Twilight 10k
The big event for Pacers this weekend wasn’t at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, but much closer to home at Portman Road in Ipswich. The Twilight 10k is one of the region’s premier races, attracting a strong field and fantastic support every year.

Twenty-three Pacers took to the start line and produced an outstanding set of results. Chris Mower was the first Pacer home, while Jenny Morgan won her age category. There were also age category podium finishes for Katie King, Chris Cooke, Anita Ward, Philip Hymers and Stephen Mead, who broke his own V70 club record with a superb time of 45:23.

Several Pacers also achieved personal bests on the mostly flat and winding course, including Josh Carr, George Allen and Alex De-Moore. To cap off a fantastic evening, Katie, Anita and Jenny all secured qualification for an England Masters vest.

Juniors Update from Cath
A big well done to Max Jeffery and India Johnson, both of whom ran PBs in the 800m at the Watford Open Meet on 8 July. Max clocked 1:57 while India ran 2:28.
Last weekend was the English Schools Track & Field Championships, where there is a selection process in order to be invited to run for the County. Not many get the opportunity to run at this prestigious event, and I know how many amazing athletes we have, so to be selected really is a huge achievement. It’s an amazing event to be part of, and I know the athletes selected get a feeling of being treated a bit like professional athletes for the weekend – memories they’ll never forget. It wasn’t everyone’s competition – running definitely has its highs and lows – but in the end, these experiences will make them stronger! A huge congratulations to:

Molly Smith (Inter Girls 3000m)
Alex McVittie and India Johnson (Inter Girls 800m)
Alfie Kelly (Senior Boys 800m)
Bella Taylor (Senior Girls 800m)
Seb Melero (Senior Boys 1500m)
Alfie Jeffery (Senior Boys 3000m)

And a special well done to Max Uttley (Senior Boys 1500m) running a PB at the competition in 4:07, Dexter Marshall (Junior Boys 1500m) qualifying for the final, Hamish Dover (Inter Boys 800m), who ran a PB of 1:55 and narrowly missed out on a place in the final, and Roman Gambling, who, despite struggling with injuries for a long time, managed to get himself fit to be selected in a short space of time and ran a great race.

London Marathon
We’re told that an incredible 1.3 million people entered the public ballot for places in next year’s special two-day London Marathon. If you entered, you’ll already know whether luck was on your side. Roger Brand has kindly offered to collate the results from across the club. If you applied, please send Roger a quick email including:

Your name
Were you offered a ballot place? (Yes/No)
If successful, was your place for Saturday or Sunday?

Please email your response to roger@rothside.co.uk by 31 July. Roger will report back in a future Club Update.

We’re still waiting to hear whether the number of allocated club places has also increased for next year and will share an update as soon as we know more.

Sunday Social
Another great turnout on Sunday, with runners enjoying both 10k and 10-mile routes from Angel Hill in Bury, led by Ian Gooderham and Sandra Webb.

Despite what I said last week, the Schofields’ are organising next Sunday’s run, so you’ve still got another week to work out exactly where Shimpling is!

Lastly…
I realised last week that the Southwold Half Marathon falls on the same day as next year’s Tarpley 10 and 20-mile races. Unfortunately, I only noticed after giving it a recommendation on WhatsApp and entering it myself….unbelievable!
Looking at the entrants, I’m not the only one. It looks as though ten other Pacers may have followed my lead, so there could be a few race transfers and resale posts appearing on Facebook over the coming months…

Matt