), Chris Land (29:33), James Simpson (30:03), Gemma Marshall (30:26), Dawn Johnston (30:26), Sarah Bayles (30:35), Paul Ryan (30:35), Olly Moore (30:36), Grainne Duffy (31:26), Phill Johnston (32:22), Lucy Bendle (32:44), Isabelle Bell (33:48), Michael King (34:17), Rachel Ryan (40:10), Adrian Dent (43:56) and Fin Fox (47:36).

There was a 1-2 finish at Hackworth where Alex Kiel was first across the line in 16:42 followed by James Atkinson in 19:42. At Sedgefield, Richard Payne finished in 26:41 along with Mark Blewitt (27:48), Jeff Marriott (27:59), Nicola Howe (28:03) and Anna Hardy (30:12), while Stephen Moore did the run at Albert Park in 22:38. At Tees Barrage, Fiona Dixon finished in 32:28 followed by Mark Trowles (32:33), Emily Beaumont (33:52) and Karen Dove (33:57). Caroline Moses completed the run at Riverside in 35:52, while Adrian Colbourne did the run at South Shields in 20:51.

Further afield, Darryn Wood finished the Cross Flatts run at Leeds in 36:42, while Ty Hankinson did the Humber Bridge run at Hull in 22:18. Down in London, at the Wormwood Scrubs run (held in the park rather than the prison!), Phil Rutter finished in 21:32 along with Anthony Corbett (25:11), Sandra Cass (26:20), Gill Colling (27:18) and Mark Colling (27:19).

Quakers Running Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30pm at Abbey Road Playing Fields. For more information visit our website: www.quakersrunningclub.org.uk

Submitted by Rob Dent (photos by Karen Newton)