Intending on going the Half Marathon distance, which was four 3.28 mile laps, Stu Glenister was in action at the Phoenix Running “Queen’s Memorial Run”
Back in May, Stu Glenister secured second place in the Phoenix Running “King’s Coronation Run”. In that one he completed the Half Marathon distance in 1:45:46. It seemed only right that he should return to Walton on Thames for the “Queen’s Memorial Run” where he would be tasked with completing four laps of the 5.3km out and back course along the River Thames.
The medals for the Queen’s Memorial Run and King’s Coronation Run
The Phoenix Running events are famous for their creative style of medals and the one for the Queen’s Memorial Run is like a coin with the Queen’s head on it. It goes well with the one for the “King’s Coronation Run” which had King Charles’s head on it.
There was no one in the entire event who was going quicker than Stu
The premise of the event is to enable runners to complete as many laps as they like within the seven hour time limit. The results are divvied up between a Half Marathon for those who complete four laps, a Marathon for those who manage eight laps. Then for any other distance, the competitors go into the Timed Event bracket, where the winner will be the person who completes the most laps, thus covering the most distance.
Stu completed the Half Marathon distance in 1:37:14
Out of all 53 runners who went for the Half Marathon distance, Stu was the quickest, getting through the 13.1 miles in 1 hour 37 minutes and 14 seconds. That put his average pace at 7:25. His nearest challenge was Ben Pearce who completed it in 1:39:02 at an average pace of 7:33.
Being the modest and grounded man that he is, Stu doesn’t like to take any glory from topping the standings in events like this as he feels that they aren’t as competitive as your average race. One thing is for sure though and that is that 52 other competitors would have loved to have been in the position he was, so there is certainly some achievement in that.
The River Thames provided serene surroundings
The fastest person doing the Marathon distance was Bernard Genge who completed it in 3 hours 42 minutes and 16 seconds, putting his average pace at 8:29. That was enough to give him five minutes of breathing space over Steve Edwards who was runner up in 3:47:24.
The swans were having their own race down the river
In the Timed Event, it was Mark Currie who spiced things up with a 12 lap exertion, covering 39.4 miles in a time of 6 hours 21 minutes. That put his average pace at 9:40. He was the only one who reached that distance. His closest challenger, Tony Stevenson managed 10 laps which was a distance of 32.8 miles at an average pace of 11:56.
This was a moment of individual achievement for a man who is a real team player
There were three runners who managed nine laps, which was 29.5 miles, the fastest of them being Andy Ward who did it in 5 hours 46 minutes. Karen Bennett was also one of them, making her the top woman. Five other ladies did six laps which was 19.7 miles.
Being very much a team player, Stu is always willing to step in for a race if needed to make up the numbers and give the club a scoring team. Having members like that can make all the difference and Stu did exactly that at the Overton 5 when the squad were thin on the ground. On that occasion he helped Bournemouth AC top the standings in their division for the first race of the Hampshire Road Race League season.
It was a glorious day for a meander along the river… or two… or three… or four