Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris 2022
On April 3rd, three Sale Harriers set off in Paris on the 26.2 scenic route. Paris attracted 35,757 runners in total. The weather had threatened to be snowing all weekend when people arrived on Friday; by Sunday it was clear skies and ideal running conditions, but still cold. The race was won by Ethiopian Deso Gelmisa in 2:05:07, with the first female, Kenyan Judith Jeptum Koriv knocking over a minute of the course record with 2:19:48. Those new shoes Eh!
Richard ‘Eddie’ Edwards MV45 was first home from Sale Harriers with 2.51.51, pretty much half an hour faster than his last marathon in 2018.
Aaron Steele was over the moon with an 11 minute PB of 3.09.21, he did 3:21:23 in Manchester last year. This is likely to be Aaron’s last outing with Sale as he has decided to return to his native Northern Ireland with his wife and family after 7 years with Sale Harriers. We wish him luck on his new life and new challenges.
Helen Carter FV40, ran 3.38.31, a great improvement on her last Paris Marathon in 2016 of 3:46. She is having a great year with a 2:48:11 at the Trimpell 20 in March.
All 3 were delighted and celebrated around the sights of Paris afterwards. French sporting newspaper, L’Equipe, publish a marathon supplement on Monday 4th. Eddie ranked 707, Aaron, 2580 and Helen 9268.
The Manchester Marathon 2022
On the same day The Manchester Marathon, which meanders through the pleasant suburbs of south Manchester, attracted a host of Sale Harriers, many of whom were delighted with their times and positions.
| Nigel Martin | 2:15:19 | SM |
| Nick Barry | 2:23:43 | SM |
| Sonia Samuels | 2:32:30 | F |
| Rob Dunn | 2:35:51 | SM |
| Joe Vis | 2:36:30 | SM |
| Peter Shipley | 2:37:47 | SM |
| Sophie Wood | 2:38:23 | F |
| Tom Stephenson | 2:38:12 | SM |
| Adam Bradshaw | 2:50:02 | SM |
| Robert Palmer | 2:58:08 | M40 |
| Mike Ashby | 3:00:23 | M40 |
| Rachael Rozhdestvegskaya | 3:00:38 | F |
| Simon Latham | 3:03:26 | SM |
| Alistair Kell | 3:08:50 | M50 |
| Jason Bowers | 3:13:39 | V45 |
| Jenny Fox | 3:14:55 | F40 |
| Rob Heggs | 3:15:45 | M45 |
| Hum Vaz | 3:18:42 | M40 |
| Robbie Greenslade | 3:30:03 | M45 |
| Sam Forshaw | 3:39:24 | M40 |
| Caroline Kinghorn | 3:47:06 | F55 |
| Tim Hines | 3:56:27 | M40 |
| Matt Brooke | 3:58:14 | M45 |
| James Crossan | 3:59:41 | |
| Dawn Gilbert | 4:31:13 | F45 |
| Tim Rainey | 4:32:44 | M55 |
| Jon Stock | 5:18:34 | M55 |
| Ranjit Bennett | 5:27:06 | M50 |
Jonny Mellor and Becky Spriggs weren't the only two to run out of the skins in April's Manchester Marathon with commanding wins that smashed the England qualifying standard for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and European championships but Sale Harriers also had a lot to shout. Plaudits indeed go to all twenty-seven club participants from NIGEL MARTIN'S zippy PB of 2:15.19 for 6th place to RANJIT BENNETT admirable resilience to bravely finish at the other end of the 14000 field of runners in 5:27.06. In-between were the likes of 53-year old ALISTAIR KELL who braved it even after two surgeries on a torn calf and still came close to his best of 3:08.50.
Nineteen of the twenty-seven drank from the elixir of running with fantastic PB's. The most notable of these were:
NIGEL MARTIN (2:15.19) who improved his PB by three minutes over last year's Kew Garden's British Olympic Marathon. He also broke by 13 seconds the club's marathon record of 2:15.32 held by Matt Bond from the London Marathon of 2016.
SONIA SAMUELS was 1st L40 in 2:32.32 with one of the fastest L40 marathon performances of all time that put her on top of her UK age-group marathon rankings. Her performance was further awesome in that she'd endured multiple bouts of illness following becoming a Mum and in the later stages of her marathon preparation got Covid. Sonia, as readers will know, has represented GB in the marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympic Marathon, the 2018 European Championships and the 2018 Gold Coast Marathon and holds the club marathon record of 2:28.04 from Berlin in 2015.
SOPHIE WOOD surpassed her own expectations for an 2:45 debut marathon. She was understandably thrilled to run 2:38.23. “I can't believe it' she said.
TIM RAINEY ran his 163rd marathon, surely in itself a club record! Tim is an ultra-distance specialist and his 163rd marathon includes 58 ultra marathons.
PETER SHIPLEY (2:37.47) recorded the biggest of all club PB's. In great form throughout the year he knocked a massive twenty minutes off his 2017 Manchester Marathon and dipped under 2:40 for the first time.
SIMON LATHAM (3:03.26) was the next biggest improver. He knocked 10 minutes off his 2021 London Marathon time.
JENNY FOX was the next biggest improver who knocked a chunky seven minutes off last year's Manchester Marathon for a new best of 3:14.55.
RACHEL ROZHDESTVENSKAYA (3.00.38) improved her best by a full 5 minutes on her 2014 St. Petersburg (Russia) Marathon and came nail-bitingly close to her first sub 3-hour marathon.
Well done to those Sale Harriers who lined the route and cheered their colleagues and those who marshalled a section of the course and raised a bucket-full of money for the club coffers