Stubbington Green Runners

THE sun was out, the sky was blue - didn't we have fun at Marwell Zoo?!! A large contingent of Stubbington Green Runners turned out for the Marwell 10k in beautiful Spring-time sunshine.

A field of 864 runners took part in the fifth running of the race, which was well-organised by Eastleigh Runners, starting and finishing at the zoological park.

After a loop around Marwell, the field headed out of the zoo and along country roads with two killer climbs up towards Owslebury. With temperatures in the 80s, those hills felt even steeper, and in Owslebury, one wag was sat in a deckchair with a sign "Oxygen for sale"! From there the route wounds its way back toward the zoo, and a downhill-uphill finish close to Marwell House.

Chichester Runners' James Baker won the race for the second year running by a convincing margin of just over a minute, clocking 32min 56sec - 69 seconds ahead of second-placed Mike Grist (Poole Runners). Nicola Moxham, an unattached runner from Gosport , was the first female home in 42.19.

Stubbington's Barry Hards ran well to finish 16th , and the eighth Vet 40 in 37.25, with Graham James following in 49th (16th Vet 40) in 40.41.

Eric Beck, despite nursing a slight injury, finished strongly over the final 2km to claim 93rd place in 43.58, and Nick Davies, preparing to run a marathon in Pisa, Italy, next weekend, who was using the race as a last bit of speed training, clocked 44.17 for 101st . That gave Stubbington fifth place in the team rankings, with Southampton Running Club coming out on top.

Other men: 104 Dave King (V40, 33rd ) 44.24, 125 Andy Lee (V40, 41st ) 45.05, 126 Simon Holford 45.07, 149 Marcus Lee (46.06), 153 Keith Carter (V40, 46th ) 46.22, 162 Trevor Tollet (V40, 53rd), 46.54, 203 Gilbert Yeates (V60, 2nd ) 48.48, 216 Paul Farquharson 49.09, 296 Peter Adams (V60, 4th ) 52.00, 467 Tim Bishop (V40, 153rd ) 1hr 1min 30sec, 526 Michael Aimable (V70, 7th ) 1:24.07.

Whatever music Lauren Coates is listening to on her Ipod is clearly proving motivational. The heat and the hills took their toll on times, but Lauren will have been pleased with her 11th place in 46.43.

Claire Borrowdale also had a good run with a time of 52.27 for 69th place (Vet 35, 32nd ), and Chris Haskell was happy with her run with brought 97th place in 55.05, and fourth place in the Vet 55 category. They were Stubbington's three scorers for a team finish of eighth behind winners, Gosport Road Runners.

Other women: 134 Clair Miles (V35, 53rd ) 57.30, 157 Jacquelyn Sherman (V45, 24th ) 59.24, 179 Liz Hall (V35, 71st ) 1:01.02, 196 Trisha Chappenden (V35, 77th ) 1:01.49, 211 Tracie Jarvis (V35, 83rd ) 1:02.42.

Men's teams: 1 Southampton RC 111 pts, 2 Eastleigh RC 131, 3 Portsmouth Joggers 174, 4 Hardley Runners 189, 5 Stubbington Green Runners & AC 258, 6 City of Salisbury ARC 261, 7 Southampton RC 'B' 303, 8 Winchester & District AC 365, 9 Hardley Runners 'B' 438, 10 Romsey Road Runners 446.

Women's teams: 1 Gosport Road Runners 71 pts, 2 Hart Road Runners 101, 3 Portsmouth Joggers 106, 4 Romsey Road Runners 109, 5 Eastleigh RC 109, 6 Gosport Road Runners 'B' 131, 7 Winchester & District AC 134, 8 Stubbington Green Runners & AC 171, 9 Portsmouth Joggers 'B' 179, 10 Southampton RC 189.

Photos courtesy of the Echo. Please click here for more pics.