Bill Lennon was able to take his place on the start line of the ABP Newport Wales 10k
The situation with Debbie having to abandon her plans to run the Marathon sort of took the shine off the Lennon’s trip to Wales. After passing out a couple of times whilst out on training runs, resulting in nasty falls, Debbie reached the inevitable conclusion that she couldn’t compete in the ABP Newport Wales Marathon. Not without being able to find out what the issue was anyway. It would have been too dangerous.
Reluctantly, she pulled out of the race, which was a real shame after the hard training she’d put in which included several decent long runs. Her husband Bill was still signed up the 10k race though so that at least gave them the opportunity to salvage something out of the weekend. Plus, it was a nice break as well with a lovely city to explore.
The route for the 10k was devised by double Olympic marathon runner Steve Brace. Starting an finishing on Newport’s vibrant riverfront, it’s a fast and flat course that passes some of Newport’s most iconic landmarks and heads through the recently revamped city centre.
The conditions were perfect on the day so this was a great chance for Bill to reach his full potential. He hadn’t really been training much recently though as he’d been busy doing odd jobs so there were no guarantees. He would have to work for it.
His best 10k time so far was 49:35, which he did at the rescheduled Christmas 10k in Christchurch. That race took place on 22nd January. That was therefore the benchmark he had to get under.
It was a chance to Bill to seal a new PB if he could find his best form
Opening with a 7:55 for his first mile, Bill then went through the next couple of miles at 7:44 and 7:47. That led him to a 24:30 for his first 5k. If he could sustain that, he’d be on for a magnificent PB.
The first 5k went very much according to plan for Bill
Completing his fourth mile at 8:07 and his fifth at 8:03, he then had just 1.2 miles left to go. Finding the strength to up the pace to 7:48 on the sixth mile, he then let fly for last fifth of a mile.
Bill paced his race extremely well, finding some extra strength near the end
It had been a brilliantly paced run from Bill and he had indeed managed to secure a new PB. Not only had he done that, he’d almost managed his first ever sub 49 minute 10k. Registering a time of 48:59, he’d come in 523rd out of 2,122 participants and was 5th out of 33 in the M65-69 category.
It was Bill’s first ever sub 49 minute 10k
Omar Ahmed of Birchfield Harriers won the race convincingly in a time of 28:35 which was over a minute and a half ahead of his nearest rival. That was Shaun Antell of Bideford who clocked a time of 30:11. Mike Ward of Cardiff Athletics claimed third place in 30:29.
Natasha Cockram of Micky Morris Racing Team was first female and 18th overall in 33:27, with Clara Evans coming in as second woman in 35:33. That put her in 21st place in the overall standings. Megan Davis of Newquay Road Runners was third female, crossing the line in 34:01 which put her in 27th place overall.
Debbie and Bill enjoyed their trip to Wales even though it didn’t deliver what they originally hoped it would
It was a tremendous result for Bill and after the disappointment of Debbie being unable to run, this came as a wonderful consolation. It was certainly well deserved as well after all the parkruns and training runs he’d been putting in.
Debbie has had an ultrasound but the consultants want to run some more tests. She has been continuing to run though and has had no more falls. She has even been back at club training now so that’s a step in the right direction.