Athletes from West Berkshire ran at the Reading Half Marathon at the weekend.
In total 15 members of Newbury Athletic Club participated with two experienced runners Mike Wheeler and Bernie Gerrard leading the way.
They were both delighted to have run under 80 minutes for the first time.
Mr Wheeler finished in 1:19:31 with Mr Gerrard a few second behind in 1:19:57.
And Newbury AC’s first female finisher was Sophie Fowler in an impressive time of 1:33:31, crossing the line as the 27th senior female.
Steve Barnes was only just outside the sub 80 time finishing in 1:20:14 and the 3rd placed runner in the over 50 category.
Mr Barnes was running on behalf of the Royal Berks Charity and said: “I want to give back to the NHS.
“I injured myself recently during a cross country race and have received fantastic care over the past three months.”
You can still sponsor Mr Barnes by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/eEUY4
Daniel Reeves is training for the London Marathon on Sunday and showed he was in fine shape for that after finishing the Reading Half Marathon in 1:24:24.
It was a family affair for Mr Reeves with his father, sister, cousin and his cousin’s daughter, who is a club member, Ellie Bedlam (1:51:55), all running.
Matt Carter, at just 17-years-old was doing his first half marathon, and finished in a great time of 1:25:25 as the first runner in his age category.
He said: “It was a really mentally and physically challenging race. I had to deal with an illness, heat and some unexpected hills.
“But I’m very pleased with the result. The support out on the course was fantastic and I’ll be back next year to break the 80 minute mark.”
Other Newbury AC finishers were Sam Plumb (1:28:18), Dan Green (1:35:18), Ollie Carter (1:36:49), Aston Howse (1:38:41), Robert Higgs (1:44:29) and Toby Bunney (1:45:20).
