West Norfolk’s Stanforth claims 10 mile honours

Several West Norfolk Athletic Club members were among the honours at the inaugural Wissey Festival of Running.Hosted by Ryston Runners AC, this running event provided participants with the option of a five or 10-mile road race.Starting and finishing in the village of Oxborourgh, both races took runners around scenic country roads.Fast yet challenging courses and a humid day made for some tough running, but it didn’t stop WNAC athletes putting some impressive performances on the board.West Norfolk AC fielded eight athletes on the day.Starting with the five-mile event, Charlie Frammingham continued his fine form to finish third overall on his debut in the distance with a time of 28:52, also clinching first in the MU17 category.Digby Frammingham enjoyed another good day at the office, finishing 11th overall and first in the MV60 category with a time of 32:46. In the 10-mile race, WNAC enjoyed more success. Callum Stanforth enjoyed a solid performance against strong competition to finish the 10-mile race first overall with a time of 56:33Ryan Oakes came fourth overall despite cycling to and from the event with an impressive time of 1:02:50.Arran Reeve used the race as a tune-up for the upcoming round Norfolk relay and ran strongly to finish fifth overall with a time of 1:03:12, meaning three of the top five finishers were WNAC members. Ryan Towsey was running ten miles for the first time on the day, and he did so strongly despite suffering from injury in the early stages.Towsey finished 32nd overall running 1:18:39 for the ten miles. Kerrie Page was next to come through for the club running a time of 1:34:18 and was placed 83rd overall.One of the real stars of the day was WNACs new member, Susi Rogers-Hartley. A former para ice hockey player for GB, Susi has only been with the club since June and in that time has done numerous Park runs (5k) but the 10-mile challenge did not deter her.Rogers-Hartley took on the heat and the hills to finish the ten-mile course in a time of 2:02:33 to triumph in the wheelchair event in the process.Away from running, WNAC stalwart Benjamin Collison took on a different type of challenge.Ben Collison, alongside local friends Grame Leeson and Kevin Moulton took part in the prestigious Chillswim Triple Crown swimming challenge.Held in the Lake District, the trio of hearty swimmers completed a series of swims starting in Coniston in early June, shortly followed by Ullswater then culminating with an 11-mile swim of Lake Windermere last weekend. Grame Leeson finished 151st overall with an impressive time of 6 hours 12 minutes.Benjamin Collison finished 197th overall in 6 hours 34 minutes.Kevin Moulton clocked 6 hours 45 minutes to finish 222 out of 500 swimmers.A fantastic achievement by all three athletes, all of which deserve the respect they receive.