Polegate Plodders' pride in home 10k

It was PBs and course records all round as the Polegate Plodders had a successful morning at the Eastbourne 10k.

In the race organised by Sue Fry and Liz Lumber of Smallfry Fitness Events, 18 members competed in the event in hot and humid conditions along the prom.

Patrick Marsden set a new course record of 35min 18sec to finish first. Marsden has only been running for a few years but has been averaging 50 miles per week recently in training to prepare for a summer of races.

“It felt great to be back out racing with other people again especially other club members and crossing the finish line first was a nice new experience,” he said.

“For the future, I am looking forward to the return of parkrun, the East Sussex Cross Country League later in the year and my big goal is the Manchester Marathon in October.”

The success didn’t stop there for the Plodders; Ian Weston completed the course in 42:34 and came top of his age group. Peter Cook put his regular 6AM Runners training runs to good use and achieved a PB of 49:12.

Another newcomer to running, David Moran, achieved a PB of 53:09, he was understandably delighted with his time.

He said: “I really enjoyed the run and I am over the moon with my performance. It was great to see so many members from the club participating, volunteering or supporting from the sidelines, it made me proud to be a Plodder.”

Sarah Doherty came across the line in 1.06.27 and in doing so, she smashed her 10k PB.

She said: “This was only my second 10k race but I was really chuffed to beat my previous time by nearly five minutes. It was great to see so many local people running together again with all of the social distancing and Covid restrictions in place.”

Caroline Gearing (57 mins), Heather Long (51:02) and Jamie Martin (54:56) also achieved PBs.

Other Plodder results: Liam Brooks 46:37, Brett Burton 45:11, Marco Fortmann 49:07, Roger Humphries 50:53, Martin Sales 52:55, Helen Blewitt 1:01:41, Nikki Loats 1:10:03, Garrie Beaconsfield 1:21:31, Rachel Moran 1:27:52, Shauni Wells 1:27:52.

Club coach and a founding member of the Plodders, Brian Winn, said: “It was great to see so many members competing and supporting a well-run event; after an extremely tough 18 months, it was emotional and brought a tear to my eye.”