3/5/13

Jocelyn Payne 

Manchester Marathon 

Sunday April 28 saw the streets of the Trafford borough of Manchester filled with 7,000 runners, 5,000 of whom finished the Greater Manchester Marathon. The course had been altered since its return in April 2012, and as a result is currently the flattest marathon in the UK with just 55m of elevation across the 26.2mile route.

Ron Hill, the running legend hailing from Bolton, Lancashire, fired the race gun at 9.00am and runners filed out of Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium, to return there for the finish. Conditions were conducive for fast times, with cool temperatures and slightly overcast skies which only threatened to rain. Runners were subjected to a strong breeze on the more exposed areas of the route.

The men’s race was full of drama, with Stockport’s Andi Jones leading the race by a considerable margin for the majority of the race. Towards the end of the race last year’s winner and local hero Dave Norman (Altrincham) surged past to claim victory once more and retain his title in a stellar time of 2.20.19. Jones hung on to place second in 2.22.29, and Michael Glowacki of Marshall Milton Keynes came home third in 2.26.45.

In the women’s race the field was more spread out. Issy Menzies, coached by Double Olympian Liz Yelling and representing the British Armed forces struck out an early lead, sheltered from the wind by a pack of male runners. She successfully retained this lead throughout the race and broke the tape in a time of 2.42.24. Leeds University’s own Jocelyn Payne ran in second place for much of the race for much of the race, but was overtaken at 25km by the eventual silver medallist Liz Cocks. Cocks recorded an impressive time of 2.43.30, while Payne, out on her own in the closing stages of the race, produced a surprising sprint finish to complete the podium in a personal best time of 2.45.58, with fourth woman June Allen hot on her heels.

Leeds University runners in the race also include Rachel Friend, who recorded a personal best time of 3.49.13 despite suffering heavily from sickness, and Catherine Turner, with a marathon debut in a time of 3.50.23.

Payne’s result places her 12th in the UK female marathon rankings of 2013, and was the fastest time run by a British under-23 female in 29 years, and places her 4th fastest UK female U23 marathoner of all time. “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet!”, she said. After the success of Leeds University student Susan Partridge at the Virgin London Marathon on the weekend previous, these results suggest that when it comes to female marathon runners, Leeds University is the place to be.