East London Runners Paul Thompson, Don Bennett, Russell Price, Mohammed Aklaqul,Thomas Grimes, Fiona Day and Kieran Brown

Grimes leads the charge for Runners

East London Runners fill five of the top eight places
Thursday, August 30, 2012
4:00 PM

East London Runners fill five of the top eight places

East London Runners led the field at the Wanstead Flats 5km Park Run on Saturday, occupying five of the top eight positions.

Thomas Grimes broke the tape in 18 minutes 36 seconds, finishing 11 seconds clear of second-placed Mark Boulton.

Dan Spinks (20.22) claimed third place, with Derek Wright (20.45) and Allan Todd (20.58) close behind in seventh and eighth respectively.

George Georgiou (23.02), David Wyatt (26.10) and Katherine Jones (26.44) also completed the race.

At the Valentines Park equivalent, Katherine Harris clocked a personal best 22.55 to earn the honour of being the first female finisher – taking 15th spot overall.

On Sunday, Redbridge hosted the Sikh Relay Marathon where a team from East London Runners finished first.

Teams of between four and seven runners competed over 26 miles by lapping a 2k course.

The challenge started at Roding Lane South and took in Woodford Bridge Road, Lodge Hill and Woodford Avenue, before returning to the start point.

Manjit Singh, Grimes, Mohammed Aklaqul-Ambea, Derek Wright and Paul Thompson clocked a combined 2.38.05 to win, with Kieran Brown, Don Bennett, Fiona Day and Russell Price taking fourth place in 3.19.10.

On Bank Holiday Monday a 36-strong club contingent completed the Barking Park 5km, with 13 recording new personal best times.

Grimes led the team home in a new best 17.01 for fourth place, narrowly ahead of sixth-placed Mark Boulton in a personal best 17.23.

James Wilson (18.19), Price (21.01), Ramesh Pala (21.47), Jonathan Wooldridge (21.50), Matt Dean (22.15), Brown (22.16), Harris (22.47), Sarah Burns (24.23), Frank Brownlie (24.34), Ninette Fernandes (26.32) and Tara Syed (28.46) all set personal bests.

Also successfully completing the race were Andrew Baxter (19.50), Thompson (19.53), Todd (20.10), Aklaqul-Ambea (20.11), Wright (20.14), Spinks (20.27), Joseph Browne (20.50), Singh (21.02), Richard Guest (21.03), Grant Conway (21.08), Sarah McGrea (22.03), Saheb Yousefi (22.53), William Davies (24.13), Lucy Leddy (24.46), Wyatt (24.52), Mary Connolly (25.18), Sheila Kennedy (26.13), Jayne Browne (26.34), Mary O’Brien (26.28), Brian Graham (26.37), Bryony Hewer (27.17), Day (28.03) and Bennett (29.21).