ATHLETICS: New course record for Marks in 35-mile win

On Saturday morning over 200 runners set off on the Northamptonshire Ultra Marathon - 35 miles around the tracks, fields and roads of Northamptonshire.

The event started at Lamport Hall, winding its way to Long Bucky, West Haddon, Althorp House, finishing back at Lamport Hall. Rugby and Northampton AC were well represented with a mixture of seasoned and new Ultra distance runners. At the first checkpoint, Stephen Marks was to the fore only two minutes behind the leaders.

By the final checkpoint at 29 miles this gap was still two minutes, but a late surge saw Stephen overtake all the runners to end up a convincing victor in 4 hours and 12 minutes - a new course record!

Not to be outdone, the ladies from Rugby were also leading the way, with both Amy Sarkies and Sally Baker running strongly in their first ever Ultra race. As the race progressed, both ladies, running together, forged their way to the front and crossed the line together for joint first position - 20th overall!

The team was completed by Chris Holmes finishing in 25th place meaning that the team prize was also awarded to the team.