Framlingham Flyers’ Daisy Glover smashes course record to take Bungay Black Dog Marathon win

Framlingham Flyers athlete Daisy Glover lived up to her club name by flying round the Bungay Black Dog Marathon course on Sunday in record time.

Eastern Daily Press: Bungay Festival of RacingMarathon finishers2nd place and 1st woman home Daisy Glover of the Framlingham FlyersByline:Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 Bungay Festival of RacingMarathon finishers2nd place and 1st woman home Daisy Glover of the Framlingham FlyersByline:Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 (Image: Archant 2019)

The 27-year-old took an impressive 10 minutes off the record set in 2011, and in fact finished second overall in the race, now in its 37th year, clocking two hours 46 minutes and 30 seconds.

She was a little over two minutes behind the winner and men's 2019 champion Michael Lessling.

His time was 2-44:03. He currently runs for Northamptonshire Road Runners but has run for Kesgrave Cruisers in the past. Aged 32 he led from start to finish in conditions which were generally conducive to good times.

'I struggled at about 22 miles but pulled through that. This is a great event, with great support, and well marshalled,' he said at the end.

Eastern Daily Press: Action from the Bungay Festival of RunningMarathon runners along the courseByline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 Action from the Bungay Festival of RunningMarathon runners along the courseByline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 (Image: Archant 2019)

And after tackling the hilly section between Bungay and Beccles on the picturesque Waveney Valley route, both he and Glover were of the same mind: 'Who said Suffolk was flat!'

MORE: Love running? Join the Run Anglia Facebook group hereGlover beat the previous women's best, 2-56:19, set by Susan Harrison, of Leamington C & AC eight years ago, by a massive 10 minutes, though the course was slightly different on Sunday as, for the first time, it was based at Bungay Black Dog Running Club's new headquarters in Pirnhow Street, Ditchingham, just a stone's throw from the previous base at the Maltings Meadow.

'It was hard work,' admitted Glover, whose only previous marathon was the Paris event last year, when she ran 2-52:10. 'But I loved it apart from the hills, and it was great to set a new course record.'

Third overall, and second man home, was Neil Shorten, of St Neot's Riverside Runners, in 2-46:56, with Aaron Graves, of Tiptree Road Runners, third in 2-49:48.

Glover's remarkable run brought her home over 44 minutes ahead of the second woman, Samantha Godden, also of Tiptree RR, whose time was 3-30:38. Third was Rebecca Pittman, of Springfield Striders RC, in 3-31:56.

Nearly 1300 runners took part in the Festival of Running, which also included a half marathon, 10k and 5k events, a Double Doggie, and a family gun run.

First home in the half-marathon was James Hartop, an unattached runner, who clocked 1-13:57. He quickly overtook early leader Aaron McGrady, who was never far off the pace and finished second in 1-13:57. Third was Tony Gavin, of Felixstowe Road Runners, in 1-15:31.

The women's half-marathon was won by Hannah Somani (unattached). She led all the way to finish in 1-28:52, over two minutes ahead of Jesse Gooderham of St Edmund's Pacers, who clocked 1-31:13. Third was Katie Oldman, of Lowestoft Road Runners, in 1-35:04.

There were some noteworthy feats among the runners in the full marathon. Karl Olley, of Kirby Kane, was running his 10th marathon in 10 days, and completed it, raising money for the Sunshine Smiles charity. And Pat Abbott, from Ipswich, now in his 40s, running with No 100 on his vest, completed his 100th marathon in 3-25:42.

Two City of Norwich AC colleagues won the 10K event. Dominic Oliver was first home in the men's race in 34:04, and Lauren Howe was the first woman in 40:29.

Holy Phipps, of the University of Sheffield, was second woman in 41:55, with Zoe Chase, of Waveney Valley AC, third n 42:13. David Sparshott, of Bungay Black Dog TC, was second man in 34:17, with John Cox (unattached) third in 36:58.

Amelia Webber, of Beccles and Bungay Harriers, won the 5k, with Robert Chenery of Ipswich Jaffa winning the men's 5k.

The event generally ran smoothly at its new base, and race director Bob Paul said he'd had much positive fed-back from those taking part.

The NSPCC and the Bungay area Community Transport Group will benefit from the proceeds.

Eastern Daily Press: The Bungay festival of runningFun runnersByline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 The Bungay festival of runningFun runnersByline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 (Image: Archant 2019)

Eastern Daily Press: The Bungay Festival of Running 2019Setting off for the 10kByline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 The Bungay Festival of Running 2019Setting off for the 10kByline: Sonya DuncanCopyright: Archant 2019 (Image: Archant 2019)

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