London Marathon success for Westbury runners

RUNNERS from Westbury  took part in the London Marathon on Sunday 13th April achieving impressive race times and raising money for charity. Fiona Price, Robin-Mark Schols, Diane Hier and Peter Sammons joined 36,000 runners, including Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah. 

Fiona Price, who won a silver medal at the World Masters Half Marathon Championship in Hungary last month, ran a personal best time of 3:06:35 and came 12th in her category (F45-49). She said, “It was tough but amazing. I love London and it was great to be there and the atmosphere was brilliant.

“There were more runners this year which made it difficult. It was crowded which made it more challenging to collect water. However, it was warm and sunny which are the conditions I like to run in.

“I plan to have a bit of a rest now. I will still be running but I will be taking it easy for a while and doing some biking as well.

“Congratulations to everyone who took part and many thanks to my coach, Martin Rush, for his continued support.”

Fiona was joined by 19 members of Avon Valley Runners with other members of the running club cheering her on. Because Fiona ran under 3:15, she will automatically gain Championship Start entry to compete in next year’s marathon.

Not far behind Fiona was Robin-Mark Schols, who runs with Avon Valley Runners. He completed the marathon in 3:13:16 to finish in the first 2,700 from over 36,000 runners.

Robin said, “I was going well at the halfway point but after being tripped just after mile 14, I had to pick myself up (quite literally) and concentrate on just finishing having sustained deep cuts to my knee and elbow after being on track for a much faster time before the accident.

“Despite the disappointment of this, the event was an amazing experience, with fantastic support the whole way round and I can’t wait to go back next year to give it another go.”

Ten minutes behind Robin was Diane Hier from Upton Scudamore who also runs with Avon Valley Runners. She completed her 12th London Marathon in 3:23:43.

Diane said, “I still get very excited to run in this awesome event. The Virgin Money London Marathon raises thousands of pounds for charity and it’s a spectacular event to be part of, whether running or spectating.”

Keen runner Peter Sammons, who manages a trading estate in Westbury, finished his first London Marathon in 3:31:36 minutes.

Peter is an associate at Myddelton & Major and manages the 170-acre West Wilts Trading Estate. He ran for the Livability charity, which runs the Victoria Education Centre in Poole for physically disabled children, and has raised more than £1,800.

Peter said, “The atmosphere was fabulous. There were bands all the way around the course and drummers in the underpasses, which sounded liked a volcano going off.

“It really motivated you to keep going all the way around. My thanks go to everyone who sponsored me as well as all of my colleagues at Myddelton & Major for their support.”

Peter smashed his target of raising £1,500 from the run. He ran for Livability as his mother Carol worked at the charity’s Victoria School for nearly 30 years.

Livability is based in London and provides services nationwide to help disabled adults and children live independently and to their full potential.

Visit http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/PeterSammons for more about Peter’s London Marathon run.