A contrast of terrains for Ryston athletes

A contrast of terrains characterised the racing experiences for Ryston Runners at the weekend; the flat Fenland roads of the “Fen Ten” vs the somewhat more precipitous terrain of Snowdonia.A baker’s dozen went to Leverington to compete over the flat Fenland terrain where in near-perfect running conditions, five of them came away bearing category honours, and another two bagged themselves personal bests.The first of the PBs fell to Adam Matthews who, at 30, is now realising the potential he showed as a junior runner before facing a long period of inactivity while battling with an ongoing injury problem.In only his second 10-mile race, Matthews knocked a whopping 90 seconds off his previous best time, clocking 57:29, for fifth place in a quality field of almost 260.Lucy McDowie’s PB of 1:18:44 saw her placed fourth in the F45 category, 107th overall.Top podium spots were secured by Ruth Chadwick, first F55, 104th overall, with 1:18:41, while Jane Ashby, characteristically, dominated the F70s with a 93 per cent AG time of 1:26:38, 147th overall.Ruth Chadwick’s result at the FenTen was a new club F45 record. Second place behind Jane went to Pauline Sparrow,165th/1:30:21. Lynne Howlett took the second spot in the F65 category, 181st with 1:32:20, and Jit Patel was placed third M65 in 88th place overall in 1:15:27.Linda Marshall also took third place, in the F55 category, 118th in 1:21:49. Judith Berry was 11th F50/181st/1:33:06, and Jo Taylor 24th in the same category/255th/2:04:49.Oliver Foxwell had an impressive run, in 11th place in the SM category and 19th overall with 1:02:23, Carl Pickett was 117th/11thM55 with 1:21:37, and James Trim clocked 1:24:31 for 133rd/32nd SM. In somewhat more “pointy” terrain, Ryston Runners duo Julie Williamson and Justin Walker, pictured above, were in the field for the 40th Marathon Eryis (Snowdon).They finished 528th and 539th, both given a time of 4:02:31, which placed Julie 72nd in the F40 age group and Justin 71st in the M50s.Ryston juniors were in Sportshall action at the weekend, details of which will be included in next week’s round-up.