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Kent Spring Marathon and Half-Marathon
Dr Marchesini sent this report:
On Sunday 14 April, seven brave members of staff gathered at Sandyacres Sports Club in Ashford to take part in a running event along some beautiful country lanes including a section on the Pilgrims' way.
Myself, Mr Ehren, Mr Moye, Mr Saputo, Mr Bridges and Mr Shingleton ran the half-marathon, while Mr Fitzgerald ran the full marathon.
This was a great occasion to get together and burn off some of the calories accumulated from eating a lot of chocolate over the Easter Break. It was also a great way of looking after our physical and mental wellbeing, as we know the positive impact of exercise on the body and the mind.
The day was perfect for running, a little overcast with some sunshine piercing through the clouds and an average temperature of about 12C.
The course was challenging; the organisers described it as “undulating”, which did not really prepare us for some of the “brutal” uphill bits especially at 18km in.
Despite that, we were all in good spirits and had a wonderful pre-run get together where we shared some laughs to avoid negative thoughts about the imminent challenge.
There were many runners on the starting line, and it was very nice to be surrounded by like-minded people who value the benefit of exercise.
I am not going to lie; the run was tough, but it was amazing to be cheered on by the crowd and I was very surprised to see so many people on the road encouraging all runners and offering some sweets.
Mr Shingleton did incredibly well, given that this was his first half-marathon. He completed the course in 1h 26m and was 10th overall.
To my amazement, I was 5th in the women’ race and was 1st in my age category.
Everyone did incredibly well and a special shout-out should go to Mr Fitzgerald who ran the full marathon, having completed a half-marathon the day before.
There were very tired legs on Monday, the first day of term, but the sense of achievement was overwhelming, and we are looking forward to competing in a similar events in the near future, hoping to be joined by more members of staff.
