Wedding anniversary dash brings mixed fortunes for Ben and Sarah Ferguson-Hudson at Reading Half Marathon

Report by Don Hale

Ben and Sarah-Ferguson Hudson celebrated their wedding anniversary in style last Sunday by running in the Reading Half Marathon.

Ben claimed a new personal best time over this distance, whilst Sarah was just one second adrift of her target.

The popular NWRRC husband and wife duo tackled an undulating course, which left Sarah slightly frustrated at just missing out on her own PB, and of completing a unique family double.

Despite the challenging route and the conditions, both athletes competed well among more than 6,000 runners, with Ben finishing 620th overall in a new PB of 1 hour 33 minutes and 44 seconds.

Sarah too was so close to glory and just missed out by a second on claiming her own PB, finishing in 1,329th place in 1.46.00.

After the race, Sarah admitted: “Reading half for me and Ben this morning and gutted to miss sub 1:45 yet again, but there were a couple of tough hills that finished me off!

“Ben has a PB, and it was a great race and amazing to finish in the football stadium. I can’t think of a better way to spend our wedding anniversary than having another running adventure!”

*This is the link to the Reading half-marathon provisional results:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0322/7277/7353/files/RH21_Gun_Chip_Finish_Times_For_Web.pdf?v=1636305166

Kelly battled the hills for podium success

Kelly-Marie Alford and her partner Cai Roberts were another club couple who faced a tough running challenge last weekend but similarly succeeded.

Kelly competed well for a podium place in the Race the River half-marathon, while Cai ran in the Open 10k race.

Kelly confirmed her excellent form by finishing in 11th place overall, and she was also the 2nd female runner on the podium at this event staged at Alwyn Waters Country Park, near Wrexham.

She ran home in 2 hours 9 minutes and 26 seconds over a tough four-lap course, which included 1,107ft of elevation, whilst Cai opted for the 10k event, and enjoyed a superb run in 12th place overall in 55 minutes and 38 seconds.

Following her success at the race, Kelly later confirmed: “So chuffed! What a hard course and I was absolutely gutted when I realised that I had to run up a massive hill four times!”