West Norfolk records go tumbling

Club records went tumbling as West Norfolk Athletic Club members participated in the Cambridge Half Marathon.Callum Stanforth, Cassie Moden Neil Stapleton and Ben Collison were all in record-breaking form in a huge field of 13,000 runners took to the streets.The weather gods were kind to the runners with a big turnout from the WNAC endurance team – the highest there has been in a race in recent times with 16 athletes.First home for the club, Stanforth smashed a 12-year-old personal best on only his second half, finishing in 70:28 – 46th overall – putting him 106th on the rankings for the entire country so far in 2024.Plenty of PBs fell on the day with Steve Bolt obliterating his and breaking the two-hour barrier in 1.58.57, ably assisted by club member Phil Kitney.Lee Richardson has sub-1.30 in his sights with a PB of 1.31.14.New member John Castleton also took time off his PB with 1.37.25 and finished an impressive 20th in his age group, M60-65. Micheal Hadley shaved two minutes off his best, finishing in 1.42.22.Cassie Moden, an impressive distance runner making her debut for the club who was 16th in the UK in the half marathon rankings in 2023, also took two minutes off her PB and finished a brilliant seventh in her age group in 1.26.04.Dom Marray Woods, at just 17 and in his first half marathon race, showcased his talent as he goes from strength to strength with sixth in his age group and a time of 1.21.18.Neil Stapleton ran a fantastic PB, for the fifth successive year, and impressively made the top ten for his age with seventh place with 1.21.04.As is tradition, Martin Sheldrick was close by, just seconds off his PB with 1.21.58 for a great run and 14th in his age group.Ben Collison had been nursing an Achilles injury for a while but managed to pull off his best time since 2020 with 1.25.36.Tim Coates came in under the two-hour barrier with 1.56.26 and Rob Gosnell, fresh off a round of covid, finished in 1.38.05.Ben Foxwell took two minutes off his 2023 time and powered through when the going got tough at the end.Finally, the speedy duo of Arran Reeve and Ryan Oakes both finished towards the top end of the race with Oakes in 307th in 1.19.02 and Reeve hot on his heels in 326th with 1.19.17.The club staged a ‘Takeover’ of Holkham Parkrun where the clubs’ members took as many roles as possible on the volunteer rota, with other club runners coming along to enjoy the beautiful course.Thanks to Megan Miller, Rob, Henry, Wilf and Jen Gosnell, Adam Howard, Gavin Lane, Ben Collison, Sammy Stringer and Minnie, Jen Isaac, Martin Koenigsberger, Kerrie Page and Mark Garrett for volunteering.The Watts and Garret families had their first outings at Parkun as did Foxwell, supporting junior Lauren Lawrence and sister Jess bagged a PB.