Newark teams set the standard in opening round of the Notts AAA Summer League

The first of the Notts AAA Summer League matches took place last Wednesday.

There are five races of approximately five miles, staged between April and August, with the first held on an undulating trail at Sherwood Pines.

Newark AC had a fantastic first race, with the women’s team coming first on the night, the men’s team coming second and the men’s masters team finishing in first place.

There was a fantastic run from Trish Jackman, who finished first, more than a minute quicker than second place. The rest of the ladies saw Rebecca Taylor finish third and Alison Monaghan claim fourth with Cloe Hubbard 15th, Kim Etherington-Bates 112th and Kate Ludlam 115th.

In the men’s race, Conor Pacey was third with Steven Simms fifth, Tom Marshall in sixth and Will Tucker taking seventh. They were followed by Geoff Gregory 14th, Leigh Marshall 21st, Ron Lindsey 26th, Chris Harrison 29th, Dan Dunnington 32nd, Tim Bagguley 56th, Jason Perry 125th, Alex O’Donnell 179th, Jason Ludlam 185th and Paul Tilley 289th.

Newark were represented by Ed Buck, Leigh Marshall and Adrian Dix at the London Marathon on Sunday.

The warmer temperatures made it slightly more challenging, especially later in the race.

Buck, who was on track for a sub-2:20 marathon, unfortunately suffered with heatstroke, but he dug in and finished the race in 2hr43min. Marshall ran a 14-minute personal best and a new Newark AC club record for a v45 in 2:48. Not to be outdone, Dix ran a 10-minute personal best with a time of 3:03.

Ben Pearson ran an eight-minute personal best to finish in 2:42 at Manchester, taking eighth in the MV40 category.