First place finish for MAC's Abbie Jones at Bracknell Forest cross country

Abbie Jones

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Maidenhead Athletic Club (MAC) runners claimed impressive top 10 finishes at the Bracknell Forest Runners Cross Country this weekend.

MAC runners made up a strong contingent of the field for the event and expertly navigated a tricky, technical course.

Abbie Jones and Dawn Godwin led the female’s charge, with Abbie finishing first and Dawn fifth overall. Christina O’Beirne was 11th and Sarah Simms 18th.

亚当•班尼特是MAC的第一个男选手的到来home in sixth place with Kevin Francis not too far behind in 10th. Tom O’Beirne was 12th, Craig West 21st, Steve Francis 23rd and Brett Siddons 36th.

The individual results were good enough for MAC to finish second in both the men’s and women’s races, meaning the club sits joint top of the cross country league with Datchet ahead of the next fixture at Datchet on Remembrance Sunday.

Elsewhere this week, MAC’s Anthony Hornby travelled to Canada to take part in the Niagra Falls Marathon.

Despite recovering from injury recently and suffering through a bad cough and cold in September, Anthony managed to run a new marathon personal best of 3.49.15.

Chris Ellis also travelled to Spain last weekend for the Valencia Half Marathon and admits he’s getting the bug for ‘European super halfs’.

Having ticked off Cardiff and now Valencia, he now needs to complete Copenhagen, Prague, Lisbon and Berlin to complete the set and earn himself a ‘seriously big medal’.

The early cool morning weather was perfect for the race and, despite not training much recently, Chris finished in a time of 1.48. Afterwards he collected the ‘healthiest goody bag ever’ filled with various fruits and vegetables including broccoli.

Closer to home, MAC’s Ben Kelly took part in the Cookham trail race. This was the first time the event has been staged, with a two-lap course around the National Trust Cookham moors.

The wet weather the previous day had transformed some areas into a bog, however, Ben ran well pushing his way into second place to finish in 46.23 – a great achievement for his first 10k race on a cross country surface.

Helen Burke didn’t produce the race she’d hoped for in the Abingdon Marathon on Sunday.

She went into it hopeful of a sub 3.30 time, however, her brain and body weren’t playing ball in the latter stages as she finished in 3.36.

“It was just not my day,” she said.

“My legs felt good as I did the small loop and the first big loop, I was on pace and it all felt easy. The switch flipped about 15 miles and brain decided that it had had enough. All my brain wanted to do was to walk, so the next eight miles turned into a miserable walk run.

“Despite the misery I was determined to finish and kept going. About two miles from the end the thought of a finish line kicked my brain into gear and I ended with the fastest two miles of my race.

“Not the day I wanted but the marathon owes you nothing so I was happy to finish.”