Post-race smiles from Gurmeet, Jenny, Sarah & Martin
With cross country on the Saturday, some running marathons, (and others recovering from them), only four ESM-ers turned up for the normally popular Ricky Road Run.
Martin Daoud reports: “It was nice meeting up with team mates Sarah, Gurmeet and Jenny at Rickmansworth. The weather was kind to us, from the start of the race right through to the finish. Sarah and Jenny did warn Gurmeet and myself about the hilly course and they were right, but you’d expect that around the Chilterns. There was a lot of huffing and puffing to get to the top of the hills and the slippery leaf-covered downhills were equally challenging. Chatting to the ladies after the race we all seemed to enjoy it. This was a good run out for me in preparation for the Marlow Half next week”.
Sarah Holroyd adds: “It’s a friendly, clubby race and the drizzly morning turned into beautiful sunshine, so we could enjoy the spectacular scenery and the steam engines which we came across en route. As it starts and finishes downhill you forget the rest. You can make the most of the downhills by doing a Martin Wilson style fast float as long as you avoid the leaves and horse poo. It was my third time and I hope to go again next year especially if it’s a club championship race”.
Gurmeet Lally’s take on it? “I ran this race for the first time on Sunday and while I was expecting hills, I didn’t quite anticipate how soon after the start and how many. It is a challenging race and at mile 3, I wanted to drop out and said ‘I can’t do this’ only to be told by Sarah and another runner ‘yes you can’. I did carry on and was really pleased to hear at mile 9 ‘it’s all downhill to the finish’. This is a lovely route going through country lanes, town and residential area. The race is well marshalled and organised. Would I run this race again? I know I said at the finish ‘never want to that again’. Yeah, I probably will!”
ESM results summary:
60 Martin Daoud (V50) 72:25, 228 Sarah Holroyd (W55) 93:22, 242 Jennifer Jones (W45) 95:54, 243 Gurmeet Lally (W55) 95:56
Full results here
Sarah, Jenny & Gurmeet in action at the finish (photos by Martin)
Meantime, another four had travelled over to Dublin for the marathon, as Anne Price reports:
Anne, Marie & Annette
Despite the forecast warning us of cold and windy conditions, Sunday morning was almost perfect for running a marathon – clear skies, cool temperatures and very little wind! It’s called the ‘friendly’ marathon for very good reason – the support was generous and super friendly! To hear “fair play to you” called out made me smile – and continue running!!
Jonathan Horan achieved a completely awesome 2:51:56, Anne Price 4:10:38, Marie De Greef 4:26:19 (her husband Wim completed in a very respectable time of 3:55:13) and Annette Galloway finished in 4:45:55
It was great that Annette and Marie knew the places to visit in the city and a pint of Guinness in O’Donohue’s after the run was not only huge fun, it was – as I was advised at registration – a legal requirement! 
Certainly a marathon to be recommended, great route, friendly support and ample opportunities to keep within the law and drink a pint of Guinness afterwards!
Jonathan Horan ran the Dublin marathon last year too, adds Fiona Kennedy, one of the reasons being that his family are from those parts. This time he ran exactly 16 minutes quicker, clocking a PB. (He’s run faster at the Loch Ness Marathon, but that’s a point-to-point course that’s overall very slightly downhill, so the statisticians don’t accept it for PB purposes. No doubt Jonathan will repeat his Loch Ness time on an “official” course in good time…)
ESM results summary:
Jonathan Horan 2:51:56, Anne Price (W60) 4:10:38, Marie de Greef (W50) 4:26:19, Annette Galloway (W50) 4:45:55
Full results on runbritain