Two PB's at the Great North West half marathon (Blackpool) - 26th February 2006

Report by Jonathan Dabbs

Rapidly becoming the half marathon squad, the same 5 MTC members that raced at the 4 Villages met up again for the Great North West half marathon in Blackpool.

This is traditionally a fast course - a 2 lap out and back course along the sea front and then back along the paths adjacent to the trams and hotels. It's about as flat a half marathon as you're going to get. This year though, all the runners had to contend with a strong head wind along the sea front, then as soon as you came came off the sea front, the wind just disappeared, so you didn't get the benefit on the return leg. It didn't appear to be a time for a fast race - last year Mike Proudlove (a consistent sub 1-10 runner) won the race in 1-08, this year he won in 1-12, which shows how strong the wind was!

However, no-one told Suzy or Cathy that! Despite a blood filled sock, Cathy stormed home in 1-42 (knocking 1m 30s off her PB) and an elated Suzy in 1-57, knocking nearly 5 minutes off her PB.

Paul unfortunately dropped out of the race after the first lap (the knock on effects of a recent virus), but Steve showed he'd recovered from a hamstring injury and clocked an excellent 1-38, and is hoping to improve on that and get a PB at his next outing.

Roll on Wilmslow...

MTC finishers

Position	Name	Time
10	Jonathan Dabbs	1:16:03
305	Steve Collins	1:38:31
393	Cathy Atkinson	1:42:44
761	Suzanne Blackledge	1:57:50

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