Updated !    APHRODITE HALF MARATHON AND 5K, CYPRUS Updated !  

 Club coach, Alan Newman and Sue James joined a group of British Masters for the Aphrodite Half Marathon and 5k in Paphos, Cyprus on 27th November. The attraction of daily sunshine and temperatures well in excess of 20C just outweighed competing at a hilly Oxleas Woods in the Kent Fitness League.

Flights with easyJet and car hire through www.economycarrentals.com kept costs down and our good friend in Cyprus, David Wright, took care of hotel arrangements in the very comfortable Atlantica Bay Hotel, Limassol, which has been refurbished and now boasts an indoor heated pool and Spa area.

Kent results from the main races in Paphos were an M65 age group win for Glyn Jenkins (Thanet RR) in 1:39:35; a W55 class win for Sue Martin-Clarke (Dartford RR) in 1:46:52 and an M50 fifth place for husband Andrew Clarke (DRR) in 1:38:49 in the Aphrodite Half Marathon. There were 191 finishers in the half marathon and the winner, Andrey Leyman of Russia, set a course record of 1:05:15. The first woman was Anna Gavriuk of Russia in 1:21:44. 

Alan (19:15) and Sue (23:05) ran the supporting 5k race in pleasing times. There were 75 finishers in the 5k and the winners were Dongmo Christophe of Cameroon in 18:51 and Neofyta Hadjioannou of Cyprus in 21:25.

The rest of the week was spent training steadily in the hills behind the hotel and on the beautiful boardwalk and coastal path. On the penultimate day of the holiday, Alan organised a predictor handicap over approximately 3 miles of the beach path. The plan was for the runners to nominate a time that then set their personal handicap. There were prizes donated by Sportsresort for the first to cross the finish line, nearest to the target time and best overall.

There were just nine runners with an average age of 70 years. Former UK M75 10 mile record holder (74:08) Derek Howarth (M80) was first past the post but the best prediction and overall winner was Arthur Walsham (M80), who won the inaugural British Masters M40 cross country title in Birmingham exactly 40 years ago. Arthur won the World Masters marathon title and ran under 30 minutes for 10k and under 2:25:00 for the marathon as an M40.

Click here for results of the 2011 predictor handicap

The 6th Limassol Marathon and training week

The next trip to Cyprus for Alan and Sue is planned for March 2012 to help David Wright of Sportsresort with the arrangements for the sixth Limassol Marathon and training week. Alan will be offering endurance coaching and the guest athlete is marathon legend, Ron Hill. For details go to the official race website www.limassolmarathon.com and www.sportsresort.net

Results of the predictor handicap are below along with some details of the March 2012 trip including a sample of the training sessions. If you would like to “Run along the waves” as the Limassol Marathon website says you only have to ask Alan for details at training. There is also a half marathon, 10k and 5k at Limassol and the Paphos Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k takes place the previous Sunday so there is an opportunity to stay for 10 days and race on both weekends.

Updated !   Click here for details of the March 2012 trip to Cyprus  Updated !

Updated !   Click here for a sample of the 2012 Cyprus training sessions  Updated !