A tummy bug prevented Stu Nicholas from defending his crown at the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon in what would have been an attempt for a fifth victory. Bournemouth AC did still have representation at the event though, with Luke De-Benedictis competing in the Festive Half Marathon.
It was a sort of out-and-back type of route along the shores of Langstone Harbour, with the trajectory being very flat but with the twist of it being multi-terrain and promising some muddy sections.
There was an added level of difficulty in it for Luke as he was going full Santa suit for the race. That meant the red outfit, Santa hat and even the white beard. It was going to be quite an experience running a half marathon dressed like that but if anyone could make a good fist of it, it was Luke.
He’d had a good season, finishing 17th at the May 5 in a time of 28:35, 14th at the Boscombe 10k in 34:55 and coming 7th in the Wessex Cross Country League fixture at Kings Park.
Last year he clocked a half marathon time of 1:17:17 at the Bournemouth Bay Run which was good enough to put him in 3rd place overall. It would be interesting to see what he could in the Portsmouth Festive Half Marathon and how much the Santa outfit would affect him.
Starting with a 6:13 for his first mile, Luke then went on to register a 6:23 and then a 6:28. He then clocked a 6:28 for his 4th mile, followed by a 6:26 for his 5th. He then managed a a 6:24 for both his 8th and his 9th mile splits before recording a 6:29 for his 10th mile.
It had been an incredible effort from Luke, especially since he wasn’t dressed in his normal running attire so it cannot have been all that comfortable.
Laying down a 6:38 for his 11th mile, he then went on to do the 12th mile in 6:33 and the 13th in 6:35. There was still time to crank the pace up for his last third of a mile, getting it done at 5:51 pace.
That culminated in a finishing time of 1:24:54 and Luke had finished in 8th place out of 628 competitors. That was an incredible achievement considering what he was wearing and he’d definitely won the Santa battle out of those who were prepared to give it a go.
Luke beat the course record for a person dressed as Santa by over a minute
In fact, he’d beaten the record for the Santa Challenge by over a minute, so that was a fantastic result for Luke. Not only was he the fastest Santa on the day, he was the fastest Santa ever to do the race. His average pace for the run was 6:23, which most runners would have been happy with, even without the Santa suit.
The overall race was won by Robbie Watson in a time of 1:17:15, with Tristam Murdoch taking second place in 1:18:30. Edward Molyneaux came third in 1:21:35.
Christine McCullough was first female in 1:30:35, which put her in 16th place overall. Victoria Buck was second female in 1:34:21 which put her 22nd overall and Rebecca Thomas was third female in 1:34:52 and 24th overall.
A total of 628 runners successfully completed the Portsmouth Festive Half Marathon, with the longest time being 4 hours 16 minutes.
Goncalo Miguel took advantage of Stu Nicholas’s absence in the full Marathon, claiming victory in a time of 2:45:33. Rich Webley was second in 2:47:44 and Phil Mant came third in 2:48:19. Phil Mant actually finished ahead of Stu in the 2023 Portsmouth Coastal Marathon, coming second on that occasion.
Dawn Godwin, who is in her 50’s, just shaded it over Laura De Isle in the battle for first female. Dawn finished in 3:19, with Laura coming in in 3:19:30.
There was also a 50k race which was won by Gary Marshall of Ryde Harriers in 3:18:39. He currently sits second in the men’s individual table of the Hampshire Road Race League for the season so far after finishing runner up last year.
Carlos Gane was second in 3:34:04, with Daniel Botting taking third in 3:37:38. Anastasia Houslow was first female in a time of 4:20:49. 182 runners successfully completed the 50k, with the longest time being 7 hours 20 minutes.
It’s not known at this juncture whether Luke was recruited to do a shift on Christmas Eve but he would have certainly been useful after demonstrating how quickly he can cover a lot of ground. He was definitely back in action on New Year’s Day though for the opening race of the new Dorset Road Race League season.
He was part of a very strong men’s team for that one which included last year’s winner Rob McTaggart, Joe Arundel, Jon Pepin and Stu Nicholas. No Santa outfits were required for that one but a yellow and blue vest was and those in attendance were hoping to start the year off with the bang.