Hastings athletes stretch their legs at Stanmer – and in Benidorm

At Stanmer, in the senior men’s race, Ross Skelton won. more than 30 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, in 27:27, Ben Mccallion came 38th in 31:46, Sam Brown 75th in 36:03, Andy Edmunds 82nd in 36:55, Tom Brampton 99th in 38:25, Benji Symes, 109th in 40:42 and Matt Harmer 127th in 43:08. In the women’s race, Carly Hopkins finished 49th in 25:16, Ivy Buckland was 54th in 25:27, Rachel Wigmore 59th in 26:14, Rebecca Mabon 84th in 27:55, Jenna Harmer 109th in 33:39 and Holly Wigmore 117th in 35:26. In the U17 men’s race, Ziggy Henry finished in 25th in 21:29 and in the U17s women Holly Wigmore was 29th in 35:26. The U15s boys’ contest had Zion Okojie crossing in 16:13 and for the U15 girls, Megan Hopkins-Parry ran 17:35, Sophia Collins 18:15, Daisy Welch 20:11, Sophia Sims and Layla Harmer 27:27. In the U13 girls, Isabella Buchanan won in 12:34. Florence Tewksbury ran 13:21. Amelia Skelton 13:59, Olivia Collins 14:32, Mia Leonard 15:24, Sophia Smith 15:47 and Alyssia Cornford 17:58. In the Sussex Downs 12.5k, Stephen Gates won in a fantastic 51:50. In the half marathon, Sonnii Pine finished in 2:11:23, Susannah Gates in 2:17:43 and Stephen Cornford in 2:35:14. HY supported the Bexhill Lions Santa Dash fun runs. Elsie Harmer, Sam Brown and Matthew Harmer shone. HASTINGS RUNNERS Hastings Runners were among 4,000-plus entrants stretching their legs around the streets of Benidorm. The Spanish coastal resort hosts an annual half marathon and 10k road races that attract 4,000 runners – this year including 1,500 Brits, graced by a group of 14 from Hastings. Fastest among the club’s dozen tackling the half marathon was Darren Barzee, 293rd of 1,943 finishers in a sparkling time of 1hr 33min 45sec – on his 57th birthday. With daytime temperatures around 20°C giving way to a warm and dry evening, the conditions (and a relatively flat course) were in marked chontrast to the wintry hills of Hastings that most in green and black had been training on. Barzee said: “There was an amazing atmosphere, with the crowds cheering and bands playing all round the course. What better way to spend your birthday than running a half marathon in Benidorm?” A massed start of both half marathon and 10k entrants set off at 5.30pm, at dusk, then progressed through the streets as the sky darkened and streetlights came on. About a quarter of the course follows the seafront, and the half finished in front of the town hall in Plaza Reyes De España. A British company called Running Crazy organises accommodation and transfers and hosted a great after-race party in a bar which ended at 3am. Details of this are hazy, however... What is certain is that Jane Hughes completed the 10k in 52 minutes, followed by Charlie Coalbran and Davinia Hill. In the half, following the wake of the birthday boy were Pete Ball (in a fine 1.46), then Paul Rackstraw, Nick Webb, Simon Weatherly, Tracy Ratnarajah, Yockie Richardson (an age category winner despite a fall in the finishing straight), Louise Weatherly, Natasha Slow, Krista Barzee and Danny Ratnarajah. Proving the balmy conditions hadn’t softened them, all 14 were back to running in chilly Hastings within days. Hastings Runners welcomes new members of all abilities aged 12 and over for fun, training and competitive running. See hastingsrunners.co.uk