Power of 5km road race, Lancaster, 21st April 2023
Conditions were perfect for this popular evening race on the cycle track at the Salt Ayre Leisure Centre in Lancaster. After a blustery day, the wind had dropped and the threatened rain held off, so runners took advantage of the good weather to post some fast times. First Harrier to finish was Wes Wilkinson in a new personal best of 15 minutes 56 seconds, which was some consolation after his very fast time at Wigan the previous month was nullified when the course proved to be short. Jason Parker was the next Harrier across the line, in 17:30, closely followed by Chris Williams in 17:42. Paul Ratan was delighted to set a new PB of 18:07, knocking 22 seconds from his previous best time. David Watson was 1st MV55 in 18:15 and Nicola Sutton was another who had a good run, finishing 1st lady in 18:21. The other Harriers to run this event were Steve Hallas (1st MV50 in 18:21), Kevin Hesketh (21:32) and Marian Hesketh (26:00).
TCS London Marathon, Sunday 23rd April 2023
Seven members of Preston Harriers tackled the damp streets of London and all ran well. David Lea was first to finish in 3 hours 27 minutes 22 seconds, removing 5 minutes from his marathon PB. Jonny Slater also smashed his previous best; his time of 3:27:29 was 25 minutes faster than his time at Lancaster in July 2022. In her first season of racing and attempting the marathon distance for the first time, Charlotte Gregory had a steady start but speeded up throughout the race, running the second half 5 minutes faster than the first half to record a time of 3:29:20. There is surely much more to come from her. Kimberly Slater finished in 4:07:09 and Steven Boardman recorded 4:40:36 in his first marathon. Zawar Khan’s time of 4:46:07 was 31 minutes faster than he ran in the London Marathon in October 2022, and Julie Tyrer was also close to her best with her time of 4:49:53.