Great South Run: How big turnout of Chichester and Bognor athletes fared

It starts near Southsea Common before heading to Portsmouth’s historic dockyard. The runners then loop back through Southsea before running the last two miles along the promenade past the pier and across the line.

This year Tone Zone had 49 runners, their highest attendance at the race which equalled 20 per cent of the club’s members.

Simon Gill was first runner across the line for the club in 1:10:49 finishing 150th in 1:01:18, the top one per cent of runners.

Jess Thomson was second for the club in 700th the top three per cent and third was Mark Green in 1:12:19 placing 850th placing in the top four per cent.

Michael Forsdyke, Richard Forward, Alexander Eastwood, Sarah Zacal, Ian Bayley, Emma Smith and Alex Fryer all finished under the 1 hour 20 mark, closely followed by Nathan Bilham (1:20:13) and Josey Faggetter (1:20:17).

Peter Loose finished in 1:21 just ahead of Scott Cooper and Jon Cummins who all ran sub 1:25.

Nick Solti (1:32) led a train of blue and orange vests of Rodney Morley, Lee and Marlena Clark, Kirstee Porter, Karen Vilday, Marc Wilson and Michael James.

Tony Holcombe was just eight seconds over the 1:40 barrier with Ian Buchan just 30 seconds behind him.

Leonie Ranson bettered her previous 10 mile time with 1:42:14 with Louise Maddison, Amanda Alphonso, Magda Kuczera, Zoe Hemes, Alison Stead, Katie Benham, Stuart Thomson and Paul Stevenson in tow.

Felicity Nowell finished in 1:50:55 followed by mother and daughter Duo Carole and Emma Parncutt in 1:51 along with John Abell.

Sue Woodruff completed her first Great South run in 1:53 just three minutes ahead of Steve Lee, Chantal Neal and Karen Butcher.

Lisa Broad and Beth Suter ran together to finished on the two-hour mark, and four minutes behind was Tina Ede making her return to the Southsea race.

Carrie Oakley finished in 2:10:07 with Rebecca Sleet and Daniel Hughes finishing just 2 minutes behind. Allen Brown rounded off a perfect day for the club finishing bang on the 2.30 mark.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam were Emma Tidmarsh and Lisa Wadey for the city’s half marathon. Emma finished the 13.1 mile run in a new PB of 2.00.54 with Lisa just seven minutes back in 2:07.

The Great South Run also attracted Chichester-based Will Grace and Mike Houston, who both had storming runs to finish inside the top 40.

Grace, better known as a triathlete, had probably his best run to date in crossing the line in a time of 53.45.

Just eight places further back was Houston, rewarded with a time of 54.51, a staggering improvement of over five minutes over his previous best of 60.12 set back in 2016.

The new sub-55-minute time puts Houston into 11th place in the UK over 40 age group for 2022.

A trio of men who have dominated the Chichester-area distance running scene over the past couple of years were all in action over the weekend – but in two locations.

Among the mass of more than 12,000 competitors at the Great South Run in Portsmouth on Sunday were Will Grace and Mike Houston, who both had storming runs to finish inside the top 40.

Grace, better known as a triathlete, showed his potential last year by winning a titanic battle with James Baker in the challenging Chichester Half Marathon.

On Sunday he had probably his best run to date in crossing the line in a time of 53 minutes 45 seconds.

Just eight places further back was Houston, the 2022 winner of the Chichester Half Marathon in convincing fashion.

Houston was rewarded with a time of 54.51, a staggering improvement of over five minutes over his previous best of 60.12 set back in 2016.

The new sub-55-minute time puts Houston into 11th place in the UK over-40 age group for 2022.

The third member of the local winning trio, James Baker, decided to travel further west to join up with another big field in the Bath Half Marathon, another event with over 12,000 competitors.

Now in the over-45 age group, Baker finished a staggering 16th, leaving a host of younger runners in his wake and being rewarded with a time of 70.43, just outside his season’s best of 70.12 – set when winning the Hastings half Marathon in March.

Baker passed through the 1,000 race wins barrier during the summer, almost certainly a unique achievement in the world running community, and shows no sign of resting on his laurels.

There were another 30 Chi Runners in action in the GSR with under-20 Callum Lorimer and over-50 Jim Garland leading the squad home, both in the top 350.

Chichester’s remaining competitors: Callum Lorimer 272nd in 64.27; Jim Garland 332nd in 65.45; Mark Grandy 509th in 68.29; Jason Boswell 647th in 70.09; Simon Castrey 1185th in 75.15; Elizabeth Robinson 1212th in 75.30; Laura Irma 1453rd in 77.17; Rupert Rowbotham 1455th in 77.17; Ellie Monk 1803rd in 79.18; Paul Ford 2137th in 81.06; Rick Phillips 2138th in 81.06; Wim Amir 2950th in 855.06; Edward Habbitts 3074th in 85.41; Carol Gilmour 3596th in 87.54; Emily Bye 3627th in 88.01; Christine Gay 3631st in 88.03; Nicky McIntyre 4583rd in 91.35; Andrew Salter 4708th in 92.01; Guy Tremayne 4769th in 92.17; Elaine Cruttenden 5036th in 93.17; Luke Leleu 5339th in 94.30; Tony Cooley 5918th in 96.39; Jo Prosser 6067th in 97.16; Adrian Hamilton 6309th in 98.09; Emilie Runickles 6622nd in 99.17; Jennifer Sherlock 7224th in 1.41.29; Ian Sanger 7379th in 1.42.12; Wendy Whelan 7592nd in 1.43.03; Nell Kimson 8562nd in 1.47.02; Sandra Nemorin-Noel 9255th in 1.50.20; Julie Cleeves 9345th in 1.50.43; Suzet Jessop 10,841st in 1.59.07; Richard Woolston 11,654th in 2.06.30.

Next week: news from the Sussex Cross Country League at Goodwood.