Ryston members take on a variety of races

The competitive weekend for Ryston Runners AC began on Saturday with eight members taking part in the Banham Zoo 5k races, enjoying great success as well as their communion with the animals.There were two race waves. Wave one yielded a trio of category wins for the club, with Jit Patel (26th/22:12) taking the honours in the M65 age group.Linda Marshall (45th/24:07) in the F60, and Pauline Sparrow (120th) the F70.Christopher Cann was first Ryston finsher in 15th (14thSM/20:41), and Lily Finney ran 29:51 for 146th/37thSF.Wave two saw Ruth Chadwick (19th) finish third female overall and first F55, in a new club age group best time of 22:22, Liz Blakie (94th) winning the F65s with 28:44, and Helen Driver (118th) taking third spot in the F55 category with a PB of 29:45.On the same day, Ian Wells (M60) was taking part in the Hurdlesfest at Chelmsford, where he clocked 49.78 for the 300m event, and Dan Yallop set off on an epic adventure on the Isle of Skye, attempting a 79-mile ultra challenge in atrocious weather conditions.Sunday saw members’ 10k efforts divided between Megan’s Challenge charity event in Gayton (won by Andy Williamson, for the second successive year), and the Holt 10k, which featured in the 2025 Sportlink GP Series. There, Nathan Stockdale was third overall and third SM in 34:49, and James O’Neill, in a rare, but always welcome, competitive appearance, won the M45 category in sixth place with 36:02. Cody Pearman won the JM race, in 13th overall, with a fine run to clock 37:54.Gina Hurrell was second F60, 163rd overall with 49:50, and Jane Ashby, as is customary, won the F75 category with 54:14 (248th), and also received the dubious accolade of being awarded a memento for being the oldest in the race.Chris Chaplin ended his run of consecutive PBs at this event, the hills and windy conditions limiting him to 39:12 (21st/13th SM) on this occasion, still a very creditable time. George Pettit, in 163rd place and 13th M50, ran 49:50, the same time as Gina.Michael Mallett, in 209th/25thM45, completed his 10k in 52:12, Lynne Howlett, in 281st /55:56, was fourth F65. Martin Blackburn, 361st/13thM65/63:15, and Jonathan Goult, 404th/36thM55769:39, completed the Ryston contingent on this occasion.Meanwhile, on Skye, Yallop completed his epic journey after 18.5 hours of phenomenal physical and mental effort, supported by clubmate and fellow Ultra runner, Ben Elmer.Other club members were in Colchester for the second match in the 2025 East Anglian Track and Field League Series, for which results will be published in due course.