Tom Frith close to club marathon record

This year's London Marathon saw our man Tom Frith get very, very close to the club's 47-year old marathon record, held by Colin Moxham since 1975.

Tom, who has road PBs of 14.10 (5K) and 29.38 (10K) only made his debut over 26.2 miles in April of this year, when he clocked 2:19.44 in Manchester. In the London race, Tom went through halfway in 1:08.47 and ended up being first athlete home in the Mass race. His time was 2:18.35 (5' 17" per mile), 23" (less than 1 second per mile!) outside Moxham's record. His time would have placed him 18th in the Elite Men's race.

A few days later Tom reflected: "To prepare for the race, I was running around 100 miles a week in the preceding 4 months. I was nervous in the week before, but after the gun went I loved every second (even the grinding last mile!). Everything went to plan, I was cautious in the first half, I took my drinks and gels and came into the final few miles feeling strong. I only took the lead (in the mass race) at mile 23, but this gave me an extra boost. I finished in 2:18:35. Now, I will enjoy some rest. The preparation has been mentally and physically tough. My next goal is to run the Berlin marathon next September in a faster time, perhaps taking down that club record that was tantalisingly close!"

Mike Waddington of Ware Joggers, who runs 2nd claim for WGEL, typically in our Met League cross-country races, also ran well to record a 10" PB of 2:25.25. Mike said afterwards, "I really rolled the dice, and set off at a pace through half (1:10.09) that was probably a little quick, and it showed in the second half as I slowed; I somehow managed to hang on in the final few miles and grab a very small 10 second PB, so can't complain. Will probably pace the next one a bit more conservatively, but you never know unless you give it a shot! As always, it was good to see so many friendly faces out on the course, particularly from Woodford!"

The same weekend in Melbourne, Australia, our former Winter Team Manager Darren Southcott made his debut over the marathon distance, clocking 2:27.45. Darren, whose work currently bases him in Singapore, ran almost perfect splits, going through halfway in 1:13.44. He reported afterwards, "I had pretty much everything go right for me on Sunday! I went to Melbourne as it’s a lot closer than London and I was aiming for 2.27 following the 69.10 half I ran in July (in Southport, Australia). Myself and a mate were looking to run the same time as the lead female Aussie Izzy Bat-Doyle, which meant we had a group of about 10 of us including 3 pace makers. We stayed as a group until 36km and then I felt surprisingly strong and pushed on, and wound it up over the last couple of kilometres! It was an awesome event and I think it helped being a little more low key as I had personalised drinks and started at the front. I finished 14th overall."

Another Woodford man in the Melbourne race was Julian Russell who returned to his home country earlier this year after many years in London. Darren said, "It was also great seeing Julian a couple of times going round and we caught up over a beer at the end! He ran 2.57 which he said was his target."