2010 Brighton Marathon

[Sweder]

Attended (gate-crashed) the BM finishers party last night at the Market Inn in the Lanes. Updates on those I met amongst the tangible euphoria follow, but I'd just like to say there's no greater buzz than speaking to someone who's just completed their first ever marathon. A number of the guys I ran with over the (harsh) winter were there last night, finishers shirts and (very nice) medals on display beneath the widest grins you'll ever see. Wonderful stuff.

Cathy Ulliott (who I've not often mentioned because given her usual pace I never see her), a very good friend of Moyleman, crushed her PB and romped home to claim one of the top prizes. She bashfully revealed a very smart silver trophy to rapturous applause. I'd seen her rocket out of Ovingdean Hill School heading for the nine mile marker, eyes blazing a trail through the runners in front.

Team Moyleman acquitted themselves with honours. Cam (Moylebird) looked out for a Sunday stroll at 9 miles but must have lit up the afterburners to crack 4 hours, as did Jen. Remarkably, despite a month out with injuries just before the race and deploying her now infamous pace-walking, Ladyrunner got home in 4:08, a brilliant effort. My old mate would have been hugely proud of all of them. Sickeningly they all looked fresh as daisies last night as they imbibed the Team Moyleman drink du jour, Guinness and Black.

The JSJ 'quicks' had a pretty good day too. Simon Ho bagged a big PB in 3:08, Stevio 3:15 and Irish Michael, after the dissapointment of blowing up in London last year, a magnificent 2:58. Sean Billing, always a strong runner, came home in 2:56. Mike Bannister, denied a sub 3 by 2 minutes twice before, once again fell mercilessly short, clocking 3:03. His time will come. PBs too for Adi, Gillybean and MSilv, times to be confirmed. There is a discrepancy with the official timing; many runners show watch times 2 minutes slower than the official race times. The results website is slower than Captain Tom reaching for his wallet so we'll have to wait for those wrinkles to get ironed out. For Gillybean it's an anxious wait. The official timing shows her less than a minute under four hours. If confirmed it'll be her first sub-4 run. In any event it's a PB by some 15 minutes or so.

Special mention for Tom Roper and his fellow running club marshalls without whom etc and so forth. As ever these selfless volunteers ensure races of this nature and magnitude ever happen at all. And for the race organisers who, faced with a deluge of last-minute requests from stranded UK-based Boston Marathon runners, found it in their hearts to allow 50 people entry to the race on Friday.

Well done one and all. A terrific day, one that I feel certain will be repeated annually. With 12,000 entrants the inaugural Brighton Marathon can be declared a great success.