Running roundup, 27/04/2025 – the one with the marathons

Here’s the weekly roundup from Deal Tri’s running section.

Parkruns! Forty one made it to Walmer and Deal Seafront parkrun on Saturday, 5 at Dover Waterfront, 1 each at Folkestone and Margate – that’s 240 kilometres at parkruns alone!

Next stop has to be London Marathon in various forms. Hilary Collins did her second Reverse London Marathon, where you start at midnight at the finish, and run the official course, back to the start! This can count in 2 ways – first for the Reverse London medal and shirt, and secondly, if you enter the London Marathon My Way – enter and do a marathon distance on marathon day, to get a finisher medal and shirt, the same as everyone who does the official course. If running is your thing but crowds aren’t, this could be the solution.

Sue Bolton decided on holiday on Friday night to enter the Virtual LM, getting the distance done over a handful of runs.

Lee Gavin and Steve Wakeford also took on Not The London Marathon, a 7 hour timed challenge on a course where each lap is 3.28 miles, so 8 laps for a marathon. This course was more shady and cooler than the London course, making for a slightly more comfortable run.

I suppose we should mention the conventional London Marathon! Fifteen members took part, and everyone got round more or less safely. Plenty of smiling faces and happy hearts from Jill Cliff (who won the draw for the Club’s ballot place), Louise Moore, Tim Malpass, Lisa Buckler (personal best (PB) time), Vicki Callanan (PB), Aaron Hill (PB), Nikki Smith, Abbie Kirkham (PB), Anita Pollard, Toby Smith (Championship place), Nigel Lambourn (PB), Elisa Ellis, Dave Gibb (PB), Dave Henderson, Steve Jordan and James Ellis. It was H.O.T. out there today, especially for people who start later when the cloud burnt off.

There really is something for everyone, and a great support team behind it all. Get in touch if you’d like to know more