Totton 10k, 2nd April 2006
FOR Jenny Hearnden, Sunday's Totton 10km road race was simply about taking part. She has not raced for four years, and this was one race where finishing was a victory in itself.
The Stubbington stalwart has been forced to put up with a fair bit of adversity in recent times through illness. She has been in and out of hospitals, coming to terms with a time in her life when running has had to take a bit of a backseat - although Jenny has continued to be an enthusiastic supporter of Stubbington Green Runners. A few weeks ago, she decided that now she was running again it would be a good idea to run the Totton 10km.
And so on Sunday, she lined up with more than 680 runners for a windswept run from Testwood School, and a looping course around Calmore and Totton. The medals may have been won earlier, but the biggest winner on the day was our Jenny who, with a smile on her face, and accompanied for the final 200 metres by a dishevelled-looking Gary Littlecott, crossed the finish line just over the hour mark.
She finished in a time of 1hr 1min 23sec for 183rd in the women's race, and 13th in the Veteran 55 category. But time and placing was irrelevant. Afterwards, Jenny said she was pleased with her run, and delighted to have been able to take part on what was a poignant day for her in more ways than one.
It was a good day for Stubbington's women, with Lauren Coates once again competing strongly. She was the club's leading female finisher in 36th place, with a time of 44min 21sec - a 37 second improvement on her time at the Eastleigh 10km last month. Considering the strong headwinds on parts of the course, this was a excellent run from the youngster.
Geraldine Perrier is determined to break 45 minutes for the 10km distance, and she is edging ever closer to that target. She recorded a time of 46:25 for 54th place in the women's race - a 33-second improvement on Eastleigh.
Rachel Openshaw claimed third place in the junior women's race. Rachel is home for the Easter break from the University of Surrey in Guildford where she is studying chemistry and forensic science, and she had the right mixture for a time of 50:07 and 82nd overall.
Chris Haskell, who seems to be free of injury and running regularly again, took sixth place in the Vet 55 category thanks to a 10km time of 51:55 for 102nd in the women's event.
Sarah White and Liz Hall ran together for a large chunk of the race, before Sarah forged ahead towards the end for a time of 56:15 and 149th, while Liz, had a better run after a disappointing outing at Eastleigh, with 160th in 57:57. The women's race was run by 24-year-old Bethan Harris from Southampton Running Club with a personal best time of 36:24.
For the men, once again it was Mark Le Gassick who headed the Stubbington contingent. A year ago at Totton, Mark ran 33:50 for 12th place. On Sunday, Mark recorded a swift time of 31:57 for an excellent fifth place. However, he will have been interested to learn that Andy Morgan-Lee, who he beat at January's Stubbington 10km in a race won convincingly by Alton's Toby Lambert, managed to turn the tables by beating Lambert in a sprint finish to chalk up his first win of the season. The Southampton Running Club member secured the race in 30:36, three seconds ahead of Lambert, and Morgan-Lee now puts pressure on Mark for the Hampshire Road Race.
Lordshill Road Runner's James Buis, who briefly led the HRRL rankings after the Eastleigh 10km event, which Mark did not compete in, finished eighth at Totton.
Chris Hall, clearly on a high after Pompey's win at Fulham the day before, breezed round for 38th place in 35:11 and seventh in the Vet 40 age category. Mike Harper looked relaxed as he took 55th place in 36:28 for 14th in the Vet 40s, with Andy Simpson, cheered on by Team Simpson on the sidelines, easing through in 61st spot in 36:51.
Andy was the fifth scorer to give Stubbington sixth place in the team standings in a race won by Winchester & District AC. Other Stubbington runners: 68th Ray Gunner (V40, 19th) 37:17, 155th Mike Bell (V50, 17th) 41:10, 190th Eric Beck (V40, 60th) 42:51, 223rd Colin Elderfield 43:58, 229th Chris Munro (Jnr, 10th) 44:11, 243rd Ryan Gunner (Jnr, 11th) 44:53, 244th Marcus Lee 44:55, 278th Trevor Tollett (V40, 82nd) 46:05, 291st Gilbert Yeates (V60, 17th) 46:40, 296th Gary Littlecott (V40, 89th) 47:03, 305th Ashley Lovell (V40, 90th) 47:33, 319th Glen Street (V40, 96th) 48:22, 408th David Eland (V40, 120th) 53:26.