By Isle of Wight Observer
by Gary Marshall
Heading off the Island we were rewarded with a stunning sunrise, followed by a smooth drive to the Salisbury 10mile Hampshire league road race.
The tactics were to try and form a strong presence of runners, male and female, to keep our gathered momentum of strong performances in earlier races in motion to try and push on and finish as high up in the respective league tables as possible, with a hope of winning the men’s title for the first time.
At the starting gun, I was away swiftly and in no time away from the sheltered comfort of the running track and sports complex; briefly we ran through some local streets and soon found our way in glorious sunshine out onto the country lanes, although bright, there was a swirling easterly wind prevailing that we were often heading straight into.
Soon enough, after getting out of the gates I found myself at the sharp end of the race with a young lad from the Denmead Striders setting the pace, soon joined by another. After about a mile it was looking as if we were creating a bit of a gap on the field, then after about 4 miles we had a Salisbury runner jump onto the back of our group.
I was feeling great and very comfortable and managed to have a nice little position in and behind the front two, through halfway I could sense the competition was labouring a little but decided to keep tracking as we were. At about 7 miles the youngster started to fall away but still close enough to remain a threat; I continued to match him.
Not long after, the welcoming site of the cathedral came into sight, so I decided I was going to stay with him through 9 miles, then – if he didn’t up the pace – then I would take the initiative. With three-quarters of a mile to go, I ramped up the effort and hoped all the recent parkruns and track sessions would be enough to see me home. Thankfully it was!
Gary Marshall 55m 13s (1st overall, 1st Vet 40), Daniel Furmidge 57m 53s (10th overall, 1st Vet 50), Leon Newnham 1h 1m 10s, Keaan Amin 1h 3m 4s, Trevor McAlister 1h 5m 14s, Geoff Kite 1h 21m 14s, Emma Clemens 1h 21m 47s, Catherine Young 1h 26m 8s, Natalie Rose 1h 30m 31s.