We are definitely in the midst of peak running event season, if the sheer volume of running events that took place over the weekend is anyting to go by. The UK spring marathon season got underway in Manchester; thousands of runners headed to the coast in Bournemouth; and it seems like there were goats on the run wherever you looked. Read on to find out how some of your fellow Goats got on…
Greater Manchester Marathon
The biggest event in the UK over the weekend was the first of the big Spring marathons, in Manchester. The event is famous for its fast and flat route, and enjoys the support of cheering Mancunians all along the route.
Sorry if we missed anyone, but here are all the Goats who ran in Manchester that we’ve spotted:
- Robin Aston (2:55’29)
- Sarah Barker-Noble (5:25’21)
- Allan Bennett (4:42’17)
- Mark Bousie (3:47’26)
- Ian Cawley (3:32’15)
- Richard Cherrington (4:21’14)
- Richard Fearn (6:03’58)
- Paul Fenwick (5:03’25)
- Andrew Gibson (5:25’46)
- Tim Grainger (3:29’49)
- Garry Heywood (3:39’47)
- Wendy Holm (4:19’53)
- Gary Howland (5:33’30)
- Jo Hughes (5:29’42)
- Andy Leggott (2:42’28)
- Diana Leggott (3:10’00)
- Troyton Limbani Cabwera (3:37’00)
- Lee Mangan (4:55’36)
- Peter Poppy (4:42’32)
- Miranda Reynolds (3:13’23)
- Phil Sigley (5:05’49)
- Ali Silverback (5:58’17)
- Cathy Wood (4:50’34)
Sarah and Jo met for the first time out on the course and crossed the line together (pictured above)!
Congratulations to all of you. Judging by the number of first-timers and personal bests (PB), it seems as though Manchester is the place to run if you’re making your marathon debut or looking to run a fast time.
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Bournemouth Bay Run
There were a choice of distances on offer in Bournemouth, and plenty of Goats in attendance among the 4,500 runners. The options were a half marathon, 10k, 5k, or a 1k run for children, with all routes taking in the Bournemouth coastline.
Some of the Goat results we spotted are…
Martin Bosley (34’00), and Lulu Anne running in the 5K;
Marcus Welford (46’34), Mika Michulec (56’23), Phil Laxton (1:00’20) who ran in the 10K; and…
Chris Marsden (1:20’34), Aleta Kilgore (2:01’38), Vicky Rutter, and Allan Watt (2:04’11) who completed the Half Marathon.
Well done all!
Darwen, Norwich, Fleetwood, Solihull, Paddock Wood, Lincoln, Loughborough, and Portsmouth
At the Darwen Heritage Half Marathon, David Conway ran 1:32’37.
At the City of Norwich Half Marathon, Martin Rowe ran 1:43’53 and Bernard Nunn ran 2:01’04, with Tracie Reynolds running a PB of 2:23’28.
At the Fleetwood 10K, Benjamin Dawson ran a PB of 45’57.
David Wall was pleased that he persevered until the end, completing the Solihull Half Marathon in 1:52’59.
At the Paddock Wood Half Marathon, Paul Lamb ran 2:14’27 in his third half marathon of the year.
Caroline Ridley-Duff ran 56’15 at the City of Lincoln 10K.
At the Loughborough Half Marathon, Matt Pickles ran 2:03’06.
Gemma Michelle ran her first 15km event in less than an hour and a half at the Stroke Association Resolution Run.
Opting for something a little bit different, Jonathan Bean ran in the 3000m track race at City of Portsmouth Athletic Club’s April Fool Open Meeting, finishing in a PB of 10’57.73.

parkrun
As usual, there were far too many Goats to mention running at parkruns over the weekend. Some of those that caught our eye were Josh Harris, Sarah Harris, Martin Kay, Bill Monteith, Cecilia Rossiter, and Trevor Stow at Burham & Highbridge parkrun.
Flying the Lonely Goat flag internationally was Kai Sahali who ran at Roma Pineto parkrun in Italy.
Also…
Goats on the run is an opportunity to celebrate our running achievements, and highlight some of the fantastic runs – organised events or otherwise – that you’ve done over the past week. However, not all of us are able to run all of the time, but that doesn’t stop us from getting involved in other ways: Andre Swanepoel and Mike Roocroft are both currently injured, but have been marshalling (Andre) or photographing (Mike) at events instead.
Becky Russett had a great ‘Sunday Runday’ with a friend by the name of xo_maccabeemoon_xo (probably not her real name… 😉 ). After having to change direction due to a massive puddle, they found a new route along country lanes – and even spotted wallabies!
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That’s the goats on the run update for this week. Congratulations to all the runners mentioned, plus all those we missed. As always, if you’ve achieved something in your running that you’re particularly proud of – completing an event or otherwise – feel free to let us know about it in the Facebook Chat Group or use the #lonelygoatrc and #lonelygoatrunningclub hashtags on Instagram. Look out for more goats on the run next week.