Gosport Half Marathon – Sunday 25 November 2007
DUE to “unforeseen circumstances”, the Gosport Half Marathon had to be put back a week from its traditional third Sunday in November slot. However, great weather conditions, plus a starting line up that read like a who’s who of the county’s finest distance runners, certainly made the wait worthwhile.
The race was originally scheduled for Sunday 18 November, which turned out to be cold, wet and downright miserable. Fortunately, a week later it was a very different story altogether, with near perfect running conditions – sunshine, blue skies, and a slightly cool, autumnal feel to the air.
The air temperature may have been on the cool side, but the line up for the Gosport Half was positively sizzling, with many of Hampshire’s quickest runners toeing the line for the 22nd running of the event, that this year doubled as the Hampshire Half Marathon Championships and round three of the Hampshire Road Race League.
As the gun sounded and the 874-strong field set off on the 13.1-mile challenge, it was Toby Lambert, the current Stubbington Green 10k title-holder, who went off like a proverbial jet-propelled rocket, setting a blisteringly quick time of 4 minutes 42 seconds for the first mile.
And, over the two-lap course that headed out along Stokes Bay, and wound its way back through the streets of Gosport and Alverstoke, the Winchester & District AC athlete continued to extend his advantage, crossing the finish line in an awesome time of 1 hour 5 minutes and 36 seconds (an average of five minute per mile pace). Lambert's fantastic time was a new course record, smashing the previous mark that had been held for the past 15 years, by 19 seconds.
Last year’s winner, James Baker, of Chichester Runners, finished second in a none-too-shabby time of 1 hour 8 minutes and 57 seconds, with Winchester & District AC’s Nick Anderson taking the third podium place in 1 hour 9 minutes and 26 seconds.
For Stubbington, Mark Le Gassick continued his return to form with a strong performance to finish in sixth place, in a time of 1 hour 12 minutes and 9 seconds.
There were also some excellent runs from Zippy Grice – 1.16.03 (23rd), Mickie Breed – 1.16.18 (26th) and Alisdair Ewing - 1.16.53 (28th), resulting in some good team packing to ensure that the club’s first four runners finished inside the top 30. However, the team prize went to a dominant Winchester & District AC, with all four of their scorers finishing inside the top 10.
The ladies race was won in a similar fashion to the men’s race with Shona Crombie-Hicks pulling out a decisive margin over Team Kennet’s Rachel Elliot who finished second. The Winchester athlete clocked 1 hour 17 minutes and 42 seconds, to finish in 31st place overall.
Elliot crossed the line in 1 hour 21 minutes and 44 seconds, finishing in 54th place overall, just ahead of Winchester veteran, Michaela Mccallum, who was third in a time of 1 hour 22 minutes and 3 seconds (55th overall). As with the men’s team event, it was Winchester & District AC who took the ladies’ team honours, with Kaye Mansbridge and Jo Jeffries making up the four-to-score quartet.
For Stubbington, Bev Lavery was the first lady in a green vest to cross the finishing line at Bay House School, recording an excellent time of 1 hour 33 minutes 36 seconds in the process. Bev's superb performance gave her third place in the ladies' 35-39 category (due to the way that the prizes were worked out), and she also picked up a third place Hampshire Championship medal for her age group (40-44).
Another fantastic run by the unstoppable Alisdair 'superman' Ewing gave the experienced veteran a well-deserved third place prize in the mens' 45-49 age category.
Stubbington’s results
6 Mark Le Gassick 1.12.09
23 Zippy Grice 1.16.03
26 Mickie Breed 1.16.18
28 Alisdair Ewing 1.16.53
219 Bev Lavery 1.33.50
231 Nick Kimber 1.34.19
250 Phil May 1.35.13
308 Rob English 1.38.25
310 Raymond Oliver 1.38.55
318 Malcolm Lavery 1.38.55
326 Marcus Lee 1.39.30
351 Joan Oliver 1.40.55
352 Richard Snell 1.40.55
365 Aaron Kingston 1.41.43
370 Mike James 1.42.07
371 Louise James 1.42.08
551 Nicholas Lewkowicz 1.52.30
607 Mike Harper 1.56.04
617 Sarah White 1.56.24
619 Verity Wright 1.56.28
731 Liz Hall 2.05.17
747 Amy Hopper 2.06.19
808 Julie Ashman 2.14.08
There were a total of 874 finishers