Ryston Runners end the year in style

Before any New Year’s fitness resolutions could kick in, almost 60 Ryston Runners were among an impressive 1500 competitors taking to the roads over three events within a 100-mile triangle encompassing Marham, Ely, and Wymondham.The biggest number lined up for the last Marham Flyers New Year’s Eve 10K, where the club members comprised almost 10 per cent of the field, and over 20 per cent of those took top three places in their categories.First places were mopped up by Nic Bensley M55, in impressive form despite a recent layoff due to a broken collar bone, Jit Patel M65, Ruth Chadwick F55, and Lynne Howlett F65.Runners-up in their respective categories were Warren Armstrong M50, Kirsty Butters F40, Lesley Robins F50, Gina Hurrell F60 (in a club age group record time) and Pauline Sparrow F65, while Dan Yallop M40, Stewart Robins M55, and Linda Marshall F55 took third place spots,The more traditional New Year’s Eve 10K option was the long-standing event at Ely (Little Downham, to be more precise), which was the choice of four club members.Gareth Hunt ended the year with 68th place 26thSM, with 41:26, George Pettit ran 45:25 for 113th 20th M50, Eamonn McCusker was 6th M70/340th with 56:36, and Helen Driver completed the quartet in 485th/28th F50 with 70:32.Both the New Year’s Eve events were wind-affected, but at least dry, unlike the conditions that awaited the two Ryston Hares who completed the Wymondham New Year’s Day 10k – the first event in the Sportlink 2025 Series. Jane Ashby began the year as she ended the last, with a clear win in the F75 category despite commenting that the weather was: “horrendous. I have never been out, let alone run, in rain like that; it was like running through smoke.”Ashny’s time of 54:32 for 274th place overall still represented an almost 90 per cent age grading.The other club member to brave the storm was Thomas Semmons, who was placed 110th/46thSM with 45:53.Ryston results from Marham Flyers NYE 10k: 5 Ben Keeley 4SM/35:05, 6 Rob Simmonds 5SM/35:26, 15 Warren Armstrong 2M50/37:59, 17 Daniel Barnes 10SM/ 38:02, 20 Dan Yallop 3M40/38:30, 21 Nic Bensleyv1M55/38:31, 23 Shakur Casaleiro 12SM/ 38:41, 33 Glenn Perkins 16SM/39:19, 38 Aimee Shaw 6SF/40:17, 49 Stewart Robins 3M55/41:39 50 Neil Goodbourn 7M40/41:46, 60 Christopher Cann 24SM/42:25, 71 Owen Jary 10M50/43:35, 78 Kirsty Butters 2F40/44:04, 82 Martin Ive 8M55/44:25, 83 Lesley Robins 2F50/44:36, 91 Ian Wiggins 15M45/45:15, 92 Ellen Ferrie 8SF/45:18, 93 Graeme Leeson 11M50/45:20, 95 Chris Hurley 10M40/45:26 103 Lee Johnson, 11M40/45:53, 108 Steve Bennington 10M55/46:13, 111 Jit Patel 1M65/46:22, 113 Paul Freear 13M50/46:22, 116 James Trim 37SM/46:28, 131 Craig Harris 13M55/47:15, 143 Leonie Stimson 13SF/47:50, 144 Ruth Chadwick 1F55/ 47:50, 153 Wiktoria Marcinek 16SF/ 48:37, 154 Linda Marshall 3F55/48:37, 157 Daniel Briars 20M50/48:55, 158 Gina Hurrell 2F60/48:59, 159 Kevin Howlett 4M45/49:00, 169 Anna Smith 5F45/50:31, 170 Lucy McDowie 6F45/50:31, 179 Alicia Pentelow 21SF/50:43, 185 Chris Chadwick 21M50/50:59, 186 Lisa Harris 5F55/51:06, 207 Irena Marcinek 8F45/53:05, 218 Erin McNeil 27SF/53:07, 228 Lynne Howlett 1F65/54:01, 236 Pauline Sparrow 2F65/54:34, 249 Wim Sefelaar 33M45/58:18, 297 Carl Pickett 27M55/58:18, 312 Lousie Perry Varley 15F5059:18, 319 Martin Blackburn 12M65/59:59, 336 Christopher Brockbank 63SM/ 61:36, 339 Sarah Partridge 6F65 61:44, 359 Martin Elsegood 32M55/64:13, 382 Sophie Williamson 41SF/67:37, 383 Julie Williamson 621F40/7:46, 396 Keith Doughty 15M65/70:52.