I ran my first half marathon in 1982 when I was 15. I joined Harwich Runners in 1983, & won my first trophy at the Colchester half marathon in 1984, by being the second under 18 year old. I ran my first full marathon in 1985 at Bungay, & finished in 6th place in a time of 2 hours 54 minutes. I ran my first London marathon in 1986 & after starting well back in the field, finished in 3 hours 4 minutes.
Paul - Running at Harwich
In 1989 I ran my fastest half marathon ever, at St. Neots, in a time of 1 hour 17 minutes. This year I also came 2nd at the Frinton & Walton 5 miler, 5th at the Harwich half marathon & 6th at the Harwich 10k race. Later this year I joined the army, & in 1991 was given the opportunity to go adventure training in Kenya. From there the six of us travelled down to Tanzania where we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. We then went back to Kenya to cycle up Mount Kenya & managed to get a mountain bike to the summit. Shortly after getting back, I was posted to Germany, where I regularly ran cross country races for my regiment. I also got to represent the army against Monchengladbach AC at 5000 metres on the track. On a tour of Bosnia & Croatia in 1996 I got to run in the Split half marathon & was cheered on by Kelly Holmes, who was still in the army at this time.
I left the army in 1998 & returned to Harwich, where I continued to run for Harwich Runners. In my time with them I have run 13 marathons - Bungay twice (both times 6th), Colchester, Snowdonia, Leicester (10th) & London 8 times - my best time was in 2004 where I ran 2 hours 50 minutes. I was also 3rd at the Frinton & Walton half marathon in 2002, a stage winner of the Round Norfolk relay in 2002, 5th in the Ipswich 10 miler in 2003, 4th at the Sandringham half marathon in 2003, a stage winner of the Essex Way in 2003 & 2004, 3rd in the Heritage run (Thorpness) in 2003 & 2004 & 2nd in 2007, 5th in the Bungay half marathon in 2004 & 4th in the Frinton & Walton half marathon in 2007. I have also helped Harwich Runners win team prizes at Mersea, Colchester, Clacton, Harwich, Frinton, Great Bentley, Dedham & Woodbridge. I did my first triathlon in 2001 at Culford & finished in 17th place. The next year I managed to win the club triathlon.
Paul - Triathlon Racing
I haven’t done a lot this year, due to injury, but have recently completed both the Harwich sprint & olympic distance triathlons & next year am planning to run the London marathon again. That’s if I survive this latest trip !!!