SEVERAL local runners were in action over the weekend at the Greater Manchester Marathon on Sunday.
Starting and finishing in the surrounding areas of Manchester United’s home ground Old Trafford, runners were treated to near perfect weather conditions and the flat course helped provide the key ingredients for some solid times.
Veteran Dave Pettifer was first home for Kenilworth Runners after finishing 688th out of 15,593 runners.
Pettifer was pleased with his time of 3:06.32 which earned him the crown as the fastest V65 marathon runner in 2015 so far.
Fellow Kenilworth Runner Nathan Green bounced back from injury prior to the event to finish in a new personal best (PB) time of 3:19.18 and is now preparing for the Berlin Marathon in September.
Marathon first-timer Simon Corley was next home in position 1,451 in a time of 3:21.21 and he was followed by Stuart Underhill in 1,615 who completed the race in a new PB time of 3:24.15, which was 13 minutes quicker than his previous outing.
Stephen Chalkley was aiming to run a time just under 3:30 and managed this in 3:29:41 for position 2004.
For the ladies, Lucy Boucher-Heather ran well to finish in a new PB time of 3:40.11 which placed her 2,625, while Sally Evans was pleased with her new PB of 4:04.53 to come 4,833.
Spa Strider runner Keith Wilson also took part in the race and finished in a new PB time of 3:20.24 to cross the finish line in 1,382nd.
Elsewhere, a field of around 15,000 runners took part in the Budapest Half Marathon on Sunday and Kenilworth Runner Adair Swan was there to enjoy the picuresque route.
The race started and ended on Margaret Island and took in many of the traditional landmarks including the Chain and Liberty Bridge.
Swan was buoyed by his recent run in Spain and was delighted to secure another personal PB after completing the course in 1:47.48.
And in the inaugural Longhorn Half Marathon in Nottinghamshire, which was also held on Sunday, Richard Broadbent finished 11th in 1:35.19 and Simon Mottershead suffered a hamstring injury and limped home in 111th place.
